Utah may not have an NFL team, but that isn’t stopping Prime’s “Thursday Night Football” from coming to the Beehive State this week.
Former NFL players and current “Thursday Night Football” analysts Ryan Fitzpatrick and Andrew Whitworth will attend Park City High School’s football game against Provo High on Friday, according to the Park City School District.
The visit came “kind out of nowhere,” Park City head coach Josh Montzingo told the Deseret News on Thursday, with “Thursday Night Football” being the one to reach out to Park City High.
Footage from Friday’s game will air during the Oct. 9 “Thursday Night Football” pregame broadcast. That night, Utahn and former Roy and Corner Canyon quarterback Jaxson Dart and the New York Giants will host the Philadelphia Eagles.
Montzingo‘s players were surprised when they heard the news.
“It was cool. They were trying to figure out how that came about, too. They were asking the same questions. I said, ‘I don’t know. They reached out to us,’” Montzingo said.
The footage will be part of the new segment, “Whit & Fitz the Roadtrip.”
As part of the segment, Fitzpatrick and Whitworth will drive from Thursday’s San Francisco 49ers-Los Angeles Rams game in Los Angeles to the Giants’ MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, according to a video NFL on Prime Video shared on X.
Along the way, they’ll stop in Salt Lake City as well as other destinations.
“This is such a special opportunity for our student-athletes to be recognized beyond our community,” Park City School District Superintendent Lyndsay Huntsman said in a statement, per The Park Record.
“We’re grateful to the NFL and Amazon’s Thursday Night Football team for stopping by to celebrate our students and the incredible effort they put in, both on and off the field.”
The student-athletes participating have signed appearance releases and a filming notice will be posted around the field to notify spectators, per the Record.
Friday’s game for Park City is against Region 8 favorite Provo. While being on the broadcast is “definitely neat,” Montzingo thinks facing Provo is enough motivation for his team to show out.
“I think that’s more motivation than anything else, is trying to knock off the big dog and try to hopefully win a region championship, but I think, they’re kids, so it definitely could make them want to try to show up a little bit more. Who knows? I think I’d be no different if I was in their shoes,” he said.
Montzingo said he is grateful for the opportunity to represent Utah on the national stage.
“We’re blessed and we’re grateful for the opportunity. I’m just really excited for our kids to be able to show up and show out,” he said.
The game will be played at Park City High’s Dozier Field on Friday at 7 p.m.
“Just excited to go play, and hopefully, we have a great time and represent well,” Montzingo said.