Thousands of fans bowed their heads and closed their eyes to pray.
Meanwhile, Utah kicker Dillon Curtis continued his warmup on the field at LaVell Edwards Stadium, just minutes before the start of the BYU-Utah rivalry game. In a video that was later shared on social media, the freshman could be seen working on his kickoff technique, booting the ball into the Provo sky as fans prayed.
The video prompted backlash when it was posted in the wake of Utah’s loss to BYU last Saturday. U.S. Sen. Mike Lee drew attention to the Ute freshman on X, reposting the video and asking, “Would you say it’s poor form to do this during the pre-game opening prayer at a religious university?”
Replying to a comment, Lee went further: “I didn’t take the video,” he wrote. “But honestly, at least whoever did take it wasn’t being disruptive by doing so. Hard to say the same about that player.”
On Wednesday, Curtis issued an apology on X.
“I’ve been debating for a few days whether I make a comment on me kicking during the prayer, and at first I decided to just let it blow over but I realized that isn’t the right thing to do,” he wrote. “I just wanted to apologize to anyone I offended I really didn’t mean anything negative by it and especially didn’t have harsh intentions, I was just warming up when my coaches told me to warm up.”
Former Utah kicker Andy Phillips, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, came to Curtis’ defense as fans reacted to the video. He quoted Lee’s post, asking for people to be “peacemakers” and not “critics.”
“Mike, cmon, you’re a senator,” Phillips told The Salt Lake Tribune. “You’ve got a huge following, you’re a public figure and you’re taking time out of your day call this 18-year-old kid out and making an assumption about something that maybe is fair or maybe is not fair.
“You have no idea what’s going through this kid’s head. Maybe he had zero opportunities before that to go through his pregame routine.”
(Rick Egan | Tribune File Photo) Utah Utes kicker Andy Phillips (39) poses with his missionary buddy, Kyle Carlson, Ogden, BYU faced The University of Utah game, at Lavell Edwards Stadium, Saturday, September 21, 2013. Phillips and Carlson served in Norway together.
Phillips was once in the freshman’s shoes. He was Utah’s kicker from 2012-16, and he played in the BYU-Utah rivalry multiple times.
He, as a former kicker, said finding opportunities to warm up can be difficult with so many players on the field before a game. Phillips also added that kicking routines are different at every road venue.
“We have to have some empathy and put ourselves in his shoes and understand that like, maybe he had his earbuds in, and he was like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna go lock in and get five kickoffs and be ready to roll,’” Phillips said.
“It’s also the beauty of this country: He doesn’t have to participate in any sort of form of worship if he doesn’t want to. It also doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be respectful of it.”
Phillips also doesn’t think it’s fair for Curtis to be attacked online.
“I don’t think it’s fair to him, and I don’t think it’s [fair for] a bunch of people on Twitter ... just trying to kind of throw shade and bring a kid down for the sake of a rivalry,” Phillips said.
“Also, the hypocrisy of somebody posting a video during a prayer and calling somebody out for doing something disrespectful during a prayer is just kind of wild to me.”
Phillips, ultimately, said he wants to see things cool down for fans of both programs.
“He’s wearing red, so people are like ‘Let’s make an example out of him,’” Phillips said. “There’s absolutely no need for that on either side. It’s just so stretched.”
And he also has one parting message for Lee:
“I agree with Mike Lee on a lot of things and have a few things I disagree with him politically,” Phillips said. “But, dude, understand your platform. Understand what you’re tweeting out, and how that might impact this young, 18-year-old kid.”