7.1 Aaron Francisco (drafted by Jay Drew)
Aaron Francisco was the oasis in the great Cougar drought of 2002 to 2004. He was the key to Bronco's aggressive 3-3-5 defense, the owner of the katback position which why in the world was that spelled with a K instead of a C? This was very confusing to me then and still is now. Why would it be written out as katback yet get abbreviated in the media guide like this?
CGR is cougar ... and a cougar is a cat. Cat and cougar both start with a C. So why the K? In retrospect perhaps this was the first sign Bronco was weird?
Also, who knew Francisco played on the 2001 team? I had no idea! Gosh how much would it suck to be on an special, top-10 team as a freshman and then be on ho hum squads for your next 3 years? I mean, obviously it's better to be on one good team than none, but it must feel weird to slip down the mountain instead of climb it.
7.2 Skipped (BRoyalBlueCoug)
Anyone else still surprised he picked JJ DiLuigi?
7.3 Michael Davis (drafted by Cousin Newt)
There have been so many BYU guys I expected to succeed in the NFL who didn't. Michael Davis is the opposite of every one of them. He played in 48 games at BYU with 1 interception and 17 pass break ups. He's played 43 NFL games with 2 picks and 18 pass break ups. So ... let me see if I have this right. He goes up against vastly superior competition in the NFL and suddenly gets better? Color me impressed and confused!
7.4 Brian McKenzie (Drafted by Tax Commissioner Danny)
CGR is cougar ... and a cougar is a cat. Cat and cougar both start with a C. So why the K? In retrospect perhaps this was the first sign Bronco was weird?
Also, who knew Francisco played on the 2001 team? I had no idea! Gosh how much would it suck to be on an special, top-10 team as a freshman and then be on ho hum squads for your next 3 years? I mean, obviously it's better to be on one good team than none, but it must feel weird to slip down the mountain instead of climb it.
7.2 Skipped (BRoyalBlueCoug)
Anyone else still surprised he picked JJ DiLuigi?
7.3 Michael Davis (drafted by Cousin Newt)
There have been so many BYU guys I expected to succeed in the NFL who didn't. Michael Davis is the opposite of every one of them. He played in 48 games at BYU with 1 interception and 17 pass break ups. He's played 43 NFL games with 2 picks and 18 pass break ups. So ... let me see if I have this right. He goes up against vastly superior competition in the NFL and suddenly gets better? Color me impressed and confused!
7.4 Brian McKenzie (Drafted by Tax Commissioner Danny)
It was spring break 2010, I was sitting in a hot tub, and for some reason I was spitting knowledge about the 1996 BYU team when the muscular fellow across from me said he was impressed. I thought he was drunk and saying he was "impressed" with the girls who were with us, which I thought was a rather creepy thing for someone I pegged at 40 years old to say to a bunch of underage co-eds. But then he explained that he was impressed with me, and the fact that I remembered more folks from the '96 squad than the typical list of stars. His name was Kenny Hunt and apparently he played for BYU in '95 and '97 (he became less impressed when I said I'd never heard of him).
We chatted about LaVell and injuries and Kevin Feterik and as he left the tub he invited me to attend the upcoming alumni day practice with him. "I could introduce you to some of the guys, get some stuff singed, that type of thing," he said. I didn't really respond because I can't talk while I'm hyperventilating so he gave me his email and told me to contact him. Which I did post haste. And then he gave me the ghost treatment! I never heard back. I never met a famous alum. Maybe he wasn't even the real Kenny Hunt. Maybe he really was drunk in the tub and just saying nonsense.
So what does this have to do with McKenzie? Not much, I've just ran out of things to say about the legends who played on the '96 team.
So what does this have to do with McKenzie? Not much, I've just ran out of things to say about the legends who played on the '96 team.
7.5 Steve Sarkisian (drafted by me)
I lied!!! I have tons to say about this legend of the '96 team. Sarkisian baptized me into the BYU faith with his game-winning lob against A&M (which was expertly narrated by Brent Musburger, by the way) and it wasn't until many years later that I realized how significant it was for BYU to deliver payback against the A&M team who had taken it to Ty so viciously in the 1990 Holiday Bowl.
This is the first game I remember watching and whoa did it leave an impression. With 536 yards through the air I knew I'd never be interested in any run-oriented offensive schemes from that point forward. Sark threw touchdowns to five different receivers and for a while I thought it wasn't coincidence that he wore the same number as Stockton, but rather a rite of passage, that all great distributors earned the right to wear the number 12.
This is the first game I remember watching and whoa did it leave an impression. With 536 yards through the air I knew I'd never be interested in any run-oriented offensive schemes from that point forward. Sark threw touchdowns to five different receivers and for a while I thought it wasn't coincidence that he wore the same number as Stockton, but rather a rite of passage, that all great distributors earned the right to wear the number 12.
7.6 Leon White (drafted by Odyseuss)
So Leon White played baseball too, eh? The things you learn when you look at a media guide. Speaking of, let us all pause and remember the great media guide cover of 1994. This would have got me all sorts of hyped up as a kid.
It can be yours for the low price of $14.99 (Lol, no I'm not the seller).
I'll spare you the regular parade of numbers and remind you that Leon wasn't just a linebacker or a baseball player. He was a sacker, a tackler, an interceptor, a fumble forcer a leader. He did it all. In the GOAT linebacker discussion he's right up there. So why did I skip over the usual anecdotes and stats for Leon? Because I wanted to include this dumb and funny story about him from a Cougarboarder named Sea Chicken. Here's Sea Chicken's tale:
A guy on my mission said "How come BYU doesn't have any black players on it's team?"
I said, "They do. Leon White is a linebacker."
He said, "Oh, so your only black player is White."
He didn't join the church.
7.7 Kurt Goiveia (drafted by Brian Henderson, he who once helped me get a ticket to the 59-0 UCLA game)
Three cheers for the all-mustache squad! With the mustachioed Goiveia and Jason Buck, Brian Henderson's team is officially putting a stop to offenses as well as girls hormones. In looking at Goiveia's game logs I was surprised that they ... weren't that awesome?11. Actually they are really good, the BYU profile page just has them listed wrong! But still, given his reputation, I expected even more. Or maybe let me put it this way. Goiveia I had heard of, Jim Herrmann I had not. How is that fair, given only their numeric contributions to BYU football?
Maybe Goiveia gets more pub because of this hit? Or maybe it was his NFL success? Or perhaps it was because LaVell once said that despite being not being fast or big, Goiveia was the "best football player BYU ever put on the field". The GM of the team who drafted him said something similar: "I stand by my statement that he was almost as good a college linebacker as Hugh Green, who was the best one I ever scouted."
OK so the dude was awesome! Glad we could confirm that!
7.8 Sione Takitaki (drafted by Andrew Metcalf)
74 unassisted tackles for Sione in 2018 is the most such tackles since Rob Morris took down 114 guys by himself in 1998. I kind of hate putting that absurd 114 number on paper because it might cause you to discount what Sione did in 2018. It shouldn't! Since 1977 Sione's 2018 season is the 3rd highest figure of unassisted tackles.
So Leon White played baseball too, eh? The things you learn when you look at a media guide. Speaking of, let us all pause and remember the great media guide cover of 1994. This would have got me all sorts of hyped up as a kid.
It can be yours for the low price of $14.99 (Lol, no I'm not the seller).
I'll spare you the regular parade of numbers and remind you that Leon wasn't just a linebacker or a baseball player. He was a sacker, a tackler, an interceptor, a fumble forcer a leader. He did it all. In the GOAT linebacker discussion he's right up there. So why did I skip over the usual anecdotes and stats for Leon? Because I wanted to include this dumb and funny story about him from a Cougarboarder named Sea Chicken. Here's Sea Chicken's tale:
A guy on my mission said "How come BYU doesn't have any black players on it's team?"
I said, "They do. Leon White is a linebacker."
He said, "Oh, so your only black player is White."
He didn't join the church.
7.7 Kurt Goiveia (drafted by Brian Henderson, he who once helped me get a ticket to the 59-0 UCLA game)
Three cheers for the all-mustache squad! With the mustachioed Goiveia and Jason Buck, Brian Henderson's team is officially putting a stop to offenses as well as girls hormones. In looking at Goiveia's game logs I was surprised that they ... weren't that awesome?11. Actually they are really good, the BYU profile page just has them listed wrong! But still, given his reputation, I expected even more. Or maybe let me put it this way. Goiveia I had heard of, Jim Herrmann I had not. How is that fair, given only their numeric contributions to BYU football?
Maybe Goiveia gets more pub because of this hit? Or maybe it was his NFL success? Or perhaps it was because LaVell once said that despite being not being fast or big, Goiveia was the "best football player BYU ever put on the field". The GM of the team who drafted him said something similar: "I stand by my statement that he was almost as good a college linebacker as Hugh Green, who was the best one I ever scouted."
OK so the dude was awesome! Glad we could confirm that!
7.8 Sione Takitaki (drafted by Andrew Metcalf)
74 unassisted tackles for Sione in 2018 is the most such tackles since Rob Morris took down 114 guys by himself in 1998. I kind of hate putting that absurd 114 number on paper because it might cause you to discount what Sione did in 2018. It shouldn't! Since 1977 Sione's 2018 season is the 3rd highest figure of unassisted tackles.
Similar to Kai Nacua with the brawl incident, there was a time when Sione was in danger of being remembered for the wrong reason. Sione "Takey-Takey" became the nickname after he followed Marissa Cooper and just decided to take a few things that didn't belong to him. But his senior season made me forget those bad times. Sione was all over the place in BYU's huge upset of Wisconsin, and contributed 30 tackles in the final two games of the season, a rivalry loss and a bowl win.
7.9 Jenaro Gilford (drafted by Devon “Lasersheep” Smith)
In the last 30 yrs only 3 Cougars have nabbed 6 interceptions in a season. Jenaro is one of the three, and if it comes down to a tie-breaker as to which of the three seasons was the best, I'd give it to Jenaro for delivering not one but two clutch, game-saving picks (one against Utah, one against New Mexico). The fact that his finishing blow against Utah came despite suffering an ankle injury earlier in the game ... well that's just the cherry on top.
7.10 Kelly Poppinga (drafted by Magathisll)
How bout that Poppinga family tree? Are they the best sibling duo we've seen? Ehhh it's hard to say because there have been oodles of brother combinations over the years at BYU such as -- DEEP BREATH -- the Bills, Staleys, Kaufusis, Reynolds, Collies, McChesneys, Rawlinsons, Pau'us, Warners, Criddles, Alettos, Ords, Ah Yous, Mangums, Heimulis, Andrus, Atuaias, Muehlmanns, Bellinis, McNaughtons, Denneys, Warcups, Oliversons, Fowlers, McKees, Redens, Raass,22. What exactly is the plural of this name? Domans, EchoHawks(!?!?), El-Bakris, , Pochmans, Goochs -- DEEP BREATH AGAIN -- Hadleys, Mendenhalls, Hafokas, Pulsiphers, Juergens, Hannemans, Harringtons, Kehls, Thorsons,33. Alas, Thorsons, not Thor's sons. Marquardts, Oates, Mathews, Paynes, Ofahengaues, Moeakis, Muglestons, and Slaymakers.44.OK, so there weren't two Muglestons or Slaymakers but the names are so cool they had to be included.
Is this pretty typical for college teams? Or is this an odd quirk of the BYU family atmosphere?
As far as if Kelly and Brady are the best sibling duo to play at BYU ... I don't know. Thinking about this makes my head hurt. I'm sure the Bellinis, Reynolds, and Kaufusis have a strong claim.
Parting Thoughts from Round 7
Thought #1
BYU QBs used to invest so much time in the system. They'd spend a year or two watching the starter, learning the ropes, getting reps in practice, then finally getting their chance as an upperclassmen. No wonder they were so good for so long. Who was the last BYU QB that got at least a year of pressure-free preparation before being thrown into the fire? Max Hall in 2006? Riley Nelson in 2009?
Thought #2
I wonder what my life would be like if my last name were Slaymaker.
Round by Round Recap
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