National Championship Rivals Become Seattle Seahawks Teammates

The last time Michigan's A.J. Barner and Washington's Jack Westover stepped onto a football field, they were on opposite sides of the National Championship on Jan. 8. But now, they are teammates together in the tight end room for the Seattle Seahawks.

Michigan pulled out the win, giving Barner the championship. And he's the one more likely to see the field first as a fourth-round draft pick, but he's very excited to team up with the undrafted former Husky.

“Jack’s (Westover) my guy," Barner said at rookie minicamp. "We were able to hangout during the pre-draft process too, just chop it up, talk ball and get to know each other too. He knows Seattle well and the state, he’s from here so even outside of football getting the lay of the land, it’ll be great to be with him.”

There is a world now where Barner and Westover can co-exist. Barner is more of a blocking tight end at 6-6, but Westover had more receiving yards and was used as a receiving weapon more often in college. In his last season at Washington, he had 46 receptions for 433 yards and four touchdowns. Only wide receivers Rome Odunze, who was taken No. 9 overall by the Chicago Bears, and Ja'Lynn Polk, the No. 37 overall pick by the New England Patriots, had more catches for the Huskies last season.

The fact that they already have a built-in chemistry gives them a head start as they navigate their first offseason together as pros in the NFL, and that could be what helps them to see the field alongside one another, instead of on opposite sidelines, this fall.