With a Jewish quarterback leading the Cougars, Utah’s rabbis have become rabid BYU football fans

Provo • When the sun finally set, the three rabbis jumped in their car and sped down Interstate 15.

A Jewish quarterback was leading Brigham Young University against Kansas State, then the No. 9 team in the nation, under the lights of LaVell Edwards Stadium. Rabbis Avremi and Chaim Zippel and their brother-in-law Rabbi Moshe Nigri had to see it for themselves.

And on that September night, they could.

Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, lasts from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. That means the Zippels — two of BYU’s newest followers — can only ever enjoy the Big 12 after dark.

“Sabbath went out maybe 10 minutes before the game started,” said Chaim Zippel, the co-director at Chabad of Utah County.

The rabbis turned up their car radio and heard that the Cougars were trailing by six.

Then, in what felt otherworldly to the Zippels at the time, the Cougars poured on 28 points in 6 minutes just after the rabbis arrived. Jake Retzlaff, the first Jewish quarterback to start for the Cougars, feathered in two touchdowns passes and kept BYU’s dream season intact.

As Retzlaff walked off among a mob of fans, he spotted the two rabbis.

“Oh my god, ‘You guys gotta get here earlier next time!” Retzlaff screamed as his teammates whisked him away. Another fan yelled, “A good luck charm!”

Rabbis, a good luck charm at BYU?

It might seem crazy. Then again, so much of this story isn’t what you might expect.

A school owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a Jewish quarterback at the helm. Their leader has steered BYU to an 8-0 start, a top-10 ranking and now has the Cougars, predicted to be one of the worst teams in their conference, favored to make their first College Football Playoff appearance. Retzlaff has delivered heroics at every turn, becoming something of a national star in the process.

Now it isn’t just the Zippels making the journey to Provo. There are rabbis and Jewish people from all over who have latched onto BYU’s run, following the man they call the “BYJew.”

“It’s totally crazy,” said Utah Rabbi Sam Spector, who leads Salt Lake City’s Congregation Kol Ami. “You don’t really think of Jewish and quarterback. You don’t think of Jewish, quarterback and BYU, especially. Jewish quarterback, BYU, perfect record?”

It’s almost spiritual.

A hero’s following

Chaim Zippel first realized the fervor of Retzlaff’s following at a doctor visit.

His wife was scheduled for a routine appointment, and the doctor strolled in with a burning question.

“Your husband is Jake’s rabbi, right?”

It was just the beginning. Ever since Retzlaff knocked off then-No. 9 Kansas State, the Zippels started selling “BYJew” shirts with the Star of David on the front.

Rabbis have called from Canada and California, England and Kansas to get their own.

“I don’t know if we can accommodate all of those,” Zippel said while laughing. “But they were like, ‘Hey, people in our community are really excited about this. Can you share with us?’”

Retzlaff has been profiled by The Atlantic. A White House reporter dressed up as him for Halloween.

“I went to a rabbi conference all the way in New York and so many people came up to me and mentioned it,” Spector said. “It’s all coming together.”

To understand how a college quarterback has developed this kind of following, you need the bigger picture.

BYU’s student body is 98.5% Latter-day Saints. Brigham Young University sits at the foot of the church’s power center in Salt Lake City. It would be as if the Notre Dame Fighting Irish played in the shadow of the Vatican.

Utah’s population as a whole is just 0.5% Jewish. The largest Jewish center of worship in the state is about 150 families. In Utah County, Chaim Zippel noted, there were no formal Hanukkah celebrations in 2022.

But Retzlaff still decided to go to a school with only five Jewish students.

When the quarterback first had the chance to play for BYU, he jumped at it. Offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick flew out to California to watch him throw at Riverside City College — where Retzlaff was the No. 1 junior college quarterback in the country — and was stunned to see about 30 receivers with him.

“That goes to show you the excitement they had,” for BYU, Retzlaff said. “But just as much, if not more, excitement that I had. I knew BYU was really good when Zach Wilson was here. In my mind, that is when I said, ‘Oh, OK, that is a place that plays ball.’”

By the end of the day, BYU was sold on Retzlaff.

But Retzalff’s family had more questions. His mother, Max, called Spector to ask about life in Utah and at BYU.

“The concern for them was, ‘Am I going to have Jewish community? Am I going to have the resources I need for my faith?’” Spector remembered.

There was another question. If it all worked out, how would Retzlaff handle the spotlight? He is the only Jewish quarterback in BYU history. Questions about his faith inevitably would arise in a place dominated by another religion.

“When you accept the responsibility to potentially be the starting quarterback at BYU, at a school steeped in quarterback tradition, you prepare to be good,” Rabbi Avremi Zippel, leader of Chabad Lubavitch of Utah, said. “If that’s going to be the case, it’s going to bring a certain notoriety with it. And to his credit, he was like, ‘Heck yeah.’”

A man for Utah

Most weeks last year, Rabbi Chaim Zippel would come to BYU’s library to study scripture with Retzlaff. The young quarterback wasn’t the Cougars’ starter back then, sitting behind Kedon Slovis during a 5-7 year for the Cougars.

But every week, Retzlaff would tell his rabbi, “I’m going to keep fighting until I get my spot.”

Zippel believed, even as so many others doubted.

Retzlaff started this season in a quarterback battle with Gerry Bohanon. When he did win the job a week before the opener, Pro Football Focus rated him dead last among Big 12 starters. BYU was picked 13th in the league.

It was Retzlaff’s nature to save the slights to use later. “People are still doubting,” he said recently with a grin.

But Zippel wanted the quarterback to channel a different energy.

He took Retzlaff to LaVell Edwards Stadium and performed a traditional Jewish tefillin blessing, the quarterback wrapping black kosher leather straps and boxes containing Hebrew scripture around his arm during the prayer.

“We had actually had a catch and did the tefillin wrap,” Zippel said. “I said, ‘Jake, once you do that on this field, there’s no way you’re going to feel the pressure in this place.’ I think that we’re seeing the truth behind that this year.”

Watching Retzlaff this season, it would be hard to argue otherwise.

After beating Kansas State, Retzlaff engineered one of the best drives in modern BYU history in Provo a month later.

The Cougars were down four against Oklahoma State with a minute left to play. It felt like the playoff dream was over. Instead, Retzlaff went 75 yards nearly by himself to find a game-winning touchdown with 10 seconds left.

He followed that up with another victory over the University of Central Florida to get BYU inside the top 10. He has the second-highest quarterback rating in the league and 21 total touchdowns.

“People are believing. I noticed on Saturday, somebody tweeted he was Patrick Shaloms,” Avremi Zippel said. “I laughed at that one.”

Retzlaff spoke at Utah County’s Hanukkah celebration last year to about 150 families, all of whom are now pulling for him.

“The fact that a young Jewish kid from California can come to a state that is predominantly [Latter-day Saint], he is the overwhelming minority, and be welcomed for who he is,” Avremi Zippel said. “Succeeding at that level, it’s inspiring.”

And the quarterback has become more comfortable in the spotlight and sharing his faith with his team. Recently, he brought a kosher food truck to the Cougars’ practice facility after a morning weightlifting session.

“You want chicken at 8:30 a.m.?” Zippel remembers asking when he got the request. “I don’t know if someone thought we were going show up serving matzo balls.”

“Bring the LDS community and the Jewish community together,” Retzlaff said.

Even at a program more accustomed to hearing from Latter-day Saint apostles, there’s been room for a different point of view.

“We can do that here at BYU,” head coach Kalani Sitake said. “His background, his faith is important to us. We encourage him to live his faith openly as much as he wants. Everybody wants to look at the differences in religion. He’s brought a different perspective and different light to our team.”

In a week, Retzlaff will play in his biggest game yet. BYU will travel to Utah to play a game that typically makes or breaks seasons — and quarterback legacies.

But his legacy is cemented in some circles.

“People will tell me, ‘Oh two of my best friends are Jewish, and now they are huge Cougar fans.’ Or, ‘I have a Jewish colleague, and now he’s a Cougar fan.’ That’s awesome to me,” Retzlaff said.

BYU will be rooting for its Jewish quarterback. Who would have thought that?

Certainly not the Zippels, who grew up Utah fans thinking they’d never see a Jewish man lead the way at BYU football.

After the sun sets on Saturday, they will again be on the move to see the BYJew.

There’s only one question left.

“How does a rabbi,” Chaim asked, “get tickets to a holy war?”