Darnell Ernest Washington (born August 17, 2001), nicknamed “Mount Washington”, is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was a two-time CFP national champion while playing

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, winning in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Early life

Washington was born in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, on August 17, 2001. He attended

Desert Pines High School Desert Pines High School is a public high school in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, and is a part of the Clark County School District. The school which opened in 1999, also houses the Academy of Information Technology and the Academy of Communi ...

, where he played football and basketball. During his time on the football team Desert Pines won back to back state championships in the years 2016–2017. A five-star recruit in football, he committed to play

at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

College career

As a true freshman at Georgia, Darnell recorded 166 yards on seven receptions. In Washington's second season he put up 145 yards on nine receptions and scored one touchdown. This touchdown was the first of Washington's career and it came in the

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. For its first 32 seasons, the championship game pitted the Eastern Division regular season champion again ...

against

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. Washington's longest gain of the season came on a 32 yard reception against

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. He appeared in seven games and missed time due to having to have surgery for a minor fracture in his foot. In the

2022 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship was a college football bowl game played on January 10, 2022, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The eighth College Football Playoff National Championship, the game determined t ...

, Georgia defeated Alabama 33–18. During Washington's third season, he recorded 28 receptions for 454 yards and two touchdowns. As a result, Washington was named to the Second-team All-SEC. On January 12, 2023, Washington declared for the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

Statistics

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

2023

Washington was drafted 93rd overall in the 2023 NFL Draft by the

and on May 12, 2023, he signed his rookie contract. As a rookie, he appeared in all 17 games and made seven starts. He had seven receptions for 61 receiving yards. During his tenure as a rookie, he was given the nickname "Mount Washington" due to his large frame and as a reference to the Pittsburgh landmark/neighborhood

Mount Washington Mount Washington is an ultra-prominent mountain in the state of New Hampshire. It is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorio ...

2024

In his second season, Washington would score his first career touchdown on a five yard pass from

Justin Fields Justin Skyler Fields (born March 5, 1999) is an American professional football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint with the Georgia Bulldogs, he played college football for the Ohio State B ...

to put the first points on the board in a 13–6 Steelers victory over the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

. After the touchdown reception, Washington celebrated by giving a salute. He would explain in a post-game interview the salute was for his brother, a member of the

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

. During his sophomore season, Washington's size began to be utilized in the passing game. He recorded at least two catches for 25 plus yards in the first five games in which

Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He has primarily played for the Seattle Seahawks. With the Sea ...

started at the quarterback position. His 11 receptions through those five games eclipsed his entire 17 game total of seven from 2023. He finished the 2024 regular season making 19 catches on 25 targets for 200 yards and a touchdown. He made a second postseason appearance in the team's 28–14 Wild Card loss to the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

where he made one catch for nine yards.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Pittsburgh Steelers bio

Georgia Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Darnell Georgia Bulldogs football players American football tight ends Living people 2001 births Players of American football from Las Vegas Pittsburgh Steelers players