A Sunny State: Brookie and Daddy get drafted to the BYU football team

Greg and Brookie got to go to BYU with Doug Schulte, who was honored as a "Thursday Hero" by the BYU football team b/c of health issues he has overcome. Doug is a Priest in our Ward. Naturally I couldn't let Doug go alone, so I sacrificed and went with him. I had to bring Brookie, so that I had an excuse to take a bunch of pictures of the players, etc. It would've been weird for a 35 year old man to be asking to take pictures with college kids, right? Brookie was the perfect solution to that problem. She was so cute, and the players (and Bronco) absolutely loved her.

Doug with Max Hall

Brookie with Max Hall and Max's daughter.

Brookie with Kyle Van Noy. Kyle was very fun and playful with Brookie. Brookie told him that he was her favorite player on the team, which Kyle really liked. He gave Brooke one of his receiver gloves that he is wearing in the picture, and signed it to her. She could not have been happier. Not a great picture, but it was fun to chat with Kyle for a minute. He played catch with Brookie for a minute too.

Brookie with Jamaal Williams. He loved the attention. He is a fun, happy, very nice kid (he's only 17). He also had very cool tattoos. Not that I condone tattoos, but as far as tattoos go, his were really cool. Brookie was fascinated with them as well. Oh, and a funny side note. Brookie, bless her heart, having grown up in Bountiful Utah, kept calling all the black players Ziggy (Ziggy Ansah). I had to remind her that there were several guys on the team that were black. "Oh, yeah, I guess you're right" was her response as she gazed around.

Brookie and Bronco, two of the better defensive minds in the game today. Bronco was so amazingly nice and personable. He asked Brookie how old she was, how she liked her baptism, what sports she played, and teased her about not having any laces in her shoes. Bronco pulled me aside and asked me all kinds of questions about Doug, the "hero" from our ward, and thanked me profusely for supporting Doug, for being a part of the "hero" thing, etc. After I spoke with him, and after the cameras and most of the folks were gone, he went over and gave Doug a personal, handwritten note from he and his wife and spoke with Doug for probably 5 minutes. While I still wonder about his devotion to a sub-par QB in Riley Nelson, I certainly don't doubt that for him, BYU Football is about much more than winning football games. When he states that his job is to "build young men," I really believe he is genuine about that. I was, indeed, very impressed with Bronco.

Brookie with Ross Apo. Brookie liked him mohawk.

Spencer Hadley, Brookie, and Cody Hoffman. Spencer Hadley is my personal favorite after this experience. I joked with him about his mustache, and asked him why he didn't have a mullet to go along with it. He was a really fun kid. He was so cute and funny with Brookie. Played catch with her, told her that it was a good thing that she was wearing a green shirt, because green means you can't tackle that person (the QB's usually wear green shirts in practice) because otherwise he'd tackle her. I'd love to hang out with him and be his new best friend, but then I remembered that I am 35 and have a wife and 4 kids. I'm sure it's tougher on him that we can't be BFF's than it is on me.

The team in their post-practice huddle thing

Doug signing the BYU flag that the team runs out with before every home game. All the "Thursday Heros" get to sign it.

Ziggy Ansah (black shirt)

Part of the presentation to Doug

Uona Kaveinga presenting Doug with all kinds of goodies (BYU hat, shirt, and a BYU flag that all the players signed)

Brookie and Ziggy. I shoulda got a picture with him standing up next to her. He is just a monstrous dude. 6'7", 270 lbs. His head, as you can see, is twice that of Brookie's. He was really nice, and actually very shy. Almost acted surprised that we wanted a picture with him. He better get used to attention cuz he's gonna be a first round draft pick in the NFL. Other than Kyle Van Noy, Brookie liked Ziggy the best.

Brookie and Riley Nelson. So he can't throw a spiral, big deal. He really was very nice and seemed like a great guy. He also commented on Brookie's green shirt, and said "you must a be a QB too." Brookie didn't know what that meant, but I did.

Brookie and a helment that was slightly too big for her

Brookie in the conference room that is attached to Bronco's office. They have coaches meetings there. Brookie was waiting on them to talk specifics of the game plan for the upcoming game.

Daddy and Brookie sitting in Bronco's chair in his office. Bronco's personal cell phone is sitting there on the table in front of me. I was VERY tempted to turn it on and get his number. You know, so that I could text him ideas during games, that kind of thing. I resisted the temptation, but now I'm regretting it.

Team meeting room

Brookie and two life-sized mannequins that they have displayed in the entrance to the Student Athlete Building - which didn't exist when I was there. Very impressive building - lots of things on the walls, memorabilia, etc.

Brookie standing in front of the National Championship Trophy from 198 -- back when I was Brookie's age. It's time for another. I'm not holding my breath.