For this year’s game against the USC Trojans, the Utah Utes are honoring a pair of fallen teammates in an incredibly unique way, rolling out custom hand-painted helmets to celebrate Aaron Lowe and Ty Jordan, who passed away within a year of each other.
Sophomore cornerback Lowe was killed on Sept. 26 of 2021 during a shooting at a Salt Lake City house party. Jordan, who was the 2020 Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, died on Christmas of 2020 following an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The two players were best friends, and both wore the No. 22 – one on offense and one on defense. And the team will pay tribute to both of them by wearing their new #22forever helmets against USC this season. The helmets are hand-painted and feature a portrait of Lowe on one side and Jordan on the other.
This is not the first time the school has honored the two fallen teammates. Last season, Utah retired the No. 22, marking the first time the program had ever retired a number. The team also took on the mantra “be 22% better,” paying tribute to their shared number.
“It brought us together in a way that I don’t know what could have been more powerful,” Coach Kyle Whittingham said last year. “It unified us and gave us all a cause. Not that you need that to have a good football team, but that really sparked us and really gave everybody a common denominator to play for.”
Utah will wear the special helmets on Oct. 15 against USC.
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