When you have personal experiences with these players, like I have, and you see into their heart and are opened to their personalities you see that human element with all the brilliance and imperfections that come along with every human soul.

I never thought Jake was arrogant, I always just saw this really kind, respectful, shy, good dude. I think about how hard it would be to see your parents get divorced, especially when he’s trying to adjust to life away from home. I can literally feel the struggles of these players and their insecurities. The one guy I never felt that with was max hall. This dude just walked around with so much confidence…I’ve never seen anything like it. Riley Nelson was literally my exact same size. And he had this fearless heart of a lion. I was sad about what happened with Jake, but I was happy about Riley and when I saw how hard he played vs TCU in 2012 I remember thinking how Jake would have probably crumpled up in a literal fetal position against that pressure while Riley stood tall and gave it all he got to the very end. I loved that about him.

I just….I really have a deep love and compassion for BYU athletes. I cherish all the talks and conversations and friendships I’ve developed with them over the years and loved seeing the goodness in so many of them and then seeing them battle like warriors on the field and give all they got for our program. I loved seeing their human side with all the insecurities and imperfections (except for max hall because he basically had none haha I’m joking) and how they put themselves out there and fought any way.

Well, I appreciate your post, and thank you for sharing.