Washington spring practice, Day 7: Get to know safety CJ Christian

And other notes from a (relatively) quiet Tuesday workout.

SEATTLE — Nobody can say CJ Christian doesn’t appreciate the opportunity to play power-conference football — or that it didn’t take a lot of work to get here, both on the field and, at one time, behind the counter of a dry-cleaning company.

After graduating from Normal (Ill.) Community High in 2019, Christian, a safety, tried to play football at Division II Augustana in South Dakota, but said the school determined he didn’t qualify academically. He returned home and got a job at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, where he worked for maybe three days before applying en masse to other jobs via Indeed.

A youth football coach saw Christian’s application and hired him to work at Starcrest Cleaners, where Christian manned the front desk. He’d take clothes from customers, make sure the pockets were empty and send the garments back for cleaning.

“I didn’t do the actual, hard cleaning work,” he said with a smile after the Huskies’ Tuesday practice, their seventh of the spring.