PROVO — There were no fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday, but that didn’t stop some celebrity Cougars — and a few non-Cougars — from filling the stands.
Twenty-six famous Utah ties and BYU alumni, most from the sporting world, were represented on cardboard cutouts in a close cluster in the east stands during BYU’s game against Troy.
Former BYU football stars were well-represented, including Steve Young and Jim McMahon, two longtime NFL quarterbacks, as well as current NFL players including Taysom Hill, Fred Warner, Jamaal Williams, Ezekiel Ansah, Kyle Van Noy, Sione Takitaki and Daniel Sorensen.
Sorensen’s coach in Kansas City, former BYU lineman and grad assistant Andy Reid, was also there. Sorry, though, there were no cheeseburgers present with the coach of the defending Super Bowl champions.
This wasn’t just limited to football stars, though.
BYU men’s basketball coach Mark Pope had his own cutout and former Cougar sharpshooter Jimmer Fredette was represented, as was Utah Jazz owner Gail Miller and NBA All-Star Donovan Mitchell, the third-year Jazzman, and Hall of Famers Karl Malone and John Stockton.
Two Cougar women’s coaches — soccer coach Jennifer Rockwood and volleyball coach Heather Olmstead — also had cutouts, as did former BYU soccer star Ashley Hatch, who now plays for the Washington Spirit of the National Women’s Soccer League.
Former BYU basketball star Danny Ainge, now the general manager and president of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics, was there, too, as were Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, performer Marie Osmond and BYU alum Sharlene Wells Hawkes, who was Miss America in 1985.
BYU’s mascot, Cosmo, even had his own cutout, as did Twitter famous BYU personality Boney Fuller.
Romney shared appreciation for his cutout on social media.