JEFF JACOBS

Howard memorial staying put the right call

STORRS — The optics were not good. The optics could have been horrible.

Imagine if this headline had hit the internet: UConn Moves Murdered Player’s Memorial For Beer Garden.

It would have been a public relations disaster for UConn — already embroiled in the Kevin Ollie contractual war — at a time it certainly does not need one.

The nuances of opening the Coors Light End Zone Club, requiring the movement of Jasper Howard’s statue to another place at Rentschler Field, would have been lost in the suds. All anybody would have remembered was a murdered player’s memorial was moved to make room for a bunch of fans drinking beer and that some other people were not happy about it.

Bob Diaco’s Civil Con-FLict Trophy, based on a non-existent rivalry with Central Florida is a big joke. For UConn fans to have been divided, for UConn to have been mocked and exposed to cries of greed and insensitivity over Jasper Howard approaching the season opener against Central Florida would have been most unfortunate.

And UConn would have

deserved the backlash.

The good news is UConn slammed the brakes on the move Monday. The athletic department announced it will used the coming months to “engage with the fans and alumni to gather feedback and find an appropriate solution.”

Good. This should have happened from the start and that fact it didn’t is unsettling.

Randy Edsall is the one who made the lead gift to cover the cost of the statue. He is the one who had to drive to St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford in the early hours of Oct. 18, 2009, to identify Jasper Howard’s body. It would be absurd to write one word about this without asking the UConn coach about it.

“I really have no idea what you’re talking about,” Edsall said late Monday afternoon after practice. “I’ve been in camp and when I’m in camp I don’t know what’s going on in the outside world.

“So I can’t comment on something I really don’t have any kind of handle on or any idea.”

Athletic director David Benedict is on vacation and an attempt to reach him via text message was not successful.

The end zone club under the scoreboard was something that was about to be implemented at games. As late as Sunday morning, Lisa Lowry, who played such a pivotal role in the Howard statue said she and her husband Dan, who have been ticket holders for decades, were told the statue was definitely being moved in the next few weeks.

The way I understand it there was initial discussion to leave the statue in the middle of the area. That idea was rightfully nixed. You can’t have a party zone where there’s a statue of a kid that was murdered outside a dance at the student union.

That would be wildly insensitive. The statue also would have been accessible only to those who’d have access. Could you imagine somebody spilling beer on it, etc.?

So the plan was to move the 7-foot, 3.25-ton granite statue inside Gate C. That was one of the places considered in 2014 before the official unveiling. The statue is so heavy is it’s one of the limited spots because it could crash through some other locations.

Gate C is where the pregame Husky Walk is. The statue would be in a place of considerable fan traffic. Fans would be able to touch it. There’s an argument for it being there.

Filling only half the stadium last year for games, UConn is working hard to enhance the fan experience and rebuild its fan base. The bar area has worked well for basketball games at the XL Center. The idea in theory is a good one. You also need a place to allow the patrons to sit and watch the game. There is no other prime spot. There is not real room on the other end, and besides it’s the student section.

Can you move the statue a little on the scoreboard end and make everybody happy? Or should you put it in the tunnel where the players emerge so it can be a source of pride and inspiration? Do you settle on Gate C? Or do you scuttle the whole idea of Coors Light End Zone Club?

There’s a thin line UConn has to walk, but the bottom line is you don’t move the statue until you consult all the right people and there is some level of agreement. Howard’s family, Edsall, Dan and Lisa Lowry, members of the 2009 football team are at the top of that list.

Dan Lowry first posted about it Friday on the Boneyard, the UConn fan site. On Sunday, he posted he was “furious” when he found out it was being moved. A petition was started. It was getting kind of ugly. He posted that he was the one that had to call Howard’s mother and tell her about the move.

Screech. Those were the necessary brakes. The beer garden is on hold.

The statue will be in place for the opener against Central Florida on Aug. 30. The big No. 6 will be there atop the monument. So will the inscription, “Play each play like it’s the last play you will ever play.” Those were the words Howard spoke after the 2009 homecoming victory over Louisville, hours before he died of a single stab wound to the abdomen. Words Edsall often repeats in interviews.

Edsall is the one who told his fiancée Daneisha Freeman, pregnant with Howard’s daughter that he’d there for them. In 2014, at the time of the unveiling, Freeman emphasized Edsall, even though he was at Maryland at the time, had kept his word.

Ja’Miya was 4 when we last spoke, singing, dancing, doing gymnastics, always happy. Her mom said she’d point to Howard’s photo and say he is in heaven and lives in the sky. Ja’Miya is 8 now and she recently won the long jump at the USATF national youth outdoor championships. The happy girl has some mad hops.

Life goes on. The memories stay.

Dan and Lisa Lowery made that statue happen. They fought through the red tape. They led the petitions. Freeman would call Lisa Lowry amazing.

The statue was unveiled on Nov. 11, 2014, the homecoming game when UConn defeated UCF, 37-29. That was the day Diaco famously first introduced the idea of his trophy. It was embarrassing from the start.

This would have been beyond embarrassing. It would have been painful.

UConn blew it the first time around. If the statue is moved, it needs to be moved to a great spot and with dignity. Next year is the 10th anniversary of his death. Perhaps it would be wise to rededicate the memorial, remind of us the preciousness of life.

And for Jasper’s sake, come to a meaningful consensus.