Utah football honoring Ty Jordan, Aaron Lowe with hand-painted helmets

The Utah Utes will pay tribute to Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe with unique, custom hand-painted helmets.

Last season, the Utah Utes rode a magical ride to a Pac-12 championship and berth in the Rose Bowl. A season in memory of Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe.

Jordan and Lowe passed away nine months apart, creating a large hole in the Utah Utes program. To honor the memory of the running back and defensive back, the Utes program will use the annual hand-painted helmets in the 2022 season.

The helmets will debut on the gridiron on October 15th, when the Utes take on the USC Trojans and their new head coach Lincoln Riley.

Utah pays tributes to fallen teammates Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe with custom design helmets.

Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe were victims of gunshots; the former was killed at a house party while the latter passed due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Utah program was undoubtedly devastated to lose two players in such a short span, but the team rallied around the loss and brought light to the program.

Both players wore #22, and the number has been retired by the program in memoriam. Their spirit helped fuel a Utah Utes Pac-12 championship against Oregon en route to the Rose Bowl, where they gave Ohio State a scare before ultimately falling in the end. Still, coach Kyle Whittingham didn’t mince words about what the two #22’s meant to the program.

"“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.”"

It’s a very tragic situation. You can imagine what their families continue to feel to this day. Still, what Utah is doing here to honor those players shows that football extends just beyond the field. It’s a part of life that often gets overlooked, specifically, the bonds teammates share when they work towards a common goal.

The Utes hope that the magic they recreated last season can continue, especially on the night they wear their teammates on their helmets against the Trojans.

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