Most Ute fans become aware of their love affair with the U at a very young age, but it can be difficult to remember the exact moment. For some people, it might have been when Mike Anderson ran for a U football record 254 yards against Fresno State, or the U’s back-to-back 34-31 victories over archrival BYU in 1993 and 1994. For junior free safety Steve Tate, he doesn’t remember the game, but he remembers the player.
“I don’t remember the exact game. I mean, I was a season-ticket holder. I went to every game, but Brian Rolle-he stuck out in my mind,” Tate said. “That guy was the epitome of the U. I remember watching him every game and how good he was and wanted to simulate my game after him.”
Like Tate, every boy who has grown up as a Ute fan has had the dream, at one time or another, of playing in a Ute jersey, but few ever get to live out the dream of playing under the lights at Rice-Eccles Stadium in crimson and white.
Tate, left guard Zane Beadles, wide receiver Marquis Wilson and defensive back Casey Evans are four players who played high-school football in the Salt Lake area and have secured starting positions on the U football team. These four are among the lucky few who are living out their football dreams while playing for the team they grew up cheering for. In some cases, these dreams have taken unexpected twists and turns.
Tate continued to pursue his dream even after he originally walked on at Utah State.
“Oh definitely, it was a dream (to play for the U),” said Tate. “Out of high school, I ended up going to Utah State, but even when I was up there, I was a Utah man. I’m not going to lie, I went to Utah basketball games. I grew up a die-hard Utah fan, and it’s a dream come true.”
Tate became a Utah man before he was even born. It seems that Steve’s parents, Chris and Wynn Tate, provided Steve with an environment conducive to making true Ute fans.
“All my brothers and sisters went to the U, my parents are U graduates, my grandpa actually played for the U-so I’m a Utah man, definitely,” Tate said.
Tate remembers his younger days of football in the tailgating parking lot, and then continuing those games on the perimeter of Rice-Eccles Stadium before the generous remodeling was made possible by the Eccles family. These days, Tate has taken his skills into the stadium, and his parents still hold huge tailgate parties before each home game.
“Club Tate, they call it. You’ll see a big banner of it,” he said. “They’ve got the whole section, my brothers, all of (their) friends?my brothers and sisters are all Utah grads so they’ve got all their friends, and all my friends. It’s a big deal, they’ve got 12 or 13 season tickets, and they went all out, especially for this year.”
Sophomore wide receiver Marquis Wilson, who grew up in Rose Park, has also dreamed of playing for the U.
“When I was growing up playing little league over at west Rose Park, we’d wear our jerseys, come to the games,” Wilson said. “So I always wanted to play up here.”
Wilson admitted that playing in front of friends and family adds a little pressure, but it doesn’t seem like pressure he can’t handle.
“Oh yeah, butterflies, living up to expectations. But I love that, I love expectations. I love having a burden on my shoulders, and I’ve always been willing to take care of that,” Wilson said.
Tate also admitted that there is added pressure playing in front of friends and family, but the pressure isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“I think it gets you up a little bit more,” he said. “It kind of adds a little pressure on you because you have to go perform in front of people.”
Even before the Utes kicked in the door to the BCS party, the Utes had a prolific enough program to draw in some of the most talented players from California, Idaho and other surrounding states. It is still nice to know, though, that a few Utes are still homegrown boys, living out what most would call just a fantasy and playing for a team that they loved while they were still in diapers.
