Faith in football
CNN's SI.com's Andy Staples explores the peculiar world of Mormon athletes who have to balance their spiritual obligations with their ambitions on the field. Manti Te'o of Honolulu told Staples he warns every college coach and recruiter:I'm LDS. I'm thinking of serving a mission, and I want that to be available to me. If that's not in the cards for your university, I have to respect that, but I have to consider others.
Says Staples:
A pronouncement like Te'o's might end most players' recruitments, but Rivals.com ranks Te'o as the nation's No. 12 overall prospect. Because Te'o has so much potential, almost every coach who recruited him consented to the mission.But hot Mormon prospects like Te'o and Provo offensive lineman Xavier Su'a Filo (No. 63) have other pressures:
LDS players also must consider how their faith will mesh with the campus environment at either a secular school or one run by a different faith, and they must prepare for a backlash from some in the LDS community should they choose a school other than Brigham Young.Filo and Te'o will have to make their decisions and sign with a school on Wednesday. Te'o will sign with UCLA, USC or—holy mother of God!—Notre Dame.
2 Comments:
BYU needs another nice catholic quarter back like Jim McMahon.
Backlash of BYU? WTF Glen....As the father of a Mormon D1 Prospect I am more concerned about a whacked-out Homosexual student/professor, than any members of the Mormon Church!
Guess that thought slid right past your crotch!
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