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Great-grandfather of BYU player invented tater tots, per ESPN
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
ESPN revealed a fun fact about BYU junior Richie Saunders during their broadcast of Kansas and UCF’s second-round Big 12 Tournament game.
Saunders has led the Cougars in scoring during Kevin Young’s first season as they look to make a second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Riverton, Utah native also has a claim to fame: his great-grandfather invented tater tots, according to ESPN’s Roxy Bernstein.
According to BYU broadcaster Jarom Jordan, the story checks out: Saunders’ great-grandfather is F. Nephi Grigg, one of the 3 co-founders of Ore-Ida Foods. Grigg, his brother, and their business partner Ross Erin Butler Sr. invented the tater tot in 1953.
The rest, of course, is history. Ore-Ida is one of the best-known brands in the country to this day.
By the way, Saunders scored 23 points and dished out 5 assists as BYU defeated Iowa State 96-92 on Thursday in its tournament opener. The fourth-seeded Cougars face second-seeded Houston on Friday.
And the fact that his great-grandfather invented tater tots may not even be the most interesting fact about Johnson, the youngest of 5 siblings: according to his bio on the BYU website, outside of English, he speaks 3 other languages.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
