It wasn't unusual for Rex E. Lee, as the president of BYU, to give the Cougar football team a pep talk before games. But Lee's brief speech to the Cougars before their game against Hawaii last Oct. 28 was different than the rest.
"It was probably his shortest pep talk ever, but probably his most effective," said athletic director Rondo Fehlberg.Said Cougar coach LaVell Edwards, "It was a very special and touching moment for all of us."
What Lee said too the team that October morning was unimportant. What impressed the players and coaches was that he cared enough to be there at all. Lee had just been released after spending several days in the hospital with pneumonia.
Duly inspired, BYU played its best game of the year, downing the Rainbow Warriors 41-7 at Cougar Stadium.
"You could say we won one for the Rexer," said quarterback Steve Sarkisian following the game.
Lee, after years of battling health problems, died Monday at 61. His funeral was held this afternoon in the Provo Tabernacle.
He will be remembered for many things - arguing an unprecedented 59 cases before the Supreme Court, serving more than six years as the president of the nation's largest private university, being the founding dean of BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School and being a devoted teacher, church leader and family man among countless other accomplishments.
He was also a major supporter - and fan - of BYU athletics.
"We in the athletic department were militantly loyal to President Lee because he was loyal to the athletic department," said Felhberg. "He had extraordinarily high expectations for BYU's sports teams, but he loved, accepted and supported us unconditionally whether we met his expectations or not."
Said Edwards, "(President Lee) was actively interested in what we were doing. He was a real fan, by his own admission, of athletics and especially BYU athletics."
Despite his busy schedule and health problems, Lee would make it a point to attend BYU sports events whenever possible. He also served as the chair of a special NCAA committee to review rules enforcement and the infractions process.
"He was a brilliant man and had an enormous number of interests, but BYU athletics went beyond being just another interest to being a passion with him," said Fehlberg.
Edwards and his wife Patti's friendship with Lee and his wife Janet predated Lee's appointment as BYU's president in 1989. The two couples and other friends occasionally went on vacations together.
"He was fun to be around because he was so upbeat all the time," said Edwards. "Even with the cancer and his other health problems he always had a positive attitude. He was so bright and had so many varying interests that I could sit around for hours just listening to him."