Saturday night in Lehi, Utah, Jake Retzlaff gave probably the most unique interview of his BYU career.
Instead of facing a horde of reporters in a post-game press conference, the BYU quarterback was sitting across from a Jewish comedian participating in a Q&A at a Jewish comedy event hosted by the Chabad of Utah County.
The audience of more than 100 Jews, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and BYU football fans got to see a looser, almost unfiltered side of Retzlaff, who sounded like a comedian sometimes.
When asked if the win over Utah or Oklahoma State was his favorite of the season — and if he could define defensive holding — the quarterback poked fun at BYU’s in-state rivals.
“Spoken like a Ute fan,” Retzlaff said.
He then said that in the Oklahoma State game, he got to be the hero, but in the Utah game, kicker Will Ferrin got that honor. And the refs, an audience member chimed in.
“They did an incredible job,” Retzlaff joked about the officials.
Next season’s home game against Utah is the one Retzlaff said he is most looking forward to, explaining that that’s when “the team up north finally gets to come down south. We kicked the crap out of them up north.”
Retzlaff said the Utah game last season was “borderline spiritual” and joked that “that’s how they get you.”
Eitan Levine, the headlining comedian for Saturday’s event, jumped in to tease Retzlaff, saying the quarterback was going to rip off his yarmulke and announce he was joining the Church of Jesus Christ.
But the Q&A wasn’t all jokes for Retzlaff. The quarterback also spoke of how his faith led him to BYU and spoke out against religious hate.
On religious hate
Retzlaff told the crowd he hasn’t experienced any antisemitism at BYU or in Utah.
“I haven’t, and it’s been the opposite, frankly. That’s one of the best things about BYU is how the university is so faith-centered that they just love to see faith in others, too, and the LDS faith has a funny fascination with Jews,” he said.
But he has witnessed religious hate targeting members of the Church of Jesus Christ, the religion of most of his teammates.
He spoke of the offensive and “very explicit” chant that broke out at BYU’s game against SMU last season.
“For me, I mean, I just go to the guy next to me and I’m like, ‘Can you imagine they were saying Jews?’ Like, all of a sudden, everybody takes a step back. So what’s the difference?” he said.
Retzlaff is “proud of being Jewish,” he said. Since high school, everyone knew he was “the Jewish kid on the team.” But his religion became an even bigger deal this season.
“(To) see it positive is all I want to see. I just want to see that the term is used so positively because obviously the history of the word ‘Jew’ has been used in so many ways that it never should have been,” he said.
On the Alamo Bowl
On Saturday night, Retzlaff was sporting an Alamo Bowl jacket, a reminder of BYU’s 11-2 season and big bowl win over Colorado.
Leading up to the Alamo Bowl, many members of the national media made it seem like only Colorado was playing in the game.
Retzlaff was asked how he blocked out the Colorado noise leading up to kickoff.
“It’s the same as every week. We go into that game and we’re playing against Colorado. Deion (Sanders)’ not on the field. Back in the day, he was really good, but he’s not on the field. And so it’s just about going after that defense. And that’s what we did,” he said.
But Retzlaff entered the game fired up and ready to prove the doubters wrong. He recalled the attention Colorado got during the luncheon the day before the Alamo Bowl.
At the luncheon, each team’s captains and coaches were seated on the stage, where they were interviewed.
“They started with us. We went through. We all answered questions, and then it got to them and it felt like Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders had 20 questions to our one each. That just kind of kicked something in all of us — the BYU side," he said. “That was, like, the kick in the butt. I was like, ‘Alright, this has been a fun week. It’s time to kick the crap out of these guys.‘”
According to Retzlaff, that moment left BYU wondering, “‘What do they do better than us?’ And then obviously they don’t,” he said, drawing raucous laughter and applause.
How Jake Retzlaff sees God’s hand in his journey to BYU
Retzlaff said BYU appealed to him when he was looking to change schools because of the school’s move to the Big 12, as well as it’s quarterback vacancy. Former starter Jaren Hall got drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft.
“That’s how you know they got good quarterbacks here, so that was, like, the decision for me. It was easy to be like, ‘Alright, that’s a place that can develop quarterbacks and NFL players,‘” he said.
He also noted that he thought BYU’s honor code would help him focus on school and football more and limit the distractions other college football players may succumb to.
But the “BYJew” would not have ended up at BYU if it wasn’t for a setback he faced early in his collegiate career.
Retzlaff had committed to the University of Texas at El Paso after his first year playing junior college. He drove out to El Paso for his official visit and moved into an apartment there that weekend.
But after his first night in his new apartment, he got a call from the offensive coordinator, telling him he was a few credits short of the requirement for his scholarship and that, “You gotta go home and fix that.”
“That was the lowest of lows for me at that moment. It was like, I did all this. I know my parents sacrificed so much for me to get here. I got here. I did the scholarship. I’m paying for school on my own. I don’t have to rely on my parents anymore and then just get the rag yanked right out underneath me. I literally packed up everything I’d just unpacked right in my car and drove 12 hours straight back home,” he said.
Looking back, Retzlaff knows that tough day had to happen for him to end up in Provo, and he knows God played a role in that.
“Thinking about that just only strengthens my faith because I know for a fact that that happened for a reason, and I’m doing this for a reason. I was put in that situation for a reason. That was what needed to happen to get me to BYU, to give me this situation, to have the platform I have now. It’s just looking back on events like that and be able to know that I went through (that) struggle for a reason. And so if I’m going to struggle now, it’s easier, way easier for me to turn to God and turn to my faith,” he said.