What will Michael Penix Jr. do for a finale?
Washington's superstar quarterback has one game left. Win or lose, he's elevated UW in ways few could have expected.
HOUSTON — It’s just for fun, Michael Penix Jr. says, and “never serious,” but he has nevertheless developed a reputation with his Washington teammates as a gifted freestyle rapper.
Somewhat famously, ABC cameras captured Penix freestyling with receiver Jalen McMillan late in the fourth quarter of UW’s Oct. 14 victory over Oregon, apparently rapping specifically about how the Huskies were going to come back and win the game (which, you’ll recall, they did).
This is a common occurrence.
“Mike’s known for his rapping in the locker room,” senior tight end Jack Westover said. “It’ll be pretty early in the morning, and you’ll walk in and hear — ‘oh, there’s Mike.’”
“He doesn’t have to read off a sheet of paper,” said junior linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala, whose locker is near Penix’s. “He can go for two minutes long, just straight bars.”
“He should be a rapper,” McMillan said, laughing. “He’s nice.”
So it is not only on the football field that Penix makes difficult tasks appear simple.