Utah Blaze player Justin Skaggs was remembered on Monday for his love of family, football, hunting, hard work, country music and Jesus Christ during a memorial service at EnergySolutions Arena.
Skaggs, who had been with the Blaze for both years of the team's existence, died of complications from brain cancer on Friday afternoon, just days after his initial diagnosis. He was 28.
His life was celebrated during a service filled with amusing stories about Skaggs and tributes from teammates, Blaze coach Danny White, his father, Dave Skaggs, and religious leader Pastor Cory Anderson.
The closing song to the service was a recording of "Hard Workin' Man" by country stars Brooks and Dunn, a favorite of the departed wide receiver/linebacker. It was appropriate because time and time again during the 90-minute service, Skaggs had been praised for his hard work and determination.
"If anything, Justin gave you effort to a fault," said White. "His whole philosophy was: 'If you are not getting it done, try harder, try harder and try harder. You'll get it right."'
Blaze lineman Hans Olsen and a number of other Blaze teammates wore camouflage-colored T-shirts to the service as a tribute because Skaggs often wore camouflage. Olsen told some of his favorite stories about Skaggs' difficulty and determination to learn a new play, his forgetting his shoes and having to practice in Las Vegas wearing cowboy boots, and how teammates often ribbed Skaggs for his love of hunting.
Olsen also spoke of the quiet, emotional inspiration Skaggs gave the Blaze team on June 4 — the day of his biopsy — when he arrived in the locker room just minutes prior to Utah's home game against Colorado. The Blaze won the game, 51-14.
"I could see in the eyes of the guys on the team what it meant for him to come into that locker room and for him being there," said Olsen. "I have never in my life been so inspired by a man — and I've been around some great ones."
Blaze kicker Steve Videtich told of a golf outing to Thanksgiving Point when Skaggs, after hitting a ball in the rough, stalked a couple of deer he came across, getting as close as possible, while the rest of the golf party played on.
"Justin had a lot of passions in his life," said Videtich. "He loved God, he loved his family, he loved his friends and he loved football. Last year we found out on a warm sunny day that golf was not one of his passions."
While many of Skaggs' teammates couldn't relate to his love of hunting, his coach could. White is also a hunter. So when the players reported this year for training camp, one of the first things Skaggs told his coach was about the four deer he had shot during the offseason. White came to find out that three of the hunted deer were female — and he would tease him about it.
"I don't know how many times in practice that he would come back after he had dropped a pass or missed a block and have that scowl on his face," White remembered. "I'd get about 11 yards from him and say, 'Justin, what do you expect from a doe killer.' That scowl would immediately turn into a grin that could light up a football stadium."
Skaggs was remembered as a deeply religious man — a born-again Christian who put his wife, Tara, and two young children, Jake and Abbie, first.
While there was just a matter of days between Skaggs' diagnosis and death, White said that may have been a blessing to all involved.
"Justin could have struggled through radiation and chemotherapy and all the treatments for six months, for two years, for five years or who knows, and not been the Justin that we are honoring today," said White. "God had another plan for him."
Pastor Anderson put it this way, "We know that death is not the end, but a phenomenal new beginning."
The Blaze, meanwhile, will play their first-ever game without Justin Skaggs on Saturday in the regular-season finale against the Avengers in Los Angeles. A victory will send Utah to the AFL playoffs.
E-mail: lojo@desnews.com