Someone in the crowd attending BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe’s annual Education Week question-and-answer session Wednesday said he noticed a giant poster of former All-American quarterback Jim McMahon draped in front of LaVell Edwards Stadium. The man, irked by the poster, asked Holmoe why the school continues “to glorify” McMahon. “You’re asking the wrong guy,” replied Holmoe.
“I love Jim McMahon with all my heart. He’s the best teammate I ever had. Ever. Did you hear that? The best teammate I ever had,” said an emotional Holmoe. “He singlehandedly put BYU football on the map. You can say whatever you want. You go back in time to when he was here. Hey, the dude was 21 years old and in the glory of craziness. What he’s done and said and represented for BYU the last 10 years, (it’s) off the chart. … I forgive him for his foibles from 1980. That was a long time ago.”