NEWLYWED SAMPLE FINDING THE RIGHT BALANCE OF FOOTBALL AND MARRIED LIFE

By Rich Myhre

By Washington Huskies

September 18^th, 2018

No matter what else happens for University of Washington tight end Drew Sample in the 2018 season – perhaps a Pacific-12 Conference championship and a place in the College Football Playoff for the Huskies, and maybe even individual accomplishments and awards – nothing will surpass one of this year’s earlier highlights.

On July 22, the UW senior exchanged wedding vows with Angelina Danylyuk at the Columbia Winery in Woodinville. The couple enjoyed a week-long honeymoon trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and are now beginning their new life together.

Angelina, who attends Seattle Pacific University, “is always there for me, whether it’s making me dinner or just being someone for me to talk to,” Sample said. “It’s always nice to have that support when you come home. No matter how things are going with football or with school, I always know she’ll be there for me.”

For student-athletes like Sample, football and school can both sometimes feel like fulltime jobs. Add in a new marriage, and it becomes clear that one of the biggest challenges for the young couple is time.

NEWLYWED SAMPLE FINDING THE RIGHT BALANCE OF FOOTBALL AND MARRIED LIFE

“It’s something I’m still kind of new to, but it’s always about trying to find (a good) balance,” said Sample, one of two married players on this year’s UW roster, along with defensive lineman Greg Gaines. “Obviously during the season it’s a little tougher because football takes up a good portion of my time. But thankfully (Angelina) understands and she’s always super helpful. She’s been amazing in that sense.

“I’m just really lucky to have her,” he said, sounding very much like a proud husband.

The funny thing is, Sample and his wife crossed paths five years ago, albeit unbeknownst to either of them. It was the fall of 2013 and he was a senior on the Newport (Bellevue) High School football team. Angelina, who lived in Puyallup, was a student trainer for Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, and the two teams met in the state Class 4A football playoffs.

Sample had a big game with 10 receptions and two touchdowns, but Newport lost a heartbreaker, 38-35. Among those cheering for Bellarmine on the team’s sideline was his future wife.

“When we first started dating, that came up,” he said with a laugh. “I was a little upset about it, but we worked through it.”

They met a year later when Angelina, then a high school senior, visited the UW campus, where Sample was a freshman. They had mutual friends, an introduction was made, and they were soon dating.

Sample planned his proposal for Oct. 8 of last year, which was one day after Washington improved to 6-0 with a 38-7 home victory over California. It was also Danylyuk’s birthday, and the two families gathered to celebrate the occasion at a restaurant on the Seattle waterfront. At some point Sample got Danylyuk off to the side – everyone else was nearby, pretending to be unaware of what was happening – and he dropped to one knee and asked her to be his wife.

He remembers her saying yes, “but I kind of went blank after that,” he admitted with another laugh. “I hope I said some sweet things. … I think she kind of knew it was coming, but she was definitely happy.”

It was, he added, “an awesome night.”

After the bliss of their late-July wedding and honeymoon, the couple returned to Seattle so Sample could prepare for the start of fall training camp in early August. The season is now in full swing, and Sample is one of several senior veterans hoping to lead the Huskies to new heights in 2018.

Sample arrived at Washington in the summer of 2014 as a member of the first recruiting class for new UW head coach Chris Petersen. Sample redshirted as a true freshman, but has since played in every Washington game but three (he missed the Fresno State, Colorado and Oregon State games last season with an ankle injury).

Of the 37 games he has played over the past three seasons, the 6-foot-5, 251-pound Sample has started 26 times.

“To me, Drew is kind of the prototypical example of being Built for Life,” said UW tight end coach Jordan Paopao, referring to the Petersen-developed program that emphasizes academics, character, discipline and maturity. “We saw him come in as a young freshman, and then mature and grow not only as a player but as a man.”

Yet even as a freshman, Paopao went on, “he’s always been mature … and you can see the effect that has on the rest of the young guys in the tight end room. When you see how hard he works day in and day out, watching (lots of game) tape and putting in that much time in the weight room, it kind of becomes contagious. It kind of sets the culture in the (tight end) room, and it’s been really, really cool for young guys like Cade Otton, Jacob Kizer and Hunter Bryant to be able to see what it truly should look like on a day-to-day basis.”

In an ironic twist, Paopao and Sample are bonded by more than just the usual coach-player relationship. Both men were married in July, with Paopao and his bride Kristin Martelli tying the knot eight days before Sample and Danylyuk said their I-do’s.

“Essentially, I’ve grown up with Drew, in terms of my own take on life and being able to kind of get through the same things,” Paopao said. And this summer, he added, it led to both men “marrying the women of our dreams.”

Sample will graduate in June with a degree in communications and a sales certificate from the business school, with the latter being essentially a degree minor. He hopes to play professionally, but later would like to remain involved in the game, perhaps with coaching, or possibly enter the business world.

Leaving Washington will conclude what has been “the best five years of my life,” Sample said. “It’s just been an unbelievable ride. I wouldn’t have wanted to go anywhere else. With Coach Pete and his staff, (including) Coach Paopao, it’s been really awesome. It’s been a combination of everything (on and off the football field) that’s made it great.”