BYU’s physical is dirty in sports today

When Utah’s Seni Fauonuku called BYU a dirty team, I laughed at first. This is just the epitome of the Utah players’ attitude towards BYU. Yet, upon further reflection, I have come to agree with Fauonuku—to a certain point.

Sports has become less and less about contact. Hand-check fouls are called in basketball. A defensive player can’t touch a receiver without getting flagged in football. More and more non-contact practices are being instigated across football for fear of someone getting hurt. In basketball, Greg Popovich has become famous for sitting his starters in numerous games.

BYU’s defense has remained nearly unchanged over the years: they are a physical team. They have built a bully up front, and have physical defensive backs. In today’s sports world, the physicality of BYU is dirty. In the past, we glorified big hits, but now players get fined and/or suspended for them.

Take former Chicago Bears rookie Johnathan Bostic, who laid a big blow in a Bears preseason game in 2013. The hit was (and should be) legal, but Bostic was fined $21,000 by the NFL, a large amount for a rookie.

Phyiscality is being punished across football-and it is bad for the sport.

Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Seahawks have become famous for their “Legion of Boom”, but the NFL moved quickly to target them and other teams with physical defensive backfields.

Sports has become less and less about the 13-10 grind-it-out type games. Instead, we see more and more 42-39 type games, with little tackling, and more highlight-reel plays. While it is fun to watch as a fan, it is disheartening to see the sport of football become less and less about the physical plays, and more about the acrobatics of receivers and quarterbacks.

In today’s sports world, BYU is a “dirty” team. But only because physicality is being punished, and discouraged, across football. I hope that the next coach continues with BYU’s physical tradition, even as it is rapidly disappearing from football.