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<\/p>\n
Special Collector’s Issue: “1984: The Year BYU was Second to None”<\/p>\n
Get an inclusive look inside BYU Football’s 1984 National Championship season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have always found BYU to be an absolutely fascinating case study in college sports, particularly football,\u201d said Berry Tramel, college sports columnist for the Tulsa World and a 46-year journalism veteran. \u201cThey have a worldwide brand, a worldwide reach, yet they seem to strive to be \u2018not of the world,\u2019 in a religious sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Therein lies the rub, the grand experiment, as it were.<\/p>\n
Can an athletic program comprised mostly of clean-living, God-fearing, scripture-reading, love-thy-neighbor, Jesus Christ-following individuals thrive in the increasingly secular, cutthroat and money-oriented landscape of college sports?<\/p>\n
Nearly half of the players on BYU\u2019s current football roster \u2014 56 \u2014 have served missions in 22 different countries and speak 10 different languages. Six coaches on the staff, including head coach Kalani Sitake, have served missions.<\/p>\n
Sitake, his assistant coaches, new BYU athletic director Brian Santiago<\/a>, former and current BYU football players and even national sports reporters such as the aforementioned Tramel believe it can be done.<\/p>\n Sitake\u2019s \u201clove and learn\u201d culture can survive revenue sharing, NIL, the transfer portal and everything else associated with this brave new world of college football, they say, while acknowledging that there will continue to be plenty of challenges along the way.<\/p>\n Already, BYU football in 2025 has experienced some of those difficulties.<\/p>\n As Sitake, Santiago and company try to thread this needle, as momentum seems to be surging for football on the field and basketball on the court, and both in recruiting, for fundraising and for ticket sales, the school lost the university\u2019s most recognizable athlete, its fringe Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback.<\/a> <\/p>\n Now, the Cougars might have to move through this third year in the Big 12 and first year of revenue sharing with a freshman manning the biggest role<\/a> at the QB Factory.<\/p>\n Punching above its weight class<\/p>\n BYU\u2019s athletic programs have been successful on a national level during the past 50 years, evidenced by an average rank of 31.3 in the Learfield Sports Directors\u2019 Cup standings. BYU has been in the top 25 nine times since the award\u2019s inception in 1993-94, was 12th in 1998-99, and 25th in the most recent 2024-25 standings.<\/a><\/p>\n In roughly the last half-century, it has gone from an obscure school in the Mountain Time Zone to a legitimate college sports power \u2014 not a blue blood, by any stretch, but a solid, recognizable, international brand<\/a>.<\/p>\n A well-rounded athletic program<\/a> has been the key. Football is still king, but has not been the most successful sport on campus since its national championship in 1984<\/a>. BYU basketball has been mostly good, but not great, other than Sweet 16 runs in 2011 and last season. The school\u2019s top sports have been cross-country and volleyball, often contested far from the spotlight and attention that BYU fans crave.<\/p>\n Of course, coach Sitake\u2019s football program has been steadily climbing<\/a>, and is coming off one of the better seasons in school history \u2014 an 11-2 record, a four-way tie for first place in the Big 12 regular-season standings, and a resounding 36-14 victory over Deion \u201cCoach Prime\u201d Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes in the Alamo Bowl last December.<\/p>\n \u201cI have always found BYU to be an absolutely fascinating case study in college sports, particularly football. They have a worldwide brand, a worldwide reach, yet they seem to strive to be \u2018not of the world,\u2019 in a religious sense.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 \u00a0Berry Tramel, college sports columnist for the Tulsa World<\/p>\n In football and almost everything else, BYU has punched above its weight class<\/a>, all while not belonging to a so-called power conference until 2023. All told, the school has managed to mesh athletics and its mission with positive, successful results.<\/p>\n As any legitimate follower of college sports knows, times have drastically changed, and continue to change, in college football and college sports in general. These are not your grandfather\u2019s games.<\/p>\n The latest upheaval is revenue sharing, as schools are allowed to directly share one-fifth of their revenue with student-athletes due to the recent House Settlement approved by a federal judge in San Francisco<\/a>. Chances are, your favorite male or female college sports star is now being paid, including those at BYU.<\/p>\n All athletes will benefit, but the lion\u2019s share of those proceeds<\/a> will go to football players.<\/p>\n Revenue sharing \u2014 athletes began receiving checks on July 1 \u2014 is just the latest game-changer in college sports. It joins additional conference realignment and restructuring, increased scholarship benefits, reduced restrictions on transferring, the advent of the transfer portal, and payments for the use of athletes\u2019 name, image and likeness (NIL) as notable seismic changes the past decade.<\/p>\n Last month, the Deseret News examined how BYU stands to \u201cbenefit from the upheaval in the business of college sports,\u201d reporting that its athletic department budget has doubled in less than a decade<\/a> and university leaders believe they are prepared for the future from a financial perspective.<\/p>\n This article delves into a less quantifiable aspect of the changes and explores whether BYU can continue to have athletic success while maintaining its identity and culture of faith and family, or what Santiago likes to call \u201cthe BYU way.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the developments worth exploring:<\/p>\n BYU\u2019s insistence on adherence to its honor code has resulted in some notable recent headlines, most notably Russian basketball star Egor Demin\u2019s rapid ascendence and his crediting his time at BYU as transformative off the court as well as on. Conversely, quarterback Jake Retzlaff\u2019s missteps<\/a> led to his departure in July, but upon arriving at Tulane the QB credited BYU\u2019s culture<\/a> for helping him explore his own Jewish faith at a deeper level.How Santiago and 10th-year head football coach Sitake plan to forge ahead with a blueprint laid out by their mentors and predecessors, Tom Holmoe and LaVell Edwards.Longtime national college sports observers, and a local one who played for BYU, weigh in; their answers may surprise you.How the signing of the No. 1 prep basketball recruit in the country, AJ Dybantsa, who is not a Latter-day Saint, shows that BYU is prepared, and equipped, to battle with the blue bloods for the best of the best. BYU has also landed one of the top quarterbacks in the 2026 signing class, California five-star prospect Ryder Lyons<\/a>, and the best female long-distance runner in the country, Timpview High\u2019s Jane Hedengren.<\/a> Last year, BYU signed the top male long-distance runner in the nation, Danny Simmons<\/a>, who is currently serving a mission in Atlanta.Understanding the BYU way<\/p>\n Is it doable?<\/p>\n Already this summer, that resolve to adhere to its core beliefs has been tested, as BYU\u2019s most recognizable player, Retzlaff \u2014 the first Jewish quarterback in school history \u2014 faced a seven-game suspension<\/a> for violating the honor code and elected to leave BYU and walk on at Tulane. The development has left the program working<\/a> to find an adequate replacement at the most important position on the field. <\/p>\n BYU landed at No. 23 in the coaches poll<\/a> released last week, but in other polls and projections, expectations for the Cougars in 2025 have tumbled since Retzlaff\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n But Retzlaff said he thrived in BYU\u2019s culture of faith, and there are other success stories. <\/p>\n Most recently, the teenager Demin<\/a>, who is not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was selected eighth overall by the Brooklyn Nets<\/a> in June\u2019s NBA draft. In his farewell news conference, Demin described his year at BYU as \u201clife-changing\u201d and referred to his time in Provo as \u201cprofoundly important\u201d to his spiritual and personal development. He said he was leaving BYU, but BYU will never leave him.<\/p>\n What key stakeholders are saying <\/p>\n Perhaps nobody at BYU has latched onto that culture and identity and pushed it out to the public more than head football coach Sitake, whose \u201clove and learn\u201d mantra for his program is repeated time and again in Provo<\/a>. Even BYU President Shane Reese has adopted it, with Reese and Santiago saying recently that Sitake is the ideal man to be running the school\u2019s marquee sports program.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are led by a great football coach in Kalani Sitake,\u201d Santiago told the Deseret News in July<\/a>. \u201cI think he is a great man, and has built a culture of excellence in a way where it is really about the big picture, and especially tied into the mission of BYU.\u201d<\/p>\n Sitake enters his 10th season with a 72-43 record at BYU, including 5-2 in bowl games. Thirteen of his players have been drafted into the NFL. Last December, he signed a \u201clong-term\u201d contract extension<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI am confident we can keep doing it,\u201d he told the Deseret News last week. \u201cThese people around me, these coaches, this support staff, and the players have all bought into the lessons and things that we are trying to teach. It\u2019s not perfect, but these guys are trying hard to be what we want to be. And I like that. I don\u2019t mind the expectations from people. I believe we will rise to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Sitake said he \u201ccringes\u201d a bit when people talk about it being his culture. He said it was first established by the late and legendary Edwards<\/a>, his coach in the 1990s, and has been successfully implemented at other places by other Edwards\u2019 disciples such as Texas\u2019 Steve Sarkisian<\/a> and Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cLaVell stressed that if the focus is on the right things, you will be OK,\u201d Sitake said. \u201cWith NIL, if you remember correctly, we moved slowly. We didn\u2019t just go crazy, like a lot of other places, because we didn\u2019t have the ability to do that. We wanted to make sure that we did things the right way and were able to avoid entitlement. \u2026 When your focus is on the right things, and you don\u2019t focus on money, you are better off.<\/p>\n \u201cLaVell was never about money. He focused on the opportunities and on connection. It is about a lot of the gospel principles that we have in the church. I think they can be applied here,\u201d Sitake continued. \u201cThat says a lot about our upper campus administration, our president, vice president (Keith Vorkink), our athletic director. That makes my job a lot easier.\u201d<\/p>\n Finding the right fits for the culture<\/p>\n Sitake said the culture will remain intact because coaches will stress the importance of getting the right fits at BYU, whether recruits are members of the church or not. He noted that even though Retzlaff\u2019s tenure did not end as most would have liked, the quarterback did say when he arrived at Tulane that his time at BYU was transformational<\/a> and strengthened his own religious beliefs. <\/p>\n Sitake acknowledges that recruiting strong athletes will always be vital to BYU\u2019s future success, but not at the expense of challenging its culture. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve learned that just because recruits are members of the church, you can\u2019t assume that they\u2019re a great fit,\u201d Sitake said. \u201cDo they fit your locker room? Are they excited about the opportunity? There are a lot of people that want to be here for the right reasons, and we gotta go find them, whether they\u2019re members of the church or not, or whether they have a connection to our legacy or not.\u201d<\/p>\n As examples, Sitake mentioned star running back LJ Martin<\/a> and quarterback Treyson Bourguet<\/a>, the latter of which was battling McCae Hillstead and Bear Bachmeier to replace Retzlaff in the starting lineup but appears to have been relegated to a backup role<\/a>. Neither Martin nor Bourguet are Latter-day Saints.<\/p>\n \u201cLJ didn\u2019t have a connection here, but he studied it and felt like this was a perfect place for him,\u201d Sitake said. \u201cSame with Treyson and others that are here. All these guys, they came here for the right reasons, and none of those involved money.\u201d<\/p>\n Sitake said he learned from Edwards that the players have to come first, and their well-being should be top of mind in building the right culture. Long before the transfer portal and freedom of transferring without having to sit out a year was a thing, Sitake says he always released players to other schools, no questions asked.<\/p>\n \u201cSo the transfer portal now is about trying to keep people away from persuading your guys to leave,\u201d he said. \u201cThe goal is to keep everybody humble and communicating. I think that\u2019s the key (to retaining players) and strengthening your culture.\u201d<\/p>\n Roderick: Retaining players is part of the battle<\/p>\n Perhaps no coach on campus is more challenged by the Retzlaff departure than offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick<\/a>, a former Cougar who spent 11 years coaching at the University of Utah and now must find a replacement to keep the momentum, and culture of winning, from grinding to a halt.<\/p>\n Roderick said a good way to gauge whether a culture has staying power is if the program is able to retain players in this day and age of so many outside enticements.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we are made for these changes in college sports,\u201d Roderick said. \u201cThis past season, at least on offense, we lost one player to the portal that we really didn\u2019t want to lose. We lost Keelan (Marion)<\/a>, who went to Miami. We loved Keelan. He is a good player. But we lost fewer players than most programs did, and I think a big part of that is, No. 1, we have a lot of players that really want to be here for other reasons besides football. And then Kalani has a great team culture, and guys like playing here.\u201d<\/p>\n On defense, BYU lost part-time starters Crew Wakley to Purdue and Harrison Taggart to Cal, but those departures were more about playing time<\/a> than the players chasing bigger paydays elsewhere, according to several BYU assistant coaches. <\/p>\n \u201cOur ability to retain players is going to be better than a lot of programs. This is a great place to play, as has been shown,\u201d Roderick said. \u201cAnd then NIL-wise, we have a lot of people who want to be involved with our program, and have legitimate NIL deals for our guys. Our university has been great about our revenue-sharing operation. So I think yes, we can be very successful in this new era. It actually levels the playing field for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Reese, Santiago and Sitake have made the same observations \u2014 that BYU\u2019s uniqueness can be turned into a strength, and not a hindrance.<\/p>\n \u2018This is just who we are\u2019 <\/p>\n Last October, church education commissioner Elder Clark Gilbert told the \u201dY\u2019s Guys\u201d podcast<\/a> that BYU athletics has a mandate to be elite and nationally relevant, but maintain what makes the school unique.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if it ever came down to the only way to stay in this (was) to walk away from our values, that would be the end of athletics at BYU,\u201d Gilbert told Dave McCann and Blaine Fowler. \u201cThis is not going to happen because we are committed to it from the board (of trustees), to the commissioner, to the president, to the athletic director, to the coaches. We have a culture here that is exceptional and I am confident it won\u2019t (change). There is no other place like this.\u201d<\/p>\n Santiago was Holmoe\u2019s deputy athletic director<\/a> at the time, but is now sitting in the hot seat<\/a>. He knows the directive and is eager to carry it out, he said last month at the Big 12 football media days in Frisco, Texas.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only is it doable, it is the way we are going to do it. We are aligned, not only with the leadership of the university and President Reese, but all the way up the ladder to (Elder Gilbert) and the board of trustees,\u201d Santiago said. \u201cWe feel passionate that we can win at the highest level, do it within all of the rules and regulations, and bring a lot of enthusiasm and excitement to Cougar Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n Already, Santiago has made some notable enhancements to the athletic department\u2019s senior leadership team, hiring former BYU basketball star and NBA player Travis Hansen<\/a> as senior associate athletic director and promoting several coaches to larger roles within the department.<\/p>\n Santiago said that aside from revenue sharing, most of the changes have been around for several years, and BYU has flourished with them.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI think last year was a good example of that. Nobody expecting anything out of Kalani and our football team. \u2026 I think he has built some incredible depth in the recruiting, and that is what it takes in these power conferences. And then we saw it in basketball as well. I just think people are going to continue to see BYU on the rise.\u201d<\/p>\n Santiago said an emphasis on preparedness, ingrained into the culture, will carry the day for the Cougars. Like many other BYU coaches and administrators over the years, Santiago said the honor code is a \u201cstrength\u201d that the institution will continue to lean into.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually think it is a competitive advantage for us, who we are, what we represent, and the way we do things,\u201d Santiago said. \u201cThe right coaches are in place that are going to be able to chase greatness, chase national relevance and do it the BYU way. <\/p>\n \u201cThat is just who we are. We have 100 years of history to prove that we can represent everything about this university, and win at the highest level. Everybody is seeing that not only are we going to win big, but we are going to do it in a way that is going to make Cougar Nation proud.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018We have been preparing for this\u2019 <\/p>\n As reported by the Deseret News last month<\/a>, school officials have been meeting about, discussing and planning for the House Settlement to be approved for years, Santiago said. <\/p>\n \u201cWith revenue sharing and NIL, we actually feel like we are in a position of strength, because we have been preparing for this. We got a great administration at BYU. We have been down the road for a year or two with this, planning and making sure financially we are in a solid position,\u201d Santiago said. \u201cBecause of that, and because of the buy-in from our coaches, we are going to be fine.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are super excited about the future of revenue share, shifting the power back to the university, allowing us to do this the right way, within the parameters. \u2026 We think we are perfectly positioned to be nationally relevant and excellent across the board in every one of our sports, and we are going to emphasize that it all starts with football, but the rest of our sports are super important to us.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, there have been growing pains. For instance, demand for football and basketball tickets, which is part of the brave new world of college athletics, spurred by membership in the Big 12 in which every game has meaning and significance, is at an all-time high, the Deseret News reported this week.<\/a><\/p>\n What others are saying<\/p>\n Back when BYU was being considered for the Big 12, Tramel says he made a trip to Provo<\/a> to see what the school was all about.<\/p>\n \u201cI have actually been up there a few times. I know more about BYU than most outsiders,\u201d Tramel told the Deseret News. \u201cI actually think BYU is well-positioned to thrive, more than most, because I have seen what they are about.<\/p>\n \u201cBYU has got money,\u201d Tramel continued. \u201cSo, money is not a problem. The NIL situation, I am not saying that every (Latter-day Saint) on planet Earth is going to give them money. But, a lot of people will be interested in participating in BYU\u2019s NIL stuff. So I think that gives them an advantage over most.\u201d<\/p>\n An example of how BYU fans are invested in the program, with their hearts and pocketbooks, came in November 2020 when Holmoe asked for $20 million<\/a> to help with the shortfall caused by COVID-19 eliminating most ticket sales and sponsorships. In five months, BYU fans donated $15.25 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tramel said BYU \u2014 and Utah, for that matter \u2014 is in a fast-growing market, which should also help.<\/p>\n \u201cBYU has always been a major program, in my eyes,\u201d he said. \u201cThey just haven\u2019t been in a major conference. Now they are, and I think they are well-positioned to succeed. I don\u2019t think that means they can become Georgia or Alabama, but I think they can do well.\u201d<\/p>\n Brett McMurphy, a college football insider at On3.com, remembers visiting BYU\u2019s football media day when the school was an independent and taking in all the facilities and atmosphere in Provo and wondering aloud what would happen if the Cougars were ever in a Power Five league.<\/p>\n Now he knows.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite the honor code, I still think BYU can succeed,\u201d McMurphy said. \u201cWere they not in a power conference, I would say, \u2018No, they can\u2019t thrive.\u2019 Now that they are in the Big 12, absolutely they can do it. I think there are enough players out there that fit their profile, if you will. They will make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n While acknowledging that he doesn\u2019t follow BYU as closely as others at the national level, McMurphy said it appears from the outside that BYU is willing to be solidly in the game<\/a> when it comes to NIL, revenue sharing and scholarship enhancements.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the perception is that BYU is a real player in all this, especially with the AJ Dybantsa<\/a> (signing),\u201d McMurphy said. \u201cIt is almost like Texas Tech football, where suddenly you are realizing, \u2018Wow, these guys are really into it. They are serious about this. They are going to make a big impact.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Signing of AJ Dybantsa <\/p>\n Bruce Feldman, a reporter for The Athletic and Fox Sports, said that BYU is a \u201cnational brand\u201d that has been elevated by its membership in the Big 12 and by Sitake\u2019s success since taking over for Bronco Mendenhall. He believes basketball\u2019s signing of Dybantsa sent a message that BYU is all-in in the NIL and revenue sharing era.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhen you get somebody like that, it only helps the national perception of BYU,\u201d Feldman said. \u201cI don\u2019t cover college basketball, but I know who AJ Dybantsa is. That\u2019s huge for BYU.\u201d<\/p>\n Feldman believes in the long run the Retzlaff situation will be \u201cmore positive than negative\u201d for BYU, and further solidify the school\u2019s brand.<\/p>\n \u201cWe talked to Kalani about the honor code and he was like, \u2018Well, that\u2019s what comes with BYU,\u2019\u201d Feldman said. \u201cBYU is going to be very selective in a lot of things, whether it is academics or whatever. I think it helps them. Football is something that is really important there. Kalani leans into that the right way. He is authentic and people know that and they also know that BYU is not for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Former BYU defensive back Ben Criddle, now a sports talk radio host on ESPN 960<\/a>, says BYU can still retain its uniqueness and culture and thrive in the college sports world if it keeps the focus on being transformational instead of transactional.<\/p>\n \u201cI do believe that BYU, with its leadership, and Kalani at the helm with his love-and-learn culture, faith-first and discipleship culture (is set up for continued success),\u201d Criddle said. \u201cWe heard Kalani speak at his devotional<\/a> recently. That embodies what Kalani and the administration want the culture to be within BYU football.\u201d<\/p>\n Having played at two junior colleges, in addition to BYU, and having \u201cinteracted with many football players at other schools,\u201d Criddle said BYU\u2019s unique culture is most often evident in the locker room, among its players.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are high-level kids that come from high-level families that want to be well-rounded, that want a high academic experience,\u201d he said. \u201cThey want jobs that will ultimately take care of their families. They want their morals, ethics and spirituality aligned with the infrastructure that BYU provides, and then they want to be able to compete at the highest levels of athletics.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can accomplish that. They will accomplish that as long as they understand what the why of it all is, which is the transformation of individual progression and hopefully aligning with being the best human you can be, and aligning with Christ,\u201d Criddle continued.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/4Q7J3QZJNZC5FLN4QHTIQGA5UE.JPG\")
BYU’s newest head football coach Kalani Sitake talks briefly with former head coach LaVell Edwards following a press conference in Provo Monday, Dec. 21, 2015. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/YCWHKQ637FEELOVKEXVB47HZXY.JPG\")
BYU running back LJ Martin runs against Colorado during the Valero Alamo Bowl in San Antonio on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/NXQ46WR3GBEMFOGDMXMLBOETII.jpg\")
BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick talks on his handheld radio during the opening day of BYU football spring camp held at the Zions Bank Practice Fields Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/DPWPOSQO5JFPXAUDSVLPOEWNWA.JPG\")
Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and commissioner of the Church Educational System, gives the commencement address during Brigham Young University\u2019s commencement ceremony, held at the Marriott Center in Provo on Thursday, April 24, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/VVLCT6WWUJFPZKIH4T3B3NYRDI.JPG\")
Newly-named Brigham Young University Director of Athletics Brian Santiago speaks as he\u2019s joined by BYU President C. Shane Reese during a press conference announcing Santiago\u2019s hiring for the position held at the BYU Broadcast Building on the university\u2019s campus in Provo on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News <\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/BVPHKJJQRVB2ZBJVQYDMO4T6YQ.jpg\")
The reflection of reporters can be seen in the sunglasses of BYU football coach Kalani Sitake during fall camp in Provo on Aug. 5, 2025. | Jaren Wilkey\/BYU <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brigham Young University has always been something of a curiosity in college football. Outside observers look at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292289,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[7,3309],"class_list":{"0":"post-292288","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-news-feed-local"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115037527481564729","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}