My daughter's introduction to BYU football

With three seconds left on the clock, where were you? I will never forget time seemingly standing still as I waited for the play to start, to develop and then to end. For this game I was at home, yet I remember it more vividly than being at Rice-Eccles for the Ryan Kaneshiro clank in '98 or the overtime shocker to Andrew George in ‘09.

It Was November 25, 2006...

I remember it because it was my daughter's first introduction to BYU football. She was born in July but had purposely been kept away from me during the football games. Either my wife had forgotten the intensity of the rivalry game, or she had an alien mind warp before kick-off as I was able to keep Amaris (my daughter) with me for parts of the game. Right before the start of the 4^th quarter, I was asked to feed her while watching the game. As she finished her bottle, she began her voyage into a peaceful slumber that would last until the end of the game.

I knew the tension would at some point jar her awake, but she held fast as the clock ticked down. With less than 5 minutes to go in the game, my wife kindly asked me to put Amaris to bed and begin the bedtime process for the boys. Only half hearing her request, I waved her off and told her I would take care of it. After receiving this response a few times, my wife took to standing in my line of vision and glaring at me.

Jan Jorgensen once said that the play on the field "felt like it took half an hour." I would venture a guess that it was just as long while holding a sleeping baby and having lasers shooting out of my wife's eyes.

My Decision? A Gamble

As the ball was set to be snapped, I made the decision to avoid the glare of my wife, at the risk of my life, and to focus solely on the play at hand. Sitting on the edge of the couch I watched the play develop. Time stood still as I watched the movement of the line trying to stay in front of Beck as he went from one side of the field to the other. As he threw the ball backwards, I stood up knowing that if I didn't do something, the ball would fall untouched to end the game. Before I could blink, Harline slid into the screen on his knees and cradled the ball just as I was cradling my still sleeping baby. Needless to say, chaos introduced itself.

Forgetting that I had a baby in my arms and children in the tub, I jumped and screamed at the top of my lungs. My wife fled from the room fearing the worst and the world melted away as I re-lived one of the greatest plays in my lifetime.

After a few seconds, seeming like minutes, I realized that my precious 4 month old daughter was screaming at the top of her lungs, and it wasn't because she had just witnessed history. At some point my parental responsibilities kicked in and I calmed her down.

Was It Worth It?

While we finished watching the re-plays together, I knew that she had just been introduced to BYU football and neither of us have looked back since. The same smile I see on her now is the same one I saw while she watched the last re-play of the night. Regardless of what my wife tells me, it was a smile for BYU and not a result of the diaper that needed to be changed.

Share Your Story

What was your first experience with BYU? Where were your kids when they were introduced to BYU? Feel free to leave your experiences in the comments section below as we would love to know!

P.S. Harline is STILL open!