About the future of college football Kirby Smart
Kirby Smart urges leaders to prioritize the future of the game over personal or meeting agendas of playoff talk.
BYU quarterback Jake Letzraff is likely to leave the program, expecting a seven-game suspension for violating the university’s honor code, according to multiple reports on June 29th.
The move comes from a civil lawsuit filed against Retzlaff in May, claiming that he sexually assaulted a woman at his home. The woman who claims Retzlaff is “raped, strangled, bit” claims she is suing Retzlaff for the intentional effects of battery, assault and intentional emotional distress, seeking at least $300,000 in damages.
Retzlaff’s attorneys denied the claims in response to the lawsuit filed June 28, describing them as “silly and strange.”
Sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BYU has an honor code that states that students must live a chaste and integral life, including “including abstaining from sexual relations other than marriage between men and women.”
The university previously issued disciplinary action against athletes for premarital sex. Perhaps most notably, in March 2011, the outstanding forward was fired from the college boys basketball team, which was third in the country at the time.
In his first and potentially only full season as a starter for the Cougars, Retzlaff led BYU to an 11-2 mark and victory in the Alamo Bowl against the Deion Sanders and Colorado. Retzlaff has completed 57.9% of his passes for 2,947 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, rushing for 417 yards and six touchdowns.
He attracted national attention across the field as a Jewish quarterback representing a school with an overwhelmingly LDS student population, earning him the nickname “byjew” and a contract for his name, image and likeness with kosher food company Manishwitz.
If Retzlaff leaves, BYU has two other quarterbacks on that roster. McCae Hillstead and Treyson Bourguet transferred to the program from Utah and western Michigan, respectively.
News of Retzlaff’s suspension and possible departures were broken by the Salt Lake Tribune, citing an unknown source who was not allowed to speak publicly about the matter.
