Steve Smith, Jordan Gross, and Star Lotulelei each have two things in common.
First, they are bedrock members of my beloved Carolina Panthers.
Second, they all played college football at the University of Utah.
This Panther-Ute dynamic stirs some extremely complex emotions inside of me because to the degree that I love the Panthers, I loathe the University of Utah.
No matter what former Utah players do to help the Panthers succeed, there is always a part of my brain that subconsciously adds, "Yeah…but he’s still a Ute!"
The conflicting feelings I have rooting for former Utah Utes, my hated college rival, is hard to reconcile.
Am I alone in this?
The BYU-Utah Backstory
I am a transplant to North Carolina after being raised in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah. I grew up a die-hard fan of Brigham Young University and attended BYU for my undergrad.
In Utah, about 90% of the collective sports universe revolves around the Utah Jazz and the BYU-Utah rivalry. BYU-Utah is one of the fiercest rivalries in the nation and stirs the same heated emotions as Duke-Carolina or Michigan-Ohio State.
I openly root against Utah in every sport, all the time. I giggle with joy each time I watch this Utah football blooper. I am deeply jealous Utah joined the Pac-12 while BYU roams as a pointless football independent. I almost never wear the color red because of its connection to the U of U.
Yes, it’s petty, but that’s what sports rivalries do to us as fans.
As a BYU alum it is hard for me to go from rooting against former Utes like Gross, Smitty, and Star in college to suddenly embracing them once they put on a Panthers jersey.
A Begrudging Respect
It takes time, but as former Utes prove their value in Carolina, I ultimately learn to appreciate them. But make no mistake, from the moment they are drafted they are "guilty until proven innocent" in my very biased NFL court of law.
The "Scarlet U" that labeled each former Ute faded a bit each time Steve Smith scored a huge touchdown, Jordan Gross delivered a pancake block, or Star Lotulelei stuffed the run for an entire game.
In those exhilarating moments my loyalty to the Panthers dwarfs my disdain for the Utes.
But the Utah issue is always there for me, at least slightly coloring my perception of each of these players in a subtle reddish hue.
Am I The Only Crazy One?
The reason I raise this issue is because I assume I am not alone in having these conflicting feelings.
I have read enough comments at Cat Scratch Reader over the years to know how loyal most of you are to both the Panthers and your favorite college teams.
So how do you deal with the Panthers drafting players from colleges you despise?
I have always wondered how NC State fans embraced – or rejected – Julius Peppers, for example, after his decorated career at UNC.
On the flip side, how did UNC fans react to the signing of Jerricho Cotchery who had a stellar career at NC State?
Those examples only scratch the surface of the potential conflicts that can occur with Carolina’s large fan base and so many different colleges represented on the roster.
This is just my personal experience. It would be interesting to hear yours.
Please feel free to leave any comments to open a discussion about how you deal with the Panthers adding players from your least favorite schools. Unless, of course, you are a Utah fan, because if you are nobody wants to hear what you have to say.
(Kidding, Ute fans. Just kidding. You can turn off CAPS LOCK already.)
Please comment away, hopefully proving that I am not the only weirdo wrestling with this issue.