The Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars football team is having a moment. As one of only two unbeaten teams this season in the Big 12, they’re celebrating a 6-0 start.
This winning streak not only highlights the Cougars’ athletic teamwork but also their respect and appreciation for interfaith collaboration. Jake Retzlaff, the quarterback leading the team this season, is one of only three students who practices Judaism at the university. He is the only Jewish Division I starting quarterback in the country.
Jake appreciates the way his Latter-day Saint teammates have supported him on and off the field. “As a culture, we love to point out the differences in each other, but we have way more similarities,” Jake shares in an ESPN interview. “That’s something I’ve got to discover here.”
BYU Football team captain Connor Pay says the team immediately embraced Jake. “It wasn’t anything like, ‘Oh, Jake, you know, ... the Jewish quarterback.’” he said in a CBS Sports feature. “[Jake] was just one of the boys. He just came right in, and it was so natural and seamless.”
BYU Coach Kalani Sitake says Jake is a great fit for the university: “We encouraged him to live his religion freely. BYU has always been about embracing others and their religion.”
Jake appreciates the respect and interest Latter-day Saints have shown him in his faith. “The cool thing about being at BYU is the LDS faith does have an interesting fascination with Jews,” he says. “And the scriptures are referenced more often than not, and so there’s a lot of curiosity.... They would ask me questions, get curious about things, and I would ask the same questions back to them.”
In the CBS Sports video, Jake’s father, Steve Retzlaff, says, “To see your son get everything that he ever wanted at a place that loves him this much? That’s all I ever wanted.”
Watch the videos below to learn more about Jake’s story.
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