Aug. 31, 2016
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Honor Warrior for San Diego State football's season opener against New Hampshire on Sat., Sept. 3 will be former Aztec and nine-year NFL veteran Chester Pitts, it was announced today.
As an Honor Warrior, Pitts will be handed the spear from the Aztec Warrior prior to the 2016 Aztecs taking the field and will throw it into the ground. He will also be honored midfield prior to team introductions.
Pitts, a former walk-on for the Aztecs who had not played high school football, developed into a two-year starter for the Aztecs at left tackle, allowing one sack in that time. As a senior, he earned first-team All-Mountain West Conference and third-team All-America accolades after helping the offense average 323.1 yards per game in 2001.
Pitts was drafted by the Houston Texans in 2002 as the 50th overall pick, sparking an eight-year career with the Texans and a one-year stint with the Seattle Seahawks. Pitts, who started 119 of his 121 games played, started the first 114 games of the Houston Texans' history.
The Carson, Calif., native, who has a degree in public administration from San Diego State, earned his MBA from George Washington University in 2014. He is currently an executive consultant with ZT Wealth and leads the company's ZT Sports division. Pitts has also worked as a sports anchor and analyst for KPRC-TV, the CBS affiliate in Houston, and frequently appears on the Houston Texans' radio broadcasts.
Heavily involved in the community, Pitts and his wife LaToya, also an Aztec alum, founded the Chester Pitts Foundation, which was created to evoke artistic interest in children through programs designed to inspire creativity, arouse enthusiasm for knowledge and energize the spirit of youth. Pitts also serves on the boards of Houston Crime Stoppers, the Altus Foundation and the Houston Symphony.
Tickets for Saturday's game against the University of New Hampshire and the KGB SkyShow are available at the Aztec Ticket Office this week. The 41st annual KGB SkyShow, the largest fireworks display in San Diego, will be staged following the game. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at Qualcomm Stadium.
The Aztec Athletic Ticket Office, located at Qualcomm Stadium Window E, is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Individual tickets start at $16 and may also be purchased online at GoAztecs.com or over the phone at (619) 283-7378.
Current San Diego State students can obtain one free ticket with a valid SDSU Student RED ID (card must be swipe valid) located in the designated Student Areas of Qualcomm Stadium. Tickets can be retrieved at the Viejas Arena Box Office Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Students can also pick up their ticket on game day at Qualcomm Stadium Windows B, F and H.
Football season tickets are still available and can be purchased by logging onto GoAztecs.com, calling 619-283-7378, or visiting the Aztec Ticket Office at Qualcomm Stadium Window E. Fans who purchase season tickets will receive a free Donnel Pumphrey bobblehead for each season ticket purchased.
The Aztecs enter the 2016 campaign as the Mountain West favorites to repeat as West Division champions. SDSU received all 29 first-place votes in the league media poll, which was announced in early August at the conference's media days at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
SDSU is coming off an 11-3 season where it tied a school record for the most wins in a single year, finished with a 10-game winning streak (second-longest active FBS streak heading into 2016), won the MW title (20th conference title in program history) and beat Cincinnati, 42-7, in the Hawai`i Bowl.