BYU begins their independent season today!

BYU football has really taken the spotlight for this season.  After declaring independence from their football conference and then making a great contract with ESPN sports, added to their television station that will broadcast or rebroadcast the games, they really have gotten the attention of many football fans.  Today they play Ole Miss in Mississippi.  I'm excited to see how well they can do and see if they can do as well as the hype has suggested.

One of the things I enjoy about the BYU football team is that they recognize there are things more important than football.  Their head coach Bronco Mendenhall has commented on several occasions that some things are more important and football comes fourth or fifth on his list after such things as family and faith. 

Friday night the football team had a fireside at a stake center in Mississippi.  Bronco spoke along with a tight end and a defensive back.  A kicker also sang.  President Samuelson, the President of BYU and a member of the quorum of the seventy was given a key to the city. 

1200 people attended the Friday night fireside and Bronco said that the fireside is usually his favorite part of the trips.  He had this to say about the team in a deseret news article:
"I like football, but the events on Friday night are really special," he said. "I think it lends credibility when we play well. There have only been I think seven teams that have won more games the past five years than us. I just like the thought that it is possible, not only possible, desirable to do more than just play ball."
"There's a lot of them that are married and doing other things and I think in our life we can focus on other things and still be successful," he said. "Football, at the end of the day and at the end of our lives, will be just a way maybe you've helped other people.
"I'm not sure that in and of itself will be enough to really put our stamp on what we've done here on this Earth. Hopefully we're maximizing our talents and I'm asking our players to do the very best they can through the gifts they've been given to really maybe share a message."

Go Cougars!