Scott Pelluer, standout linebacker at Washington State and in NFL, dies at 64

SEATTLE – Scott Pelluer, a standout linebacker at Washington State from 1977 to 1980 and a patriarch of one of the most recognizable football families in state history, died late Monday at age 64.

Pelluer had been placed in a medically induced coma at a Seattle hospital after suffering cardiac arrest Thursday night, brother Steve said.

“There was just something about him – a vibrancy, a passion,” Steve Pelluer, a UW quarterback in the early 1980s, said in an interview Tuesday. “He was a man’s man. He had great friends. He cared for people well. And his players enjoyed playing for him.”

He is survived by his wife, Kimberly; daughter, Jordan; sons, Tyler, Cooper and Peyton; his mother, Jodee; two younger brothers, Steve and Arnie; and a large extended family.

Born in Yakima, Scott Pelluer was the oldest of three boys.

He graduated from Bellevue’s Interlake High in 1977 and became a four-year starter at outside linebacker for the Cougars.

He was the first freshman in 1977 to start a game for the Cougars that season. That came just a few months after what he described as a hang-gliding accident on Lake Sammamish.

“I was being towed behind a boat and the rope didn’t release right,” he told the Seattle Times later that year. “I dropped about 100 feet” into the lake.

He broke six ribs in the fall.

He recovered to become a key figure on the WSU defense late that season and for the rest of his career.

As a senior, he led WSU in tackles for loss (18) and sacks (12).

He was selected in the fourth round of the 1981 NFL draft, and went on to play five seasons for the New Orleans Saints.

His three sons played college football: Tyler at Montana; Cooper at UW; and Peyton at WSU.

Peyton appeared in a record 54 games for WSU from 2014-18, starting four years at linebacker and finishing fifth on the school’s all-time tackles list.

“Just really proud. Very proud of him and proud of the way he holds himself,” Scott said in an interview with KREM in 2018. “I just feel extremely blessed.”

Peyton wore No. 47, the same number his father wore for the Cougars.

“My dad is at every game, he supports me whether it is home or away,” Peyton told the Daily Evergreen in 2018. “My family is awesome with traveling and supporting me. I guess Dad’s Weekend is more special for him than other weekends, so I just try to put it on for all the dads out there.”

Scott Pelluer coached for two decades at several college programs, spending time on both sides of the Apple Cup rivalry, with two stints as an assistant at UW, in 1995-99 and 2003-05.

He also served as an analyst for WSU radio broadcasts in 1999-2000, working alongside legendary play-by-play broadcaster Bob Robertson.

“He absolutely loved Washington State,” Steve said. “I don’t think he could’ve had a better college experience.”

The Pelluer family has one of the deepest football bloodlines in the state, with four generations starring at WSU.

Scott’s brother Steve starred at Interlake High and played QB for the Huskies in 1981-83, leading UW to a Rose Bowl victory and earning the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year award as a senior. Steve then played seven years in the NFL for Dallas and Kansas City.

Their youngest brother, Arnie, an Issaquah High grad, played linebacker at Stanford in the late 1980s.

Their father, Arnie Sr., was a high school All-American at Bremerton High School in 1951 who went on to star at WSU. He became the head track and cross country coach at Eastern Washington before he suffered a seizure and drowned in a swimming pool accident at the age of 36 in 1971.

Scott was 13 at the time of his father’s death, and became something of a father figure to his younger bothers. That was especially true for Arnie Jr., who was just 4 at the time.

“He was such a great example for us after our dad passed away,” Steve said. “He was really thrust into this important leadership role as a 13-year-old and we looked up to him.”

Their maternal grandfather, Carl Gustafson, was a fullback at WSU from 1925-27 and was presented the Fred Bohler Award as the team’s most inspirational player.

It’s the same award his grandson Scott received as WSU senior in 1980.