Happy Monday to you all and thanks again for stopping by to join me here on “Yawk Talk.” Today, we’ll hit on some random topics I have rattling around my noggin. Sound weird enough? Good. Let’s go!
It’s pretty cool to see 24 former BYU football players in training camps around the NFL. That number will be pared down soon enough as teams cut players to get down to the league-mandated 53-man rosters, but the talent development emphasis that Kalani Sitake and his staff have focused in on in Provo. Feels like many moons since Bronco Mendenhall was touting how the NFL lifestyle was incongruent with the standards in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, doesn’t it?
Former BYU and NFL defensive back Derwin Gray wrote an op-ed for the Deseret News today regarding BYU student-athletes benefitting from NIL rules that is well worth your time. Gray is a true success story, having arrived in Provo “as an economically disadvantaged Black kid with no plan B. I was the first in my family to attend college. My family was only able to attend two of my college football games because they could not afford the cost.”
Gray became one of the finest defensive backs in program history, played in the NFL for six seasons and has gone on to become the founding pastor of Transformation Church in North Carolina and also recently received his doctorate. Not bad for a kid with, as he said, no plan b.
Finally, the current political climate is unstable to say the least. I am a proponent for trying to connect with others and to see things from their perspective. I believe actively going out and building bridges with other communities does more than all the hollering on the internet will ever accomplish.
That’s why I was pleased when I saw this story about five BYU football players, including James Empey, Lopini Katoa and Tyler Allgeier, traveling across the country recently to visit Fort Valley State University. From the accounts of the visit, it appears relationships were formed and the plan is for the interactions to continue in the future.
Bravo. Well done.
Other stories you should check out if you haven’t already:
Dick Harmon says BYU will open fall camp with a lot to prove about 2020. Sounds familiar…oh yeah, we discussed this yesterday
Want to honor 9/11 victims & get your steps in? Check out this event that will take place at LaVell Edwards Stadium
High school football is nearly ready to kick off their seasons. Get a rundown of the all the prep teams in the state of Utah courtesy of James Edward & co. over at the Deseret News. Daily previews will continue in coming days
That’s all for today. Hope you all are doing great and we will talk again soon!