BYU’s devotional on Tuesday included three major football figures — a current team captain and two legends with a combined seven Super Bowl rings.
Wide receiver Chase Roberts, the team leader or co-leader in catches, receiving yards and touchdown catches this fall, was one of six students who read quotes on the stage on the Marriott Center floor during the school’s Sesquicentennial Kickoff.
Four-time Super Bowl-winning coach Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs appeared in a brief video about his experience at BYU.
So did Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Steve Young.
Roberts co-hosts a gospel discussion podcast called “Two Point Conversion with BYU Football.” His role in a devotional dedicated to the university’s 150th anniversary was to read a quote from President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
“I firmly believe that it is the destiny of Brigham Young University to become what those prophetic statements predicted it would become, but inherent in being the university of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the reality that this great goal will not be attained in exactly the same way that other universities have achieved their greatness. With your help, it will become the great university of the Lord, not in the world’s way, but in the Lord’s way.”
New clips of Reid and Young were part of a series of videos of BYU alumni talking about the impact the university had on their lives.
Reid won his first Super Bowl ring as an assistant coach with the Green Bay Packers after the 1997 season.
He led the Chiefs to Super Bowl championships after the 2019, 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Reid was an offensive lineman at BYU. where he was a teammate of Jim McMahon, Kyle Whittingham and Tom Holmoe and a member of the 1980 Holiday Bowl championship team.
In a short video, Reid talked about the power and responsibility of a BYU education.
“There’s a credibility that comes with a tag of having been a student at BYU, and then it’s our responsibility to obviously build that and grow that as we go forward and blossom out there in the world,” he said.
Reid was a senior during Young’s freshman year at BYU, and he was the JV coach as a graduate assistant during Young’s junior year.
Both Reid and Young continue to speak of the impact on their lives of one of their vital mentors, the late BYU and Hall of Fame head coach LaVell Edwards.
Young has often said his time as a BYU student had a deep impact on his life. He earned both bachelor’s and law degrees at the university.
In his video clip, the Hall of Fame quarterback said BYU provided many mentors for him.
“I have to pay homage to the mentors who ... just held my hand for months and years at a time, (who) didn’t do anything other than just keep walking with me when I just wanted to quit or I didn’t want to (continue) and just just kept holding my hand — I may say that metaphorically, right? That’s what I got. I needed these angels in my life, so my mentorship speech could go on and on.”
You can share your memories of BYU at 150.BYU.edu.
You can watch the devotional here.
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