This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Life can be hard for a celebrity missionary. You're there to discuss God, and people would rather discuss You.

Chase Hansen knows. But he wasn't the celebrity.

Assigned to Brisbane, Australia, Hansen went door-to-door with rugby prodigy William Hopoate, who famously passed up $1.5 million to serve an LDS mission.

"Everyone would say 'Hi' to me and get a picture with him," said Hansen on Thursday, back in the land where storms swirl counterclockwise and balls are thrown forward, not backward.

"We used to tease him that he was paired up with Hopoate to carry his backpack," said Brian, Hansen's father.

Here — where it's "Hopoate who?" — it's Hansen who is kind of a big deal. A four-star recruit and The Tribune's 2011 Class 5A Player of the Year while leading Lone Peak to a state title, Hansen has already inserted himself into the conversation about Utah's backup quarterback, just three spring practices removed from anonymity.

Such is Hansen's profile that when he arrived at Salt Lake International in December, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham was waiting for him — as were rumors that he was following in the footsteps of former Bingham standout Harvey Langi and transferring to BYU.

Like Langi, Hansen served under a mission president, Lon Henderson, whose son played for BYU. Hansen's cousin Colby is a redshirt freshman Cougar running back. And his playing style — at least in high school — was not unlike that of BYU starter Taysom Hill.

But that's all there is to it.

"I came back and someone's like, 'Congrats. Excited to have you at the Y.'" Hansen told them, "'I don't know what you heard, but I'm a Ute.'"

He admits he was nervous when he read Whittingham might be bound for another school after leading Utah to a 9-4 season and a Las Vegas Bowl victory. It was also tough to hear Brian Johnson left to become quarterbacks coach at Mississippi State.

It helped, though, that Whittingham and safeties coach Morgan Scalley faithfully wrote Hansen to keep him in the loop, as did his mother, Pamela.

Scalley "ought to write a book," Brian Hansen said. "His emails are unbelievable, they were so motivational."

Whittingham wrote just a paragraph each week, but those paragraphs (both literally and figuratively) went a long way.

"Like he's not busy," Chase said. "… It just goes to show you what kind of coach he is."

Still, even Hansen's parents had begun to wonder if there was something to the scuttlebutt, and if they were just the last ones to know.

Brian thought that if Whittingham — whom he played with 35 years ago at BYU — departed, his son might weigh his options. But he asked Chase about that recently, and Chase told him it wouldn't have changed his plans.

"In Chase's mind, he was nothing but a Ute from the time he left until he came home," Brian said.

Little changed about Hansen's goal of becoming a Division I quarterback, either. If anything, he said, the mission helped drive home that, "we're not just monkeys throwing a ball, but we're here playing for a reason."

But he does sound different now. Senior punter and Melbourne native Tom Hackett said — "complained" might be a better word — that Hansen talks like a New Zealander.

Hansen was told in Australia that he sounded Dutch or South African, and credits his mishmash accent to spending so much time around Polynesian companions and speaking with English expats.

"No one knows what I'm saying now," he joked.

He was active, as you'd expect, wrecking bikes "dozens" of times (see video at left) and learning to play rugby from the likes of his superstar companion.

"It took me a while to get the hang of it, but it's basically the same pace as our offense is now," Hansen said.

He feels fit, and he also feels more comfortable this spring than he did after graduating early and playing in 2012 — even though the overall level of athleticism is now higher.

Whittingham said Thursday that he's still looking for separation among the group of Hansen, sophomores Brandon Cox and Conner Manning, and redshirt freshman Donovan Isom. (Senior Kendal Thompson is out of the equation currently while he recovers from a torn ACL.)

Hansen's time to shine will be live work, Whittingham said, when he can show off his scrambling ability.

They'll go live Tuesday, and Hansen promises he'll throw it forward, not backward.

mpiper@sltrib.com Twitter: @matthew_piper —

Chase Hansen

Measurements • 6-foot-3, 216 pounds

In high school • 2011 Class 5A Player of the Year led Lone Peak to a 14-0 season and a state title, passing for 3,066 yards and 38 touchdowns and rushing for 1,404 yards and 16 touchdowns. Overall, he threw for 4,878 yards, 52 touchdowns against 15 interceptions during his high school career, and was named U.S. Air Force National Player of the Week after leading Lone Peak past Bingham and snapping the Miners' 31-game win streak.

Family • Father, Brian, played linebacker in 1978 and 1981-82 at BYU. Uncle Randy, lettered for Utah from 1968-70. Uncle Bruce lettered at BYU in 1981 and 1985-86, playing for the New England Patriots in 1987. Cousin Colby is a redshirt freshman running back at BYU.