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Gaard Memmelaar shows up fashionably dressed for the CFP national championship game in Houston. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Gaard Duty: Memmelaar Expected to Provide UW Toughness

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Aug 21, 2024 12:04 PM ET

That loud noise everyone heard when University of Washington spring football began in April was offensive guard Gaard Memmelaar emerging from the tunnel at Husky Stadium and suddenly bellowing out a profane greeting to the defensive linemen in attendance that echoed throughout the seats.

While coming off a knee injury and not medically cleared for contact, Memmelaar wouldn't let that stop him from getting mentally involved. If he couldn't get up in your football grill just yet, he was still going to get in your head. At that moment, he had everyone's rapt attention.

For every UW football practice these days, the 6-foot-4, 299-pound Idaho native either is first on the East field or second, depending on how punctual center Landen Hatchett might feel at any given moment, but Memmelaar always is an early arrival.

From there, Memmelaar unfailingly delivers a running commentary as others turn up for practice, addressing everyone from quarterback Will Rogers to running-backs coach Scottie Graham to strength and conditioning coach Tyler Owens, each with a goading challenge of some sort.

Feeling protective of his Husky offensive leader, the guard named Gaard tends to give Rogers regular hugs as much as grief. He's almost like a Secret Service agent, assigned to protect the QB at all costs.

It is hoped that Memmelaar, a junior, will provide an anchor for a totally reconfigured UW offensive line and needed vocal leadership for everyone involved on the team. In this past Saturday's intrasquad game, running back Cam Davis followed the blocking of the burly Idaho import and scored the night's first touchdown running through a big hole from 6 yards out.

"It's great to see Memmelaar back," coach Jedd Fisch said, singling him out among a handful of players who sat out all or most of last season such as Davis and edge rusher Zach Durfee.

With the season opener against Weber State just 11 days away, Memmelaar is poised to start his first Husky game in five seasons in Montlake. This easily could have happened last season, but he tore up his knee in fall camp, had a surgical repair done and missed out on all of the glory of a 14-1 season, though he was present for the CFP national championship game as a spectator and dressed in a snappy new black cowboy hat.

Western wear is nothing new for him. He was raised on the family acreage outside of Boise, rising at 3 or 4 a.m. to fix fences or bale hay. Think of the fictional Dutton ranch in Montana on the TV show Yellowstone, only real and in neighboring Idaho.

Whereas he is being asked to become a fixture for the UW up front, Memmelaar has appeared in just four UW games in his career, playing late in blowouts against Kent State, Portland State, Stanford and Colorado in 2022. He's long overdue for heavy responsibility.

He is the sole remaining member of the UW's vaunted five offensive linemen brought in together in 2020. Offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten left eligibility on the table to became a second-round draft pick for the Baltimore Ravens. Offensive guard Gierean Hatchett now plays for Oklahoma. Offensive guard Myles Murao is in his second season with San Diego State. Offensive tackle Samuel Peacock retired.

Memmelaar has the NFl in his family tree. He is the great nephew of former NFL offensive lineman and linebacker Dale Memmelaar, who was the best of four brothers who played college football at Wyoming, twice selected All-Big Sky and was known as "the Big Mammo" when he pulled on a uniform for five pro teams in nine seasons in 1959-67.

There is great hope this latest "Modern Mammo" will become a team leader because he is one of the strongest players at the UW with a 415-pound bench press and hot-tempered enough to get into multiple scrapes during 2023 spring practice with a variety of defensive teammates.

The biggest question currently surrounding this Husky football team entering the Big Ten is whether it can be tough enough up front to deal with the increased physicality of the Big Ten, especially in the trenches, The UW didn't do well at all against Michigan eight months ago in the national championship spotlight.

Memmelaar is no soft touch, definitely no wallflower. He's someone who likes to be in the middle of everything, whether good-naturedly prodding people or trying to run them over. Now everyone will get to see exactly what kind of football player he can be.

This article first appeared on Washington Huskies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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