In the ongoing University of Washington quarterback saga, karma is a you-know-what

Justice doesn’t always have to be fair.

In fact, it can be almost cruel.

Sometimes, all the individuals involved might walk away frustrated, which doesn’t seem like the point of justice at all, but…

There you go.

But hey, even in a case where nobody winds up thrilled, a little piece of satisfaction can pop up when justice really bites the right guy on the backside.

It’s worth a tiny smile when the proper dude — some master of his own universe who thinks he should get to be judge and jury in every situation — feels the teeth of fairness right where he sits down.

So…

How’s your butt today, Chris Petersen?

You wondering if karma might have caught up with you in a strange case of quarterback justice, Coach?

Did the football gods look over your act, take a peek at some recent dealings with your players and say…

“You were a jerk for no reason, Chris, and please, no whining since you brought this all down on yourself.”

HERE’S THE background to our story, in case you haven’t followed every twist and turn to it.

Of course you know that Chris Petersen is head coach of the football factory at the University of Washington — for which the school and its boosters hand him $4.875 million per year.

But Chris will tell you he’s a “player’s coach,” and his first obligation is to be fair to his student-athletes.

He’s big on that speech.

So back up to spring practice, and Petersen wound up with five blue-chip quarterbacks on scholarship — all of which he recruited himself and one of whom was a transfer from Georgia.

At that point, he complained about having so many QBs that they couldn’t get enough reps in practice.

The logjam might have been a problem for “player’s coach” Petersen, but it wasn’t any fun for those kids stuck in limbo, either.

At the end of spring, redshirt freshman Colson Yankoff — once a heavily pursued, nationally known recruit from Coeur d’Alene High — decided he wanted out of the mess and placed his name in the NCAA transfer portal.

Another redshirt freshman, Jacob Sirmon, did the same.

Sirmon, though, was not as much in demand as Yankoff and, taking a hint, decided to stick it out at Washington.

Yankoff ultimately transferred to UCLA, with Petersen wishing him all the best.

Right, Chris?

THE NEXT act involved the mechanics of Yankoff’s move.

“We wanted to get the paperwork started to ask for a waiver,” said Colson’s dad, Trevor. “There are NCAA, Pac-12 and university rules that say you have to sit out a year if you transfer within the conference.

“But the real decision lies with the school, so we asked UW about getting that waiver so Colson could play this year. They told us that once Colson had formally enrolled at UCLA or elsewhere, that school would send the waiver application, and it would be handled that way.

“We were pretty hopeful. Petersen had made it plain he didn’t have plans for Colson and, since the rule exists to prevent a competitive advantage, it’s worth noting that Washington doesn’t play UCLA in either of the next two seasons — so competitive advantage didn’t come into it.

“(Petersen) should have no real objections to Colson leaving. We’re talking about a coach who walked away from a five-year contract at Boise State after two years.

“It never got near a real decision, though. Colson entered the portal on April 30, and on May 17, the University of Washington (compliance office) sent us a letter saying that no waiver would be granted and we shouldn’t even bother with the process.”

In other words, the Yankoffs were told to wait to apply, and then were given an answer before they even asked the question.

Who made the decision forcing Colson to sit out a second straight year?

You’d be crazy to think it was anyone but Petersen — out of sheer revenge because Colson didn’t “stick it out,” as Petersen claimed players of his own era presumably would have.

NOW WE move to fall, and Yankoff has been forgotten on Montlake.

He’s been forced to sit out, as his dad put it this way: “In the law, there are actions that are deemed ‘arbitrary and capricious,’ That’s exactly how you would describe Petersen’s decision.”

Meanwhile, back in Seattle, the coach was overseeing what he insisted was an incredibly close head-to-head duel for the starting quarterback position.

Petersen said repeatedly that transfer Jacob Eason — who had been the starter at Georgia as a freshman — and soph Jake Haener were just about dead even.

However…

Absolutely no one believed that.

“Everybody knew what was going on,” said Haener, who was as sure as the rest of the Husky Nation that Eason would inherit the job. “It didn’t matter what I did.”

Yet Petersen continuously and strenuously denied the inevitable ­— until last Thursday, when he formally anointed Eason as his new No. 1.

The coach seemed to toss Haener a bone when he said the backup would get to play a bit in UW’s opener against Eastern Washington.

As it turns out, Haener won’t play in that game — or any other for Washington.

He quit the program over the weekend.

Suddenly, Petersen has just one tested QB, and if Eason twists an ankle or he’s not that good or whatever, hey…

Remember Sirmon, who has never taken a snap in a college game?

He could be quarterbacking a team that Petersen hopes to take to the Final Four.

Hey, Chris…

Isn’t karma a bitch?

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Steve also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball once monthly during the offseason.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com