BOISE, Idaho — Friday's Mountain West Championship game between Boise State and UNLV will be one of the most important games the Broncos have ever played on the blue. It takes a lot of work to get the team ready, and that starts in the equipment room.
- Boise State equipment room gets Broncos ready for game day.
- They prep for Friday's championship like it was any other game.
- You may be surprised at how many people it takes to get jerseys on.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
For almost 30 years Dale Holste has been a big part of Boise State football. He has assembled a staff that has a very important job — you can't play the game without gear and equipment.
Assistant Director Blake Schulte says whether it's opening day or the championship game, they remain focused. "We're preparing the helmets to look just as clean as they do every other week. Pulling out our blue uniforms and blue pants, cleaning up the cleats to look good on TV to each player's specification."
One of those players you may have heard of is running back Ashton Jeanty. Not only does it take two or three opposing players to tackle the Heisman candidate, but it also takes that many people to get his jersey on. "You're getting this over his shoulder pads and his frame with an army of strength and conditioning coaches."
Twin sisters Kaitlyn and Jaidyn Willis worked in their high school equipment room and now as freshmen, they know they better get the gear shiny and clean. "This one looks a little bit better, you can see on the side has a couple of scratches so it would probably take a couple of minutes — some of them like the D line have a bunch of scraps. Scrub in, scrub out."
And it may all seem glamorous until you walk into the laundry room. Players dump their dirty clothes into laundry chutes. "We will purposely sort everything, for example, practice jerseys with colors against white and then move them to the dryers and then we pass them back into their cubby lockers."
So when you watch the game on Friday, just remember the Broncos are not only going to play their best, they're going to look their best.
Kickoff is 6 p.m. Friday evening and Idaho News 6 will have full pre and post-game coverage from our team of neighborhood reporters.
