Why Utah's Landen King picked up trash instead of joining negative reaction to BYU loss

SALT LAKE CITY — For tight end Landen King, Utah is home — in every sense of the word.

And on Saturday night — after chaos ensued following a 22-21 win by BYU in dramatic fashion, which included Utah's athletic director being fined and publicly reprimanded by the Big 12 — his home was disrespected.

A handful of fans threw objects onto the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The reasons are unknown but were ultimately in relation to their displeasure of Utah losing the game.

But instead of walking directly to the locker room, like many of his teammates, King, with helmet in hand, walked over to some garbage in the south end zone and picked it up before disposing of it.

He didn't have to do that in the moment; if anything, it's the last thing to likely think about after such a heartbreaking loss. But that wasn't King's approach.

"I just seen trash on the field. I didn't know if they were throwing it at us, I just don't know," King told KSL.com. "I play on that field, like, Utah's my home and so I just — you wouldn't want trash on your own home, no matter what happens during the game. So just trying to do a good thing, just try to pick up the trash, because it was a lot — not gonna lie — so anything that could help. The people that were to come and pick it up, I was just trying to help as little as I can."

It was a little thing amid a postgame scene that featured emotional outbursts and pointing of fingers at others for another Utah loss.

The loss stung King as much as anyone on the team, but he was more interested in helping rather than adding to an already negative scene — even with no promise anyone would even notice.

Recognition wasn't the point.

It's a representation on the "high-character players" that litter the Utes roster, head coach Kyle Whittingham said Monday when asked about King seen picking up the trash.

"They've just continued to battle every week," Whittingham said. "It's been the most frustrating season of my career, and to see how they've handled themselves and continue to compete and fight has been a — it's been awesome to see that happen.

"The year hasn't turned out anything like we hoped it would or were expecting, but they've continued to stay in the fight and continue to work hard in practice."

It was a sign of character from a tight end that factored into the offense more last season than his limited minutes this year. But with Brant Kuithe sustaining a season-ending injury — an injury that Whittingham described as "extensive" — King may see more minutes in the final three games of the regular season.

And though those minutes are coveted and something King has hoped for all season, his attention remains on others.

"It really does rip my heart out," King said. "But, I mean, Brant wouldn't want me over here sulking like that. He would just want me to just, everybody in the tight end room, not even just me, we've all just got to pick up our plate. We've gotta make it up for him. Brant, that's my ride or die, man; that's my brother. I just hate to see him go out like that."

He added that "Brant would just want us to all be focused" and not dwell on his injury, no matter how unfortunate it is to the team or Kuithe's future football prospects.

"There's, obviously, more reps on the table for everybody in the room," he said. "So just taking our opportunities and taking that chance, and just doing what we do best, making plays with those opportunities."

Whittingham said King, along with Carsen Ryan and Dallen Bentley, as well as Caleb Lohner and Miki Suguturaga, will likely see more reps in the coming days to help offset the workload Kuithe put in for the offense.

But regardless his role over the coming weeks, King remains a team-first guy in whatever capacity that means for the team. Sometimes, it's being the bigger person and picking up the trash left by others.

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