Washington linebacker Sav’ell Smalls gets a hand on Colorado running back Jarek Broussard during a game in 2021 in Boulder, Colo. (Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times)
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By
Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
On Sept. 27, 2025, Sav’ell Smalls played 18 total snaps for Colorado.
Smalls — once a highly touted edge rusher at Kennedy Catholic High in Burien — was playing tight end for Colorado and coach Deion Sanders. They were hosting a ranked BYU squad at Folsom Field, and the Buffaloes gave the Cougars just about all they were able to handle. BYU escaped Boulder, Colo., with a 24-21 win.
It was the final game of Smalls’ football career.
Smalls, who spent three seasons at Washington before transferring to Colorado in 2023 announced he’d medically retired in October on Tuesday evening in a post on his social media accounts.
He hadn’t appeared in a game since Colorado’s comeback attempt came up short against BYU, and said he was retiring after experiencing several episodes of transient quadriplegia — temporary loss of motor skills in all four limbs often caused by spinal injuries — because of spinal stenosis.
“After receiving this diagnosis, I talked with multiple doctors, and a spinal fusion was the only viable option to continue my career,” Smalls wrote. “However, it was not guaranteed to stop my symptoms and the risk of paralysis would still be high, so in early October I medically retired, ending my athletic career for good.”
Smalls emerged as a freshman at Kennedy Catholic in 2016, and quickly became one of the highest-rated Seattle high school football players in recent memory. He transferred to Garfield High for his sophomore season where he made 90 tackles and earned Metro League Mountain Division MVP, along with first-team all-league honors as an edge rusher and second-team all-league honors as a tight end.
His stellar high school tenure continued as a junior in 2018. Smalls earned league defensive MVP honors despite missing several games because of injuries, and was a first-team all-league selection at both edge rusher and tight end.
Smalls’ first three seasons of high school football earned him national recognition as a high school football recruit. He was the No. 1 player in Washington, the No. 3 weak-side defensive end and the No. 30 player nationally in the 2020 recruiting cycle according to 247Sports composite rankings.
When he returned to Kennedy Catholic for his senior season, Smalls held scholarship offers from 31 FBS programs including Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, USC and Notre Dame among others.
And after very publicly ruling Washington out of his recruitment in May, Smalls reversed course. He committed to UW on Sept. 27, 2019 in a ceremony at Kennedy Catholic, proclaiming he and Lancers quarterback Sam Huard, a fellow composite five-star recruit, were going to bring the Huskies their first national championship since 1991.
“I went through a whole bunch of emotions,” Smalls told reporters after committing. “I eliminated them. I went from, ‘Oh, I want to go to UW,’ to, ‘I don’t want to go to UW.’ ‘I want to stay at home.’ ‘I don’t want to stay at home.’ So it was definitely a long process.
“I’m not going to sit here and lie (and say) that I knew all along, that the recruitment was easy. It was definitely hard. But we’re here. It was an obvious decision.”
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Smalls’ committed to Washington while he was helping author a dominant final season at Kennedy Catholic. Playing with Huard and wide receivers Lonyatta Alexander Jr. and Jabez Tinae, Smalls helped the Lancers under coach Sheldon Cross go 11-1. Kennedy Catholic was the No. 1 seed in the 2019 Class 4A state football tournament, but was upset in the quarterfinals by No. 8 Woodinville, 55-42.
His decision to stay home and play for the Huskies was also an important recruiting win for coach Chris Petersen. Despite holding a commitment from Huard before Smalls, Washington had seen a progression of five-star prospects leave the state for college. The Huskies hadn’t kept a local five-star recruit home since Reggie Williams in 2001, not counting Matt Tuiasosopo.
But Smalls never got to play for Petersen, who announced his abrupt retirement before the end of the 2019 season and handed the program to then-defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake. Smalls played in four games during the COVID-19 pandemic-impacted 2020 season, making seven tackles and earning his first career start.
He returned for the 2021 season, but Lake was fired before the campaign ended and Washington went 4-8. Smalls played in 12 games, registering 11 tackles and recovering a fumble.
Smalls stuck around to play for Lake’s successor, Kalen DeBoer, in 2022. He played in all 13 games, making 14 tackles and tallying his first tackle for a loss, as Washington completed a historic turnaround to win 11 games including the Alamo Bowl, where it defeated Texas 27-20.
However, Smalls announced his departure shortly afterward, departing to join Sanders at Colorado before UW’s historic run to the College Football Playoff championship game in 2023. Smalls ended his Washington tenure with 32 tackles in 29 games.
At Colorado, Smalls appeared in four games during the 2023 season, redshirting to preserve a season of eligibility. He transitioned to tight end during the offseason, and played in 13 games with one start for the Buffaloes in 2024. Smalls totaled nine catches for 68 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown against BYU in the 2024 Alamo Bowl. The only score of his collegiate career.
Smalls returned for his final season of eligibility in 2025, but began experiencing episodes of transient quadriplegia during fall camp. He wrote that the numbness remained in his hands and feet for days after each episode, but he kept his condition to himself until the fifth week of the season when he suffered multiple incidents during practices and during the game. An MRI revealed his spinal stenosis, effectively ending his football career.
“Literally, since I was a little kid, I always had big dreams for myself,” Smalls said when he committed to the Huskies. “That’s one thing about me: I’m not afraid to dream big and say some things where other people would be like, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t do that,’ or ‘That’s not possible.’”
Andy Yamashita: ayamashita@seattletimes.com. Andy Yamashita is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, primarily covering Washington Huskies football.