The Fourth Annual Sonny Sixkiller Husky Golf Classic presented by Wilder Auto Center features the strongest field of celebrities yet on Friday, July 25, at The Cedars at Dungeness golf course.
Sixkiller was the dynamic quarterback who turned around the Husky football program and led the nation in passing in 1970. He also was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated on Oct. 4, 1971.
“We are delighted to be a part of this tournament – we think it is the premier sporting event on the peninsula,” said Jerry Allen, the CEO of 7 Cedars Casino. “We have been very fortunate to partner with Sonny for the past 11 years.”
Sixkiller has lined up a who’s who list of more than 30 Husky legends to play in the tournament, including former players Bob Schloredt, Michael Jackson, Nesby Glasgow, Marques Tuiasosopo, Greg Lewis, Robin Earl and Steve Emtman and arguably the current best college football announcer, Brent Musburger. Also participating will be former Port Angeles High School player Scott Jones, the only Roughrider to have played in the NFL — that coming after a successful career as a tight end and offensive tackle at the University of Washington.
“I’ve always wanted to set up a tournament to showcase the legacy of University of Washington sports, especially football,” said Sixkiller. “I am extremely pleased to be able to work with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe once again and am happy that it will benefit the Olympic Medical Center Foundation.”
A native of Ashland, Ore., he played for The Hawaiians in the World Football League and was a cast member in the original “The Longest Yard” movie production. He is the senior associate general manager for the Washington ISP Sports Network.
As a sophomore at the UW, Sixkiller took the reins of a team that had gone 1-9 the year before and directed seasons of 6-4, 8-3 and 8-3. He led the nation in total passing in 1970, completing 186 of 362 for 2,303 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Roy Blount Jr. aptly described Sixkiller as a player in the Sports Illustrated story:
“Another powerful inducement for fans and scribes to go wild over Sixkiller is his style of play. He is a fine looking athlete who whistles the ball and moves fluidly. He is … not much of a runner, but he scrambles and does wild things. His passes tend to be either 15-yard lasers into someone’s stomach or lofted 25-yarders that just clear two defenders’ hands to hit a receiver in full stride down the sidelines.
“After he matched, or perhaps outdid, the passing of Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett in Washington’s 29-22 loss to Stanford last year, Stanford Coach John Ralston said, ‘We’ve faced some fine quarterbacks this season, but none of them presented as many defensive problems as Sixkiller. After studying the films of him in action, our coaching staff agreed they have never seen a passer as loose as this kid. He freelances all over the field and you never know what he’s going to do next. And talk about your gunners, I can’t recall anyone who unloads the ball as fast and as often as Sixkiller.”
His movie and TV credits are short but memorable. Burt Reynolds, who is one-eighth Cherokee, visited a UW practice in Sixkiller’s sophomore year. Two years later, he invited him to Georgia to be a part of the “Longest Yard” movie. Sixkiller played a halfback on the inmate team that took on the guards. Later, he appeared as a boat captain in “Hawaii Five-O.”
