Kirkland Receives Second East-West Shrine Bowl Invite, Accepts This One
Offensive guard Jaxon Kirkland, quietly enjoying a highly productive season for the University of Washington’s 10-2 football team, has accepted an invitation to the East-West Shrine Bowl in Las Vegas, game officials confirmed.
The 6-foot-7, 340-pounder from Vancouver, Washington, will become the 155th Husky player to participate in college football’s oldest all-star game, which will be held on Feb. 2 at Allegiant Stadium and is celebrating its 98th year.
Kirkland actually received an invitation a year, along with former Husky center Luke Wattenberg, to play in the East-West game, but he was both injured and contemplating a return to the UW football program and had to decline.
Back for a sixth UW season, Kirkland has been credited with providing a stabilizing influence on an offensive line that has enabled the Huskies to score 40.8 points per game and average 521.7 yards of total offense each outing.
After having ankle surgery and rehabbing, he was forced by the NCAA to sit out the opener against Kent State for putting his name in the NFL draft and withdrawing it, and didn’t return until the third game.
“Just that mindset he’s had from day one has kind of spread throughout the offensive line,” UW coach Kalen DeBoer said. “Seeing them have success without him was awesome; it still said a lot about how the culture was in that room. When he came and joined us, what was back on the football field, it took it to another level because his practice habits are exceptional .
“It’s 100 percent full go for him all the time. He’s exactly what you’re looking for in an offensive lineman.”
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Kirkland and the other UW guard, sixth-year senior Henry Bainivalu, were the only returning full-time starters this season, and were paired with new center Corey Luciano and tackles Troy Fautanu and Roger Rosengarten, a mix that’s worked out very well.
Bainivalu, Fautanu and Rosengarten each received Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors during the regular season.
The ultimate team player, Kirkland agreed to move from left tackle to left guard in his second back against Stanford because the DeBoer staff thought that position better suited him. He’s been no less effective on the inside, where he began his UW career.
Kirkland is a two-time, first-team All-Pac-12 selection while at tackle in 2020 and 2021.
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