I did a fair number of job interviews. These were all in the Midwest and East.

The early to mid-80's were glorious years for BYU football and Basketball. The glow carried for a decade, at least. Add to the 80's a Heisman winner, some NCAA BB appearances, a couple of WAC late-night shootouts on national TV and BYU was well known by a lot of people.

I don't think there was ever an interview in which BYU sports didn't come up. I had non-members (probably 95% of my interviews were with non-members) even give me verbal replays of the Hail Mary, National Championship, Ainge coast-to-coast drive, Steve Young catch in the Holiday Bowl, etc.

I personally feel that those experiences created a connection with me and the interviewer. I think it added some normalcy to BYU's image vs. a bunch of people dressed like Amish that have a university in Utah. I can't help but believe that many of us owe BYU sports for helping us get jobs or get better-paying jobs. I can't say exactly when or where or how much, but, I think somewhere the law of percentages say that we benefitted from the success of BYU sports.

There is still a long way to go for LDS to be understood and university athletics can be a way to enhance the overall school.