Some things we’ll never get.
None of us.
One of those things is gun violence — people killed by the thousands, by the hundreds of thousands.
A death at a house-party shooting in Sugar House is what no caring human wants to read on a Sunday morning.
And when death like that reaches into sports, that death is made only more difficult to accept, especially when it takes a young man in a local college football program, made even more cruel by the realization that said victim was the best friend of another victim.
Utah cornerback Aaron Lowe, a sophomore from Mesquite, Texas, was killed by the shot of a gun in the early-morning hours in Salt Lake City not long after the Utes latest victory, a win over Washington State.
Circumstances of the shooting are still under investigation by police.
Lowe was close to Ty Jordan, a high school teammate of the brilliant Utah running back who was also killed by the shot of a gun last year. That shooting was accidental and is still being absorbed and mourned, wrestled with, far and wide by people inside and outside of the Utes football program.
The No. 22, the one worn by Jordan, was worn again by Lowe, switching as he had from the No. 2, as he paid tribute to his friend. Moreover, Lowe was the first recipient of the Ty Jordan Memorial Scholarship, announced just last month, having been nominated and voted for that honor by his Utah teammates.
Cruel. Too cruel.
“Ty made everyone around him better,” Lowe had said in a school release. “He made me better. My friendship with Ty means a lot because he was always pushing me to be my best. He never let me settle for less. I want to make sure his legacy lives on through me.”
Lowe said it was Jordan’s smile that was “a light” that shined in any room Jordan entered.
“Since the day I met him, I knew he would be a good person,” Lowe said. “And it was because people always looked up to him. People always wanted to be around him.
“It was his personality that influenced me. I had someone in him — someone who came from where I came from. It’s because of him that I changed to No. 22. The impact you left on me and all your friends, that will be something we will never forget.”
Too, too cruel.
Not that it matters so much at a time like this, but Lowe did contribute to the Utes football success, having played in games, playing a role on special teams that was significant over the past two seasons, and this current one, too.
Now, the two teammates will be remembered jointly with reverence by a team, and those people far and wide, who honor them with their memory of not just how they played, but who they were.
Quarterback Cam Rising tweeted out: “Rest in Peace, A Lowe. Love you brother.”
GORDON MONSON hosts “The Big Show” with Jake Scott weekdays from 2-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone.
