Judas Iscariot is most known in historical circles for betraying his teacher Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane for 30 pieces of silver the night Christ was arrested and was eventually crucified on a Roman cross.
He has become a symbol of traitors, with Benedict Arnold joining him in the pantheon of disloyalty and treachery in the mid-18th century during the Revolutionary War in America.
On Friday morning in 21st Century Arkansas, former Razorback offensive lineman Patrick Kutas decided to join their ranks and elected to make his transfer destination known–the Ole Miss Rebels. He tipped off a series of unfortunate events that so far have included two other Razorbacks – Jaylen Braxton and Luke Hasz.
Kutas, who missed a majority of the 2024 football season, had famously decided he wanted to keep his redshirt back in November, and Sam Pittman notably said in a press conference that “he didn’t want to redshirt him for someone else.”
Well, Sam, you did. For the same guy who just put 63 points on you in Razorback Stadium on November 2. And would’ve likely made the College Football Playoff if not for a late-season loss to Florida (along with a puzzling home loss to Kentucky).
To make matters worse, Kutas had also mentioned on an Arkansas podcast back in the spring growing up in a Memphis suburb that he was raised to pretty much Ole Miss.
Apparently not enough.
Ranking Patrick Kutas’ Backtracking in All-Time Hogs Lore
It’s one thing for a player to renege on a commitment, like Marion, Ark. native Carius Curne did. That can be chalked up to a kid not doing his homework or, in today’s climate, getting a better offer or more advantageous situation.
The next few players are all players from Arkansas who could be viewed as “traitors” from the early to mid 2010’s and are listed in order of importance at the time:
- At one point, saying the name “Malik Monk” in Arkansas was akin to saying “Lord Voldemort” like in Harry Potter. When he chose Kentucky over the Razorbacks in 2015, he was persona non grata in Northwest Arkansas and was heavily booed during the majority of his senior year playing for Bentonville. It hurt Hog fans that his brother had played for Arkansas and had recently been a graduate assistant for Mike Anderson, yet steered Malik towards the hated Wildcats.
- KJ Hill, the North Little Rock stalwart receiver, in August 2014 committed to the Razorbacks at the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in Little Rock. A few months later, he decommitted and ended up committing to Urban Meyer’s Ohio State Buckeyes, although it helped that they were not in the SEC.
- Archie Goodwin was the Malik Monk situation a few years prior. The Sylvan Hills star was a part of John Calipari’s recruiting class right after his only national title at Kentucky in 2012 and was incessantly booed at most of his high school games during his senior season. It helped that the year he ended up at Kentucky, the team fell off and ended up only making the NIT and lost to Robert Morris.
- Michael Dyer, who starred on the gridiron at Little Rock Christian, chose Gus Malzahn’s Auburn over the Razorbacks after the 2009 football season, even though Arkansas beat them head-to-head that year. Dyer ended up being a key contributor as a freshman on the 2010 Tigers’ team with Cam Newton that won the BCS National Championship over Oregon, but never panned out otherwise.
Analysis: All of these players and others such as the late Altee Tenpenny were big-time native Arkansans whose decision to play for bigger programs felt traitorous in the moment, but most of them outside of Hill never actually gave their word to Razorback head coaches that they were staying in-state.
They certainly weren’t raised to loathe Kentucky, Ohio State or Auburn either.
Honorable Mention Benedict Arnolds
Other Arkansans or Razorback connections who could be considered are Eddie Sutton, who of course coached the Arkansas basketball program for 11 seasons prior to Nolan Richardson arriving, and helped build the brand to where Nolan was able to take it and turn it into a national power in the 1990s.
Sutton, meanwhile, unceremoniously left his position in the spring of 1985, where he was publicly feuding with Frank Broyles over his alcohol struggles and after having the worst season of his coaching career with the Razorbacks.
He infamously said he would “crawl to Kentucky,” which angered fans at the time but Sutton later clarified that his remarks were mainly directed at Broyles, not the fan base.
Keith Jackson, the all-pro tight end from Little Rock, chose Oklahoma over his home-state Razorbacks in the mid-1980s in a very contested recruitment between Barry Switzer and Ken Hatfield.
Despite starring for the Sooners and winning a national championship as a sophomore, Jackson eventually returned to Arkansas after his professional career and became the Razorbacks’ color commentator on football radio broadcasts and started the P.A.R.K. Foundation to help Little Rock’s inner-city youth. He also steered his son, Keith Jackson Jr., towards playing for the Razorbacks.
Reviewing Recent Portal Moves
Of course, now that the transfer portal exists and NIL is legal, player movement is more frequent and volatile. Just think of the players who have come and gone in the last three seasons.
Jalen Catalon to Texas? Well, he was a Texan anyway, the Longhorns weren’t in the SEC yet, and he ended up at UNLV regardless.
Mike Woods to Oklahoma? The Sooners weren’t in the SEC either, were a better program at the time and put receivers in the NFL like clockwork.
Chris ‘Pooh’ Paul to Ole Miss? The guy was a standout linebacker here and was frustrated by a defense that was not playing to its capability.
As for Hasz, yes the optics are bad because he’s the most recent ex-Razorback to throw his lot in with Lane Kiffin’s bunch. But I don’t mind his decision as much, because he gave Arkansas a second season and for whatever reason the Hogs fumbled away their chances to keep him by targeting him much more.
Patrick Kutas’ Case Differs
Patrick Kutas’ situation, however, feels drastically different. This is a guy who admitted on a public platform that he actively dislikes (or, rather, *did* dislike) the school to which he ultimately ended up transferring.
He also made Sam Pittman look like a fool to the media and the fan base as a whole by allowing himself to be redshirted, only to end up in the portal anyway and going to a rival program.
Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green went on the ‘Chuck and Bo Show’ Friday morning and said that he “loves PK [Patrick Kutas] and Josh (Braun) and Addison (Nichols) to death and will continue to be their friend and support any decision that they decide to make.”
That’s obviously the politically correct statement to make, but I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with you here, Taylen.
Kutas could have chosen any other school and it would have gone down better. But he has made it personal now. The hope for Arkansas football fans is that they’ll make him pay for it on September 13 next season.
At least Kutas’ former teammate Fernando Carmona Jr. has the right idea here:
Some wise words from former Arkansas football player Brooks Ellis:
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Hear the entire interview with Taylen Green at the 1 hour 32 minute mark:
More from Patrick Kutas on BoAS:
