Latter-day Saint Life

Video: BYU Football Coach Defends Mormon Missionaries on ESPN in Classy but Hilarious Way

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A common complaint when other football teams face off against BYU linemen is they are two years older, because many serve LDS missions, and therefore bigger, giving an unfair advantage.

But BYU football coach Kalani Sitake shut that argument down in a classy but pretty hilarious way on the ESPN Coaches Film Room Broadcast last night.

Syracuse coach Dino Babers commented during the broadcast that it's easy for BYU to protect its quarterback because the linemen are so much bigger.

Sitake quickly responded, "They didn't go on a mission to Gold's Gym, I can tell you that."

Amidst the laughter of the other coaches on the show, Sitake continued, "These guys are riding bicycles and eating ramen noodles for two years. I'm defending the missionaries."

In fact, before LaVell Edwards became a BYU football coach, there was slim to no chance returned missionaries would ever play on a college football team because they were considered slow and soft after two years in the mission field.

It's interesting how that ideology appears to have changed in some ways, with 16 college football teams across the nation carrying 162 returned missionaries last fall, according to Deseret News.

Still, Sitake argues, "If it was a great system to develop your athletes, Alabama would be doing it, and not one of their guys is going on a mission. Case closed."

Lead image from the Deseret News
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