Missions help BYU, Utah football players learn perseverance

Football is still football. But a lot has changed for J.J. Williams and McKay Jacobson since they last played on the same field.

The Nov. 28 game between the University of Utah and Brigham Young University at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah, marks a return to the rivalry for Williams and Jacobson. Both left to serve Mormon missions following their freshman years in 2006 — the kind of departures that are constants in these two football programs.

Their perspective on the sport hasn't shifted much, but their understanding of life has.

"It helps you grow in ways you otherwise couldn't," said Jacobson, a sophomore receiver who served in Sapporo, Japan. "It has helped me become a better football player."

Saturday's game will be the largest on-field gathering of returned missionaries in a Football Bowl Subdivision game this season. That's usually the case with the Utes and Cougars, who have a combined 87 returned missionaries on their rosters.

BYU is owned and operated by the LDS Church, and two-thirds of the football roster is generally made up of returned missionaries. Head coach Bronco Mendenhall has never been shy about declaring faith as his program's top priority.

Several football coaches at the University of Utah are Mormon, including head coach Kyle Whittingham. On last year's undefeated team, half the players were LDS. Some Latter-day Saint players attend a weekly Book of Mormon study class after practice taught by instructors from the adjacent institute of religion.

__IMAGE1__Williams says the typical locker room atmosphere can challenge faith, but "definitely not up here at the U."

"(You're) just constantly surrounded by great teammates and values," said Williams, who serves as co-vice president of the U. Latter-day Saint Athlete Association with teammate Christian Cox.

When he arrived in 2006 from Aurora, Colo., Williams wasn't planning on a mission. His priorities were faith, family and football, but at the time football was winning out. Williams played his way into a starting role at linebacker that season.

He made his decision with help from family, friends and coaches, especially Whittingham.

"He was really a big part of it," Williams said.

Lessons learned in the mission field have been applicable to football. Williams, who served in the West Indies, says attitude can "make or break" a mission. Teamwork is also essential.

"You've got to get along with everyone and be a teammate with everyone, or you're going to be miserable," Williams said.

For Jacobson, persistence tops the list of attributes honed on his mission. He learned to avoid complacency during good times and to persevere when things don't go his way.

He's already experienced those extremes in 2009, scoring the game-winning touchdown against Oklahoma, then missing four games with a hamstring injury.

"You've got things you can work on no matter who you are," Jacobson said. "There's always going to be adversity, but ... (it) will help you become a better person and a better player and teammate."

This week, they will play in their first rivalry game since battling down to the final second in 2006. BYU won that game, 33-31, when John Beck found Jonny Harline in the end zone on the game's final play.

Williams started for the Utes that day and made a team-high 13 tackles, while Jacobson set up the dramatic finish with a 19-yard catch two plays earlier.

Williams called it a "great game" where "they just made the play that they needed to."

For Jacobson, it was a "great ending."

"We had to fight all game," he said. "Anyone who was watching the game has got to love seeing that kind of ending."

E-mail: ashill@desnews.com