A few months ago, I had a door to door salesman stop by my home and take notice of the BYU flag and huge stretch Y in my truck rear window. We started talking BYU, and he brought up that he played QB for the Y many years ago. He was a big Arizona transfer who was supposed to take over after Beck but ended up battling off field issues and drugs. He spoke about how Max Hall arrived on campus and even he knew that Max had his spot from Day 1, and so did his teammates. He knew Max from high school and beat him out for scholarships at their first schools, but never realized the leadership and confidence Max carried until the stood on the practice field together.
He said that Crowton and Bronco both tried to help him succeed and fix his life, but personal issues and mental illness was incredibly tough when faced as a BYU QB and the pressure that they put on themselves to succeed. His success in High was his detriment, because he knew how capable he was, but his personal issues made him his what enemy. He ended up having a successful AFL Arena Football career and was the starting Ut Blaze QB when the owners failed to turn their paperwork in and the Blaze were done. I really appreciate his humility and his respect for Beck and Hall. He started talking with me for about 2 hours, and I really appreciate his story.
I knew Hall from my experience as a Thursday’s Hero, and saw how his teammates are ready to do whatever he told them to do. I saw every QB until Bronco left, and could see which QBs seemed to just have the team. Hall lead like a silent general, even though he obviously was not afraid to speak up when needed.
Riley was one of my favorites, as was Taysom, because they didn’t care who the person they were talking to was, they treated you the same as their star players. Riley pumped me up so much, after eating dinner with him, I was ready to throw on a jersey and block for him, even though it would have meant certain death. His energy and happiness was infectious. Taysom was just the Golden boy and like meeting the nicest, coolest person ever, who has no idea how talented and special his abilities are.
I wish I could say the same about Jake, but he was so quiet and kept to himself, every time I came down when he was here. Before and after practices and Thur Hero Scrimmages and dinners, he was often by himself and rarely smiled unless someone approached him. He would speak to us, but he really liked playing with the kids and was a totally different person when throwing our running around with the little children. I soon figured out how shy he was and that I had misread his shy or introverted nature, as arrogance.
Ross Apo is still one of my favorite players and a good friend today. He is one of the funniest players my wife and I ever spoke with and we usually ended up eating dinner with him at the Thur Hero dinners because he was like seeing an old friend. His knees, though, were full of scars from surgeries, and it broke my heart seeing his talent go with those injuries. I love seeing him so successful with training the high school receivers and secondary players, because his personality and knowledge is perfect for it. He fought hard to overcome some major challenges, on and off the field, and even though the NFL dream didn’t work out, like Heaps, they are helping train young players to avoid making the same mistakes that they did.