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First article from the new beat writer. Hopefully he starts pumping them out!

I know some are worried that Dawson could lose a step or two while serving a mission. I have a few thoughts on that. I went on an LDS mission and had many athletes in my areas. One of which was Fui Vakapuna from BYU and, a some safety for Univ of Utah. I tell you, Fui stayed in great shape...HOWEVER, we were in Southern California. He had gym access. Good food. Good housing. Good water. He could watch his diet.

Just to clarify the article, he doesn't really "request" where he goes. He can mark a box that says he would be willing to learn a language and go to another country...but that is it. I put that too and ended up in SoCal speaking English. "Theo was assigned to a mission in Concepcion, Chile, the location he requested." Jeez, if this was the case, every LDS missionary would be in Cancun and Hawaii. We were still 19 year old boys remember. Any way, my point is that a serving a mission in the states obviously has its benefits. I think Theo is a hard worker...so staying in shape will be fine in South America. What I am worried about is that I have dozens of friends who have served missions in South America and every one of them had issues with food, water, or both. Some are still sick a decade later. Some lost a ton of weight on their missions as a result. That is my biggest concern about where he is going. My other concern...BYU picking him off. They say it doesn't happen intentionally, and now with Sitake there instead of Bronco, it may lessen, but I don't know. I live in Utah and am surrounded by Utah sports. All of them. There have been many star recruits leave from one school (like Utah, Utah State, ASU, Notre Dame to name a few) and come back to BYU. So, I am hoping Theo remains loyal.

I think he will be okay, and will be a beast for us.

djm19 wrote: My other concern...BYU picking him off. They say it doesn't happen intentionally, and now with Sitake there instead of Bronco, it may lessen, but I don't know. I live in Utah and am surrounded by Utah sports. All of them. There have been many star recruits leave from one school (like Utah, Utah State, ASU, Notre Dame to name a few) and come back to BYU. So, I am hoping Theo remains loyal.

Thanks for pointing out that Theo didn't "request" Chile, I'm sure Theo made a comment saying he would've liked to been assigned to a place like that and the beat writer interpreted that the wrong way. I have the same concerns as you, but I guess in reverse order lol. He may lose some weight, but luckily he's going right out of HS so when he comes back he still has a redshirt year available. I'm more concerned with BYU getting involved. I hope Bohl doesn't have a change of heart a year from now and tells Theo to come back early or lose his scholarship. I know this happened with Taysom Hill at Stanford, and he ended up in Provo because of it. Does anyone know if Bohl has had LDS missionaries or any other non-traditional athletes with similar circumstances on his teams before?

I think telling a kid to come back early would be ignorant as hell. If they agree to offer based on the notion they're going on a mission, the both should hold up their ends.


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I think Bohl knows better than to have a change of heart on a local kid, arguably (on paper) one of the most decorated recruits he has landed. Sure fire way to make the fanbase mad, pull the rug out from under a local boy.

I don't know Bohl's position on non-traditional athletes (such as LDS kids), but I think Bohl has embraced the fact that teams like BYU, Utah State, Utah, even Boise State to extent have made it work and in many cases it pays off. There is a walk-on returned missionary on the team now who could get playing time this year as a freshmen. 22 years old and a big drink of water. Bohl has been more than welcoming and inviting to him. I think he knows there is a large LDS contingency of fans and players in the state of Wyoming even, and possibly pick off a player from a surrounding area (Utah and Idaho). That is fact. I realize some on here don't care for the LDS church, which is fine, but it is fact there are lot of members of that church in the intermountain west. Embrace the retuned missionary thing and it may pay off. Bohl knows this.

But yes, I would be curious as to if some NDSU players had non-traditional players and how it went.

cali2wyo wrote:

djm19 wrote: My other concern...BYU picking him off. They say it doesn't happen intentionally, and now with Sitake there instead of Bronco, it may lessen, but I don't know. I live in Utah and am surrounded by Utah sports. All of them. There have been many star recruits leave from one school (like Utah, Utah State, ASU, Notre Dame to name a few) and come back to BYU. So, I am hoping Theo remains loyal.

Thanks for pointing out that Theo didn't "request" Chile,

And to take it a step further, by brother got assigned to Nebraska for his mission. A bordering state. He surely did not request that. He liked it, but dang, a bordering state? You can mark on your mission paperwork that you would be willing to go out of the country, but at the end of the day, you get sent where you are needed. My neighbor just got back from Nampa, Idaho. At one point, he was like 4 hour drive from home. Straight south on I-15/84. They take a lot into consideration though, such as mental and physical health. I had back problems from a high school sports injuries. Ironically enough I ended up getting assigned to California where there was great medical care..and even a doctor who was LDS who really helped me rehab my back on his own dime. It was life changing for me. Had I been in Chile, maybe it would have gotten worse? I don't know. Also, the cost is the same for every missionary. Doesn't matter where you go. I saved money before I left to pay for it. It was about $300 per month. However, I was allocated around $380 a month. My buddy in Chile who went paid $300 per month, but was only allocated like $100 per month. It works out great because you can budget to serve. The cost is the same no matter in the world you go.

Theo will come back more mature no matter where he goes. He will obviously be older and can maybe learn some leadership skills that could translate into football leadership. I am really looking forward to seeing him play.

Doesn't the amount of $$$$$ you Tithe to the church influence your placement? Just wondering from an outsider's point of view.....

Slow Hand wrote:Doesn't the amount of $$$$$ you Tithe to the church influence your placement? Just wondering from an outsider's point of view.....

Kids go on missions at 18 years old. I can probably guarantee that most missionaries have paid little to no tithing their entire lives up to the point of their mission. And every mission (like djm pointed out) costs the same for each kid, so there's no income-based decision making (or at least it doesn't make sense for there to be)...

cali2wyo wrote:

Slow Hand wrote:Doesn't the amount of $$$$$ you Tithe to the church influence your placement? Just wondering from an outsider's point of view.....

Kids go on missions at 18 years old. I can probably guarantee that most missionaries have paid little to no tithing their entire lives up to the point of their mission. And every mission (like djm pointed out) costs the same for each kid, so there's no income-based decision making (or at least it doesn't make sense for there to be)...

Sorry, I should've clarified...doesn't the amount of money that the family of the missionary Tithes influence placement? I have heard stories, second hand of course, of a family's financial status influencing placement preference.

Slow Hand wrote:

cali2wyo wrote:

Slow Hand wrote:Doesn't the amount of $$$$$ you Tithe to the church influence your placement? Just wondering from an outsider's point of view.....

Kids go on missions at 18 years old. I can probably guarantee that most missionaries have paid little to no tithing their entire lives up to the point of their mission. And every mission (like djm pointed out) costs the same for each kid, so there's no income-based decision making (or at least it doesn't make sense for there to be)...

Sorry, I should've clarified...doesn't the amount of money that the family of the missionary Tithes influence placement? I have heard stories, second hand of course, of a family's financial status influencing placement preference.

In a centralized religious institution??? No way!! Lol


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