Even though tonight is a night for trick-or-treating, don’t expect the Kansas University football team to be pounding the pavement with plastic jack-o-lanterns and empty pillow cases.
Most likely, the Jayhawks will be getting their rest in preparation for Saturday’s 11:30 a.m. kickoff against Kansas State.
“I think if we show up in costume, coach (Mark) Mangino would be worried about whether we were focusing on the game at all,” junior safety Darrell Stuckey said.
Fair enough. But let’s say things go well against the Wildcats and the Jayhawks improve to 6-3 with a victory. What then? Surely, a handful of Jayhawks will trade in their tailfeathers and beaks for some kind of crazy Halloween costume, right?
“Sure,” Stuckey said. “There’s a lot of characters on this team, but it would have to be one of the freshmen or one of the sophomores. I think the younger you are, the more creative you are and the bolder you are. As you get older, you kind of conform with the rules and regulations.”
Stuckey’s not alone. Sophomore cornerback Chris Harris won’t dress up. Neither will senior wide receiver Dexton Fields.
But there were plenty of opinions this week about which KU player might have the best costume of the bunch.
“Probably some crazy lineman or somebody like that,” Harris said. “But I think everybody’s been focused on this game. I don’t think anybody’s been talking about Halloween.”
Linebacker Joe Mortensen also thought a lineman would make the best costume.
“I would just go with Ryan Cantrell because he’s like the dirtiest guy on the team,” Mortensen said. “He’s got that long hair, that facial hair, he could do a lot of stuff with that. I don’t know, he could be like a dead biker or something like that.”
Consider Mortensen the team expert on costumes. When he was young, his mother dressed him up for Halloween every year. As he got older, and began to pick out his own fright-night formal wear, he went for the guaranteed hit more than a few times – Mr. Clean.
“I had the whole gold earring, the white shirt and the faded jeans,” Mortensen said.
This year, Mortensen came up with a plan for himself and roommates Mike Rivera and Adrian Mayes:
“Me and Mike Rivera and Adrian Mayes are going to dress up like the Blues Brothers,” Mortensen said. “We were watching the movie a couple of weeks ago and I like (John) Belushi and Dan Akroyd and the whole thing, so we got sunglasses and we’ve got some suits.”
The whole idea was news to Rivera, who on Tuesday said he didn’t expect to have time.
“Joe said he’d pick something out for us,” Rivera said. “I just don’t know if we’ll have time with the football game.”
Mortensen was not worried.
“Me and Adrian already have our costumes, so Mike’s going to wear his,” Mortensen said. “We’ve got the dances down and the whole thing.”
Mortensen certainly fits the part of Halloween prankster as well as anyone on the team. But a couple of other Jayhawks received votes, as well.
“I’d say A.J. Steward,” freshman Daymond Patterson said. “If he did dress up, I think he’d have a good one because he’s a pretty funny guy.”
Freshman defensive end Duane Zlatnik chose his roommate, who has plans to rev things up on Saturday night.
“I’d have to say Tanner Hawkinson,” Zlatnik said. “He’s probably going to dress up like Ricky Bobby (of the movie “Talladega Nights”) because he kind of looks like Will Ferrell. He’s ready. He’s pretty into it.”
