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Marriage of Convenience? Not for Utah's T.D. Croshaw
By Doug Robinson, Deseret News
Dec. 13, 1999
T.D. Croshaw, who is preparing to quarterback the Utes in the Las Vegas Bowl, is getting married Thursday, and somebody asked him if he was nervous. Yes, he said — it's not every day you play in a bowl game. No, the wedding. Isn't he nervous about the wedding? Nah, he said, "maybe it will hit me Thursday, but right now I'm not nervous about it." Croshaw is marrying a former Ute trainer named Kirsten Kingery two days before the Utes play Fresno State. They met during spring practice when a young man's fancy turns to pretty blonde trainers. Their courtship began in the training room with the smell of liniment and sweaty socks in the air and the bubbling of whirlpools in the background. Very romantic. She was taping ankles, he was getting his ankles taped. There was something about her — maybe it was the way she handled the ultrasound machine. Or her deft touch with an ace bandage. Who knows about these things? They fell in love. They dated during two-a-days, the quarterback and the trainer. It was all hush, hush. "We didn't want people in the training room to know about it," he says. "We wanted to be professional about it. No one knew till we announced we were going to be married." They will be married in the Salt Lake LDS Temple on Thursday, which, as it turns out, is darned inconvenient since he will be in Las Vegas this week getting ready for the big day while she will be in Salt Lake City getting ready for the other big day. All the ladies out there want to know how he can possibly get ready for the wedding while he's in Las Vegas. Simple. Croshaw's a guy, which means he doesn't exactly knock himself out for the wedding. Her to-do list: Pick out silverware and china, find a photographer, order flowers, get invitations printed and mailed, select bridesmaids' presents and dresses. His to-do list: Get a ring. "I've been focusing on football, I haven't had to do much," T.D. confessed. The toughest thing Croshaw has had to do is break the news to coach Ron McBride that he would be missing practice this week and leaving Las Vegas. "I told him, 'You can get married anytime, but you can't go to a bowl game anytime,' " says Mac. Yes, it's important to keep marriage in its proper perspective. Unfortunately, the invitations were in the mail and a non-refundable deposit had been made to reserve a reception center. When Croshaw set his wedding day in September, he didn't figure it would matter much if there was a bowl game at the same time. He was a backup quarterback who wasn't playing much at the time. "This wouldn't be a big deal if I wasn't starting," he says. Croshaw will fly to Las Vegas with the team on Tuesday. He will practice and participate in various bowl-related activities on Thursday, then catch a flight back to Salt Lake City at about 11 p.m. He will get married at 11 a.m. Thursday, followed by "wedding pictures and stuff like that." Afterward, he will attend a family "brunch or breakfast or whatever it is," followed by a reception/ring ceremony from 6 to 8:30. At 7 a.m. Friday he and his wife will fly to Las Vegas. He will practice with the team that day and attend more bowl functions. On Saturday he will start against Fresno State. It's probably fortunate for Croshaw that he found a mate who is not exactly new to football. She was a cheerleader at Bingham High and is now studying athletic training. She served part of her internship with the Utah football team, now she's working at a high school. She's suited to life with a guy whose name stands for "touchdown." She's can cope with squeezing a wedding between football practices. "She's just excited for both events," says T.D. Just the same, he'll take her to Hawaii on a belated honeymoon "to try to make it up for it." Romance aside, this will be a convenient marriage — a quarterback who shares a bedroom with a trainer. "Actually, I won't let her tape my ankle," says Croshaw. "I'm very superstitious. I let only one person tape my ankle." And it's not Kirsten.
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