SALT LAKE CITY — In the end, like we thought all along, the BYU football program is exactly that — a football program, not a missionary extension of the LDS Church.

Missionaries preach the gospel, football players play football. Never was that more apparent than during the ugly scene the followed the Miami Beach Bowl game this week at Marlins Park.

After the Cougars lost for the fifth time this season, several players came off the bench and participated in the postgame brawl with the Memphis Tigers. While many of the Cougars were justified in coming to the defense of teammates, some were out of control, particularly a player caught on full view of television cameras throwing a punch from behind at an unsuspecting Memphis player.

The fight was reminiscent of Miami’s brawl with Florida International in October 2006. A total of 31 players from both schools were suspended for one game and both head coaches were not with their respective teams the following season.

As the world saw in the fallout after the bowl game, human beings make mistakes. In time, following apologies and consequences, most are willing to forgive.

The bigger point is BYU football’s standing in the grand scheme. It turns out, despite the repeated statements that claim otherwise, the football program is like most other football programs.

By nature, we are all flawed. The problem here is BYU keeps insisting it is different than the other 120 or so Division I football programs.

At almost every chance, Bronco Mendenhall lets the world know that BYU is unique and that recruits who choose another school really "didn't want the BYU experience." The implication, at least to some, calls into question a player's faith if he bypasses the opportunity to play for BYU.

Related:

Fight breaks out after Miami Beach Bowl between BYU, Memphis

Fans expecting to see a postseason game between BYU and Memphis not only witnessed two extra periods of football in a tightly contested aerial shootout, but an outright brawl as well.

It's time to stop.

If BYU really is different, there’s no need to keep telling us. The difference would be apparent, speaking for itself.

Pointing to the category of that well-worn phrase of actions over words, BYU may strive to be different, but it’s clear the goal always falls short. The postgame brawl is the latest example in a long line that include post-midnight fights at a fast-food restaurant, sexual assault investigations and NCAA investigations.

Tone down the rhetoric, already. All of us fall short of the glory.

“Everyone is human,” says Kyle Van Noy.

The former BYU linebacker star knows of what he speaks. In high school, after committing to BYU, Van Noy had to work through legal issues before starting his college career.

In a stroke of brilliance, Mendenhall allowed Van Noy to delay his college enrollment for a football season and then come to BYU. Not only was Van Noy an all-time great, he graduated and greatly benefitting from his time at BYU.

The only real difference between BYU and other schools, as Van Noy says, is the Honor Code. Some try to live the standard and some don’t, pretty much the same as it would be at all the other places that don’t have such a standard like BYU’s code.

“At the end of the day, everyone is the same,” Van Noy says. “People have issues.”

Years ago, after he became the BYU basketball coach, Steve Cleveland was mystified at the “holier than thou” attitude that surrounded BYU, whether justified or not. A California import, Cleveland was new to BYU and was going through an adjustment period when he basically said he was no different than anybody else.

In short time, the BYU football program will get past the brawl with Memphis. Mendenhall, in conjunction with highly competent Athletic Director Tom Holmoe, will handle the situation and fallout appropriately.

The lesson to learn is that those associated with the football program were not called of God. They are merely blessed to be players, coaches, administrators, etc.

Rather than focusing on the differences, which in effect come off as pointing to some kind of superiority, highlight the humility of trying to live a good life.

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