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Jason Sutherland, a former standout University of Missouri basketball player, looks for a receiver in the Kansas Kaos' 34-0 victory over the Cass County Renegades in this photo from June 28 in Bonner Springs. Sutherland is the minor-league football team's starting quarterback.
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Kevin Anderson/Bonner Springs Chieftain Photo
Jason Sutherland, a former standout University of Missouri basketball player, looks for a receiver in the Kansas Kaos' 34-0 victory over the Cass County Renegades in this photo from June 28 in Bonner Springs. Sutherland is the minor-league football team's starting quarterback.
Journal-World File Photo
Jason Sutherland, left, and former Missouri coach Norm Stewart watch a Kansas-MU game from the Allen Fieldhouse sidelines.
Jayhawk Adversaries
The following is a look at some of the most disliked opponents to come through Allen Fieldhouse in recent memory:
¢ Jason Sutherland, Missouri - Viewed by many as a dirty player for his reckless style of play.
¢ Derek Grim, Missouri - Remembered for cheap-shotting Raef LaFrentz during a game in the Fieldhouse in 1997.
¢ David Harrison, Colorado - Always seemed more interested in jawing with the crowd than putting up good numbers.
¢ Anthony Beane, Kansas State - Flashy Wildcat point guard walked into Lawrence and won in 1994.
¢ Curtis Stinson, Iowa State - Liked to mix it up with fellow New Yorker Russell Robinson, but never really got the better of him.
If not for legendary Missouri basketball coach Norm Stewart, Kansas University fans might have had 20 more games to heckle Jason Sutherland.
Sutherland, the fiery former Mizzou point guard who undoubtedly ranks high on KU fans' list of least favorite opponents, actually considered playing football at Missouri before Stewart sacked the idea.
Today, 11 years after playing his last game of roundball for the Black and Gold, Sutherland finds himself playing out his football passion - for a team in Kansas, no less.
"I've never really thought of it like that," said Sutherland, the starting quarterback for the Kansas Kaos, a minor-league football team affiliated with the North American Football League. "I guess it's all right. The older I get, those feelings aren't as strong. It's not like I like KU now, though. I still drive down the road, and when I see a car with a KU sticker, I think, 'Man, that guy can't drive.'"
It's that type of attitude that caused KU fans to loathe Sutherland every time he stepped onto the Allen Fieldhouse floor from 1993-1997. As a fan of the game and a die-hard competitor, Sutherland understands that now. He even appreciates it.
"There were a lot of places that had their own little deals, but (Allen Fieldhouse) was always one of the toughest," Sutherland said. "They let the students in early, and they were always spitting on you, yelling at you, throwing things at you. But that's part of what made the rivalry so great, the entire atmosphere. I'm sure the Antlers (Missouri's infamous jeering section) did the same stuff to the KU players."
The former basketball star's football career popped up by chance. After becoming good friends with former NFL running back Allen Williams, a player and member of the management team for the Kaos, Williams mentioned to Sutherland that he needed a quarterback to complete the roster. Never one to back down from a challenge, the former high school football standout from South Dakota obliged.
Things have moved pretty quickly since then, sometimes literally.
"It's really been a new experience for me because I haven't played football for 14 years," Sutherland said. "Last year, the pace of the game was tough, especially at quarterback, but this year's been better, and things are starting to slow down."
During Sutherland's four-year MU career, in which the team tallied an 82-45 overall record, the Tigers typically played the part of Lex Luthor to KU's Superman. Sutherland helped lead MU to three NCAA Tournament appearances and knocked off KU four times during his career.
For him, though, the tough losses stand out more.
"I have a lot of great memories from my career," Sutherland said. "But unfortunately, every March Madness I'm reminded of one of the worst."
It was Sutherland, a sophomore in March of 1995, who shadowed UCLA's Tyus Edney as the Bruins' point guard went coast-to-coast in the final 4.8 seconds of a second-round NCAA Tournament game to beat Mizzou, 75-74. The improbable bucket remains one of the most exciting buzzer beaters in tournament history and proved to be a catalyst for UCLA's most recent national championship season.
After playing smaller roles during his first two years in Columbia, Mo., Sutherland became a bona fide team leader during his junior and senior seasons. He ranks 22nd on Mizzou's career scoring list (1,194 points) and sits atop the charts for three-pointers made (190) and attempted (469). Not surprisingly, he also ranks in the top 10 in career fouls with 317 in 125 games.
After college, Sutherland forged a hoops career in Italy and Germany that was cut short because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament. He remained close to his alma mater and coached under former MU coach Quin Snyder for a couple of seasons before taking a shot at running his own program at the high school level. That, too, eventually ended, which prompted Sutherland to go to work in the commercial and residential mortgage industry. That's what pays the bills today. But a couple of times a week he makes the short drive to Bonner Springs to join the Kaos.
Many who played against Sutherland during the height of his athletic career are not surprised to hear that his athleticism has taken him to the gridiron.
"When I heard that he was playing football now, my first thought was, 'That fits,'" former KU guard Ryan Robertson said. "He kind of took a football mentality with him onto the basketball floor every time out. I remember him being a fierce competitor, and I remember him being an incredible athlete. You knew whenever you played against him that you were going to have to bring it."
More times than not it was Sutherland who brought it. That, he said, was a product of the win-at-all-costs way he was raised and, later, a result of the philosophies Stewart instilled in him at MU.
"The people in Columbia look at me as a guy who played hard and did whatever it took to win," Sutherland said. "But people in every other town looked at me as a dirty player. But that didn't bother me at all. It actually kind of motivated me, and I enjoyed it."
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Comments
KEITHMILES05 (anonymous) says...
For such a big talker of a guy who played hard and did whatever it took to win he was one dumb player who didn't know how the heck to guard Edney.
Yes, that is what you'll be remembered by. Just another player who couldn't do his job on the floor and lost the game for your team.
It's always brightens the NCAA tourney when they show that play over and over.
Poor Mizzu. Just a loser.
July 17, 2008 at 3:17 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Yahweh (anonymous) says...
I know I'm biased; I have no interest about this guy's life. He chose the wrong path.
July 17, 2008 at 3:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
WilburNether (anonymous) says...
Sutherland was one of the dirtiest players in the history of the Big 8, and I've heard that from players at two schools other than KU.
July 17, 2008 at 5:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Toto_the_great (anonymous) says...
I spoke with an MU fan who compared Sutherland to Haas. He said that both were identical but that Haas was labeled a tough-nosed go-getter by the media because of his uniform whereas Sutherland was label dirty. He continued to say those two labels would change if you changed their uniforms. Granted there might be a fine line between tough-nosed and dirty, but I don't see how you get the two mixed.
July 17, 2008 at 5:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dagger108 (anonymous) says...
Since Tyus was brought up, it is worth passing on the link to Mizzoo's shining moment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a_u0c...
That someone else posted recently. It is sooo sweet.
July 17, 2008 at 6 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
palewhale (anonymous) says...
I've always heard the comparison between Haas and Sutherland and I hated it. Not even a close comparison!
July 17, 2008 at 7:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tis4tim (anonymous) says...
I still drive down the road, and when I see a car with a KU sticker, I think, 'Man, that guy can't drive.'"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Funny, but whenever I see a picture of this guy I think "Punk."
July 17, 2008 at 8:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
WilburNether (anonymous) says...
Regarding comparisons of Haase and Sutherland, the way one former Big 12 player put it was that Haase would go for the ball, and might hit someone in the head by accident, While Sutherland would go for another player's head, and might hit the ball by accident. In other words, Haase was aggressive but clean, while Sutherland was a flat-out dirty player. I asked another former Big 12 player if Sutherland was really as bad as some in the news media were making him out to be, and this player's response was, "He's worse."
Sutherland and Grimm were two of the dirtiest college players I've ever seen.
July 17, 2008 at 9:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Puggy (anonymous) says...
"They let the students in early, and they were always spitting on you, yelling at you, throwing things at you."
I've been to a lot of KU-Fizzou games in Allen as a student, and we don't do that kinda sh*t. STFU Sutherland, I'd be tempted to go to one of those sorry-ass foozball games just to boo him...i don't spit or throw things at amateur or pro athletes, but I think I can make an exception for semi-quasi-not-really-pro-half-retarded athletes like Sutherland.
July 17, 2008 at 9:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jayhawk1996 (anonymous) says...
I think spitting is only reserved for fans of Sutherland's former team and the Purple People. And AFH doesn't "let the students in early," they come in early. At Mizzou, they hardly show up at all.
July 17, 2008 at 10:17 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
KUbsee69 (anonymous) says...
Sutherland was always proof that the dark side does exist.
July 17, 2008 at 10:42 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
KUFan90 (anonymous) says...
Can we get a "where are they now" article on a former KU player instead of a former MU player?
July 17, 2008 at 1:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Strikewso (anonymous) says...
KU does not spit and throw things at players, that is just another dig that this guy is trying to throw out there one last time.
Once a punk, always a punk.
July 17, 2008 at 2:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Eurekahwk (anonymous) says...
I absolutely loathe that mofo Sutherland. He exemplifies everything that Mizzou is about. The thought of him getting layed out on the gridiron makes me smile!
July 17, 2008 at 2:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
HawkSC (anonymous) says...
SOB, but I miss that attitude. Those were the days my friend........
July 17, 2008 at 3:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Strikewso (anonymous) says...
Yeah, maybe Missouri will recruit some decent competitors again so we can have some good games again like we had in the 90s.
July 17, 2008 at 4:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
melrank (anonymous) says...
You know, I'm not sure why this article is on our board, but these are some funny posts. :)
July 17, 2008 at 8:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
King_Kaun (anonymous) says...
the article is on this board cuz he is a former nemesis of KU - and a former MIZZOU player at that - who is now trying to make a living playing for a KANSAS sports team. I wouldn't have known without this article... it actually makes perfect sense that its on this site.
why do people always bash these articles about our rivals?
Keep your friends close...and your enemies closer...
July 17, 2008 at 10:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
KoolKeithFreeze (anonymous) says...
He and Norm look like father-son gremlins in that picture above. Love it...
July 18, 2008 at 4:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
melrank (anonymous) says...
Not bashing, just not sure of relevance for me when I log into this site. I can understand your position, though.
Best part of this article is how it's galvanized the KU fan, again, with our shared dislike for Misery U.
Rock Chalk NC.
July 18, 2008 at 6:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
kawryan (anonymous) says...
HA! I spit on him!
Ah, the good ol days.
July 19, 2008 at 12:34 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
philipolson (anonymous) says...
he was a fighter. enough with the hating.
July 21, 2008 at 3:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )