Justin Britt is stirring the Border War pot
With the Border War returning for the first time in 14 years, former Missouri Tiger offensive lineman Justin Britt figured someone had to stir the pot.
”I’ve made some posts about it on social media. And to see the instant clap back and the back-and-forth just goes to prove how strong the rivalry is,” Britt said. “A lot of these kids in college now don’t even understand the magnitude of the rivalry itself. So it’s just cool that it’s here.”
And stir he did. Britt, who lives on the west side of Kansas City, drove the 30 minutes to Lawrence with a Mizzou flag to take a couple of laps around the football stadium just a couple of days before Kansas takes the trip east to Columbia for the first Border War at Faurot Field since 2006.
“I don’t think I’ll ever have business happening in Lawrence,” Britt said of what took him to the rival town. “… So I joked about just running around the neighborhood with the flag. … I wanted to stir the pot a little bit. Build some excitement in the game. I talked to some of my former teammates and it just felt like a fun, right, thing to do.”
Understanding the rivarly
Britt grew up in Lebanon, Missouri, a Mizzou fan for most of his life. And getting to see the Border War matchups in 2007 and 2008 in Kansas City helped cement his understanding of the battle between the programs.
“The pride of being a Tiger is pretty heavy through the state of Missouri,” Britt said. “Growing up that way, I probably didn’t know much about it until I started playing in high school. … Trying to figure out what college you want to go to and you’re learning the deeper meaning of the university’s ins and outs of it. And I think that’s where the rivalry started to click for me.”
Becoming a part of it
He joined the Tigers in 2009 and redshirted. But the offensive lineman still got to have a fun experience during his first Border War as a player.
“I was redshirted, but I got to dress out in the Beast Mode outfit,” Britt said. “That was a super cool moment. And I’m 3-0 against Kansas.”
It was the first of three wins for Mizzou during Britt’s time in Columbia. Missouri won 41-39 with Britt as a redshirt, 35-7 with him as a reserve lineman in 2010 and 24-10 with him as a full-time starter in 2011.
But as the program trajectories split, with Missouri headed toward another couple of years of success and Kansas heading toward a decade of futility, Britt said the rivalry lost a bit of the fire it had when he watched it in high school.
“The longer I was in college, the worse they got,” Britt said. “So it became less of a rivalry in our minds. But more of a, ‘We’re getting ready to beat Kansas up.’”
Saying goodbye to the Border War
Then came the matchup in 2011 and the knowledge that one of the oldest and most heated rivalries in the country was coming to an end. Maybe for good.
But Britt said in the moment, the team wasn’t too worried about it.
“I don’t think we thought anything of it, because we expected to whoop their butt and then we did,” Britt said. “And then, you know, all our focus and excitement turned to the SEC and trying to establish ourselves there.”
He said the players were saddened when they found out Kansas wouldn’t be on the schedule in 2012. But mostly because there was nothing that could compare to the experience of rivalry week with the Border War on tap.
“The SEC was kind of like, Texas A&M is your rival,” Britt said. “And we don’t like them, but we don’t hate them like that. They did some justice by making Arkansas a rival, but none of it compares to Kansas and Mizzou. I mean, that goes back into the history of the United States.
“There are students that are attending Kansas coming at me in my comments and DMs and the older heads, on both sides, are kind of appreciative. They’re like, ‘Thanks for creating that moment where we hate each other again Justin.’ I appreciate it, it’s so awesome. And I welcome it all.”
The revival
After 14 years without the matchup on the football field, Britt is one of many who are excited about the return.
“It’s good for both colleges and it’s good for college football,” Britt said. “Hopefully the fans show up and show out.”
And now, with the game back at Faurot Field for the first time in almost 20 years, he’s confident the environment will be incredible.
Britt and many former Tigers will be there signing autographs before the game and getting to experience it all through the day.
“It’s good for the sport, it’s good for college football to have rivalries like this,” Britt said. “… and it should be year-in, year-out.”
“I hope that it’s a good game,” Britt added. “But at the end of the day, I hope that we just do what we should do to them.