UTC linebacker Gunner Miller.At roughly 3:10 Saturday afternoon, with pregame warm-ups at Appalachian State’s Kidd Brewer Stadium completed, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore linebacker Gunner Miller will return to the visitors’ locker room and begin the transformation.
And just what is the transformation?
“The Ultimate Warrior, that’s what I’m going for,” Miller said Tuesday without the slightest hint of a smile. “The idea is to pretty much black in my whole face except for my eyes.”
For those unfamiliar with professional wrestling, the Ultimate Warrior pinned Hulk Hogan in WrestleMania VI. The less reverential among us might say the Warrior’s greasepaint strongly resembled KISS rocker Gene Simmons’ makeup, or that of the steroids-stoked character Steve Lattimer in the football film “The Program.”
And Miller has heard the Lattimer comparison more than once, despite his facial art being all black as opposed to Lattimer’s multicolored design.