The Square Life

While Brigham Young University football players Austin Collie, Max Hall and Dennis Pitta, may interact like the Three Stooges with the way they joke around, they won’t embrace the nickname. Before the last football season, the then offensive leaders “were suckered into a picture,” mimicking the famous trio. “It was part of fall camp when we have some activities where guys poke fun at other guys and stuff like that,” Pitta, who plays tight end, says. “They knew we were good friends.” At that time, some say the “Three Stooges” nickname stuck. They don’t quiet agree.

On the chilly spring morning of our interview, we had the guys pose the part once more for our camera. They weren’t so thrilled about the idea but were good sports. We met them at former BYU quarterback Matt Berry’s parents’ house in Highland. (It so happens that Berry threw Collie his first collegiate touchdown pass.) They arrived together, not just as teammates, but evidently friends. I shook their hands as they walked by.

Collie was first, 6’2” and blond. You may know Collie for his famous 4th and 18 play in which he and Hall pulled off a win against Utah last season. Collie was also named the 2007 Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl MVP. Next came Hall, the smallest of the three at 6’1” with dark hair and a youthful smile. Hall is known best as the starting quarterback for the 2007 season, being the nation’s top-ranked sophomore in that position. Then there was Pitta. At 6’5” and 350 lbs., he’s the largest of the three with dark, gelled hair. Pitta is a candidate for several awards and is the leading tight end in the conference in receptions and touchdowns.

They are each friendly and I try to give them my best firm handshake. With their success comes recognition on campus and around town. Most openly recognized because of his football player stature, Pitta is easily picked out of a crowd. Hall, on the other hand, is recognized for his face as people pass and wonder if they just walked by BYU’s quarterback. And Collie likes to believe that he can fit into a crowd as “your average Joe.

“Three Stooges” or not, they are still a trio-on and off the field. Pitta and Collie were acquaintances on the team in 2004, their freshman year. Hall had been at Arizona State University, but then he met up with Collie in the LDS Missionary Training Center. They had met at football camps, but it was at the MTC where Collie helped plant the seed of BYU football possibilities into Hall’s head. The idea stuck. Upon returning from his mission, Hall transferred to BYU and ended up taking over as quarterback after John Beck moved on. With missions served, the three came together last season, bonding through time after practice perfecting their synchronization through route running and passing and receiving. “Because of our positions we have to work together a lot,” Pitta says. “Obviously a quarterback and his receivers are always going to have good chemistry and have to be able to get along.”

Collie, Hall, and Pitta spend time off the field by playing basketball, watching movies, and eating some Joe Vera’s Mexican cuisine among other things. Hall is married, and Collie is newly married, but Pitta, while not married is also in a relationship. He is actually dating Hall’s wife’s little sister. “It’s not like Dennis is ever playing fifth wheel,” Hall says. “He always has Mataya with him.” Now that Collie is a newlywed living in Pleasant Grove, they haven’t come all together as often. Yet they say their friendship beyond the field helps them work together better come game time.

As for dynamics for these three, each plays his own part in their relationship. “Dennis is the funny, go-with-the-flow type guy,” Collie explains. Pitta, who grew up in Southern California, north of Los Angeles, frequented the beach to boogie board and throw around the football. Pitta is the youngest in his family, having two older sisters. Whereas Pitta’s father played collegiate football, Pitta also dreamed of playing NCAA-level football, but it took him an extra bit of perseverance. “You know, I feel like I’ve worked hard to get where I’m at,” he says. “I didn’t have an easy road. I came to BYU as a walk on. And so I really had to prove myself, to go the extra mile to get a chance and so that’s just how I got to where I am at-through hard work, motivation and determination. It took a lot of those ‘tion’ words.”

For fun and fitness in the off-season, Pitta takes up softball and basketball. An insider informant told me he plays BYU intramural softball with “The Wildcats.” Pitta was surprised when I told him this and he explained, “Here’s the main deal: I’m a sports enthusiast, so whenever I have an opportunity to play, whether it be intramural sports or city league sports, I usually jump at the chance.” But most of all, Pitta, who is studying business management, is just excited to be a starter out on the turf. “It’s a unique opportunity and it’s a privilege to be able to play for a team like BYU,” he says. “I can’t say I’m not pleased with where I’m at right now.”

QB Hall is characterized by Collie as “bold yet funny” in his approach. To which Hall wanted more of an explanation. “And naturally he’s the leader because he’s the quarterback,” Collie continues. Then Hall ads in, “Pretty much anything I say, these guys are going to do it.” As leadership role models go, even though Hall attended the same high school as his predecessor John Beck and even though his uncle Danny White is a NFL legend, Hall’s role model in all facets of his life has been and remains -- his dad. “He’s just a good guy,” Hall explains. “He was really good in sports and he always taught me a lot about sports. And he has always been good in the church, doing what he’s supposed to be doing. He’s just a fun guy to be around. Everybody likes him. Everywhere he goes he makes friends no matter what.”

When I ask Hall about the pressure associated with his position, he says he thrives on it. “I love it,” he replies. “There’s a lot of pressure to perform, but for some reason, I think that it makes me better. It makes me want to work better, so I enjoy it.” In fact, he wanted to “enjoy” the pressure of the Utah game so much so that he played through the pain of a separated shoulder. As the oldest of five, Hall grew up playing sports with his little sisters. He wasn’t sure if his birth order affects his leadership abilities as quarterback. Beyond football, the property and facilities major enjoys “the active lifestyle” with his wife. Hall’s cousin introduced him to his wife Mckenzie, who is also from his native Mesa, Arizona.

When it comes to the dynamics of Austin Collie, Hall describes his teammate as passionate player. “He’s always laughing, always got something to say,” Hall says. “He can be quite funny at times. Austin’s the character out of the group.”
Whereas one definition of “stooge” is “the butt of most of the jokes,” Pitta says Collie is usually such for them. In order to take themselves less seriously in spite of the rigors of football, “they usually make fun of me and it all kind of balances out,” Collie says.

“He’s a character,” Halls reiterates.

“And I’ve just been informed of that today,” Collie adds in. “Now I know where I stand and now it won’t be as hard,” he jokes.

Football didn’t only bring him friends, but it’s also the means by which Collie met his wife. One day at practice, he met the daughter of his parents’ college friends, also a teammate’s sister. He got her number and they hung out from there. He and Brooke have been married now for a few months. “Both (our) families love football, so that is a means of bonding for them,” he says.

Collie, who’s playing for BYU is in the footsteps of his father and brother, misses having his brother Zac Collie, who also played wide receiver, on the team. “We always joke around that if he were to have taken a medical red shirt that he would’ve been able to play last year and we would have had a lot of fun,” he says. “He is a role model-not only in football but in life. He’s probably the best guy I know. He’s just a happy kid that doesn’t take life for granted and I think that’s something for which I look up to him the most. That’s way more important than football.”

As for the way Collie goes after the ball out on the field, it can be likened to an instance on his mission in Argentina. Collie’s camera was stolen but he ran after the guy and took it back. “I think when something’s mine I go after it,” he says. “When the ball’s in the air, I consider the ball mine and I do anything I can to go after it.”

Now that Hall, Pitta and Collie know where they stand in terms of their roles, the three look forward to a season in which they can raise their level of play and be ready from the start as they work together on the offensive. And in spite of the team’s being a media-rumored BCS bowl candidate this season, their focus is on their own progress. They say they’ve gained a lot from Coach Bronco Mendenhall’s high expectations for them. “He not only motivates us to be good football players, but he motivates us to be good people off the field.” Pitta says. From the way they get more serious and focused sides to their joking and relaxed sides, it is evident that Collie, Hall, and Pitta have become buddies because of a depth and a breadth of shared experiences. “I think that is why we may be considered friends is that we are the leaders of the team,” Hall says. “We’re good friends because all of us share a lot of responsibility on the team.”

When game time arrives in the locker room, the guys are relaxed and joking around until Hall gets up and yells, “I’m on point!” The offense comes together and they’re fired up. “And if he’s on point, we’re on point,” Collie says.

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