Marc Wilson: Pioneering Excellence at BYU and Raiders Super Bowl Champion

Introduction so I was in training camp my rookie season I'm walking off the field after practice and this uh teammate I won't tell you his name or where what school he came from but he said kind of saddled up next to me said so kind of in a quiet voice tell me how much money you made of U and I looked at him like what are you talking about and he said dude come on you were an All-American quarterback you finished highing the Heisman Trophy you must have made a fortune so tell me how much money did you make it be what you and he said dude I'm telling you the truth I didn't make any money you said you're lying to me come on just tell me [Music] Discussion of Marc's early days at BYU hi everybody this is Mike Lacy and I am so grateful to have one of my classmates the famous Mark Wilson and he's so humble he'll get mad at me for saying that so let's just say this young man has accomplished a lot of things in life Mark Wilson thank you for being here oh it's a pleasure thanks for having me do you remember that fall in 1975 when we came in in the freshman class at BYU I do I do yeah you you were a quarterback yeah and you know as I was reading up I know Mark well but I still wanted to get some details on you and it's true that really when you think about our history you were one of those first guys in the BYU quarterback Factory well I don't know about that well I mean think about it because I Locker next to gford neelson and my our freshman year he was third string when we started that year we had he had uh Mark Giles and Jeff duva je Dua in front of him yeah and so you were at most fourth well I don't think I was even fourth when I showed up there were like eight quarterbacks at on campus showed up at training camp and we didn't call it that I forget what we called it but there were like eight or nine guys and so I was just one of many one of many but I mean we didn't quite have the tradition yet you know I mean sure in 1974 um Gary shidi was a really good quarterback Gary was great Gary was great my high school Cordova High School in California my coach Dy Guera coached uh Virgil Carter in fulam California but that was in the 60s right it wasn't like there was a tradition of year after year after year right a a great quarterback is coming out of be Yu until gford neelen Mark Wilson Jim McMahon Steve Young and and it goes on and on and on I know and you know it's remarkable to think about actually and I've thought a lot about it you know I don't think there's many schools in NCAA history that can match that string of quarterbacks now there's a couple maybe USC with their tailbacks I'm talking about quarterbacks I know I know so Stanford had a run of some great guys right plunk it and oh they way and they had bunch of guys and and then University of Miami had a bunch of guys but I think if you take those schools it's very very rare I mean incredibly rare and so we're right up there with the best of the best I think Mark but I'll take our quarterback room over those years compared to anybody you know that's what I was going to say is during our years there I mean think about it guys like gford well in the same room you know I assume you were in there at the same time was Steve Young no so in in the room with me was gford Nelson gford Nelson myself Jim McMahon and the the name that gets lost is Dan Hartwick I remember Dan Hartwick well he was in our class he was he came in with me as a freshman Dan from the valley of California from W Creek okay same place where cronister came from myON and uh Dan was Dan was a specimen he a good athlete Dan was 64 weigh 225 in high school school and the funny thing about Dan is when he couldn't figure out who to throw it to in practice he'd wear back and launch it he could throw like 75 yards and everybody would just fall out like what did you just see that I know it wasn't completed but who cares and then Dan got you know what happened to Dan well because I remember I after our freshman year I went away to Central America for two years so I missed yeah what happened to Dan well you know it was easy to get impatient Memories of teammates and BYU's quarterback legacy of course yeah that's that's one of the big stories here well and there was no portal it wasn't like you could leave right if you left you had to sit out a year which was which was a big deter having guys leave and Dan got impatient and Dan left he transferred and went to University of Pacific I it was some School in California Stockton but what everyone forgets was that Dan was a 12th round draft picked by the 49ers Dan was in the training camp with the 49ers so there were four Pro players in that room wow gford was an All-American was great I was an All-American Jim was an All-American but Dan was a heck of a player himself mark because just to get drafted in the NFL is a I don't care what round that's a huge thing that means you're potentially a player that's exactly right and Dan Hartwig was and that name gets lost now I'm it's funny when you think what do they call it Mr irr Irrelevant yeah uhhuh last guy taken in the draft and who who who lately has been really good but he was Mr Irrelevant well it's Brock pie yeah okay Brock py was the the last guy taken in the NFL draft yeah that's why I say in fact even if you're if you're a free agent and you get signed by an NFL team and get invited to training camp you are a great player I mean let's just be honest about it because there's how many thousands of college players and there's only 10 and some per team and there's 32 teams so there's 3,200 guys that are going to training camp including the veterans not just the rookies right very few very few rookies compared I always thought Royce BBY had a great arm and at most other schools would probably play you know and uh and didn't he go on as a free agent with somebody for a little while I don't know that okay I don't know that I thought he may have but the stories you have shared because oh Mark I remember coming back and and there's a little bit of a difference because back then I don't think guys going away on missions and coming back was routine know so when I came back I felt like I was a newbie again Reflections on returning from mission and changes in the team I'm sure you did and you guys I was just with Larry Miller yeah and he took o I had been playing weakside linebacker and Larry took over and became great well Larry was a great talent all Western athletic oh he was and and what a specimen oh my goodness can you oh yeah that guy when I came back from my mission you know having lost about 15 pounds or something that and needing to get back in shape this guy was you know prancing around with muscles that were bulging off of muscles there he was impressive man he was and is he's a great guy so I saw him well we were together Friday night at the 100 Years of BYU football we're taping this August 1st it we won't be on until um September or October but Mark those memories for me are are special and that's why I'm so glad that you're willing to sh to come on board with us because I remember I've I've shared with others and we've talked about our 1979 season and uh and how that season ended and I I think maybe you might have seen part of our friend Brett Johnson yeah I did and that that had me sobbing I mean well yeah I mean in fact I told you the other night that when we were together I wish that that had come out 30 years ago because there were so many elements of that that people didn't know I didn't know some of them and and even I still think it gets lost on people I I you know I think people understand it better than they' ever have because of your podcast with Brent but I still don't think the impact is is really understood and let me try and summarize it we we wanted to be the first team that could that went through the season undefeated we wanted to be the first team ranked in the top 10 and we wanted to be the first team to win a bll game and we felt like we had the team to do it we had it when we start the season and the the big hurdle was getting by Texas A&M and so when we got by Texas A&M we felt like we I think we can do this a good road then of course as the season Unwound we're closer and closer and then it comes down to the last 20 seconds of the bowl game and we're down by one point we're on the seven yard line and we have a great kicker who's kicked great all year long I was unaware that he had the record at that point for consecutive extra points and here we are at the essentially the extra point distance that's exactly right and so I Discussion of the 1979 season and its significance mean it was right there we we had it right and then no one would have ever expected because if Brent Johnson kicked 10,000 field goals from the seven yard line which is about a 25 yard field goal he would make a thousand of them he wouldn't miss one no If he if he kicked 10,000 of them yeah he he'd make 10,000 yeah you could blindfold him and he'd still make 10,4 198 you know so to miss that field goal was like unbelievable it was and when he when we missed the field goal now we didn't have an undefeated season we didn't finish in the top 10 and we didn't win the first bowl game for level and we would have had all those things happen had that field goal gone through and that's why it was so devastating and if we had if he had we had made that field goal and I say we because it's a we thing it's it's a team thing if we had made that field goal the 1979 team in my opinion would be as celebrated as any team in BYU history except for perhaps 1984 because they got the mythical we would be a smidge below the 1984 team because they won the National Championship but we would be one of the most celebrated teams in BYU history and as it is we're kind of Forgotten and and it's okay but that but that's what that's that's why it was so devastating and that's why it was so heartfelt to hear the story from Bren and to be cheerful about it because it was it was an incredibly emotional thing that happened that I don't know that people really fully grasp mark You're an athlete I'm an ex-athlete and so many of our fans the people who who participate with us the the listeners the Watchers we've all been in a sport probably where you think back oh I wish I would have cut left oh yeah or oh I wish I would have turned it on right then you know you can always think of what if oh yeah and imagine I put myself then in Brett Johnson's shoes of here I am when the whole country and especially the cougar faithful we're all focused on it yeah and and then we've all been disappointed in our lives though but not in front of 50,000 fans local or a national TV audience exactly right yeah and after the game you know Brent talked about we were in the locker room and I kind of stepped up up and protected him from the Press but he didn't tell you what I said to him what happened what I and I remember this like it was yesterday cuz I felt so bad for Brent I mean I felt bad for all of us but I really felt for Brent because Brent was a great kicker you know he was and so I said to the media I said you guys need to leave him alone I said come and talk to me I just threw three interceptions in the game this isn't all on brand and and they kind of dispersed and let and gave him some space right but it was true I mean I threw three interceptions in the game we fumbled a bunch of times we we had a bunch of stuff happen that was uncharacteristic of us they kept them in the game they had no business being in the game with us they had no business winning the game I mean the whole thing it was a fluke that they won but they did the following year the SMU game was probably an exact reverse of who should have could have would have yeah and so you're right we we should have won that game yeah yeah Mark so good to remember those things and when he brought up you coming between him and the Press just to give him space uh I could tell that his gratitude you know but then he went on to tell the story about Coach Fred Whittingham who's so intimidating you know and and touched him you know I mean reached out to him in such a gentle way and then uh coach Edwards when he grabbed him by the face mask that was and then finally when President D Oaks of our University gave him a big bear hug and then decades later oh Brent that was a bad night those memories and then to to feel it from his perspective it was beautiful yeah it really was a great podcast and I'm glad people got to know Brent a little bit um but like I said I wish that that had come out 30 years ago I do too but it it's good that we have it now yeah and Mark you and were from the same class that was your last game as a BYU cougar yeah and it was you know my sophomore year after a red shirt year at a mission so I remember I think we were both heading off to our homes so we didn't fly home with the team and I had a car so you and I were alone at the at the hotel and we were both really hungry we hadn't eaten and so we were driving around San Diego trying in the wrong places I mean we were on the coast somewhere there weren't any uh restaurants open do you remember that night I don't remember that well don't remember that I just remember being with here's my quarterback you know and the guy who just played his last game is a cougar and I'm letting him down because I can't find a dang McDonald's or whatever those are fun times to remember Mark yeah and from my mission I remember uh of course gford neelen was right next to me my freshman year so it was in the Marc's emergence as starter after Gifford Nielsen's injury locker room and it was fun to uh to watch his rise that year because after two or three games he became the starter MH and then my first year down in Latin America my my family would send the the clippings from the games and oh it was sad to see or hear that gford neelson had gone down with an injury a season ending injury but then Mark Wilson threw some like 15 touchdowns in a game what what happened was it Colorado State yeah and Colorado state was really good they had a top 10 defense in fact uh both their defensive ends were first- round draft picks in the NFL did you know that no yeah Mike Bell and Al Baker I remember those names and then their middle linebacker was a third round pick in the NFL so they had a great team and and we were playing over there in Colorado what time of year it was still I was probably like the sixth game weather's still okay weather was great okay not a factor but some significant things happened before the game you know and that's really what paved the way for the game to play out the way that it did and that was and it's now this is your first game really you know as as the guy who we depending on right because yeah you were the backup to gford that year yeah and I'd gotten to play in I think every game up to that point because gford had us so far ahead we'd be ahead by 50 points going into the fourth quarter so I played most of the fourth quarters which is really fun because there's no pressure you can't goof up you know you're up by 50 points I mean come on what can happen but that's a whole different deal playing in the fourth quarter up by 50 than starting a game yes you know yes so anyway the reason why the whole game whole thing was different and why I think it's so significant and it and it's a great it's a great lesson for coaches if they would just pay attention to listen and that is that uh Doug first of all I was really emotional when I found out gford was hurt and I went over to the hospital in Provo we came back from Oregon State I went over to the hospital that night and and I knew as soon as I saw him that he was done right because he tore his knee and he had surgery and and uh being gfer the way that he is he kind of pulled me down close to him and said listen this team's yours now you can do this WOW which was really awesome to hear from him because I just loved gford I thought he was a great player obviously a great person and but anyway um Doug calls me Doug Scoville the offensive coordinator calls me into his office Monday I go down to see him I and I'm I don't know what to expect right I'm I'm afraid that I'm not going to play well enough to keep this thing going because we had a great team in 1977 and I knew the quarterback play was really significant and important to that success of that team oh huge especially with Doug skull was and I hadn't played a game since my second game in high school because my my second game in high school I broke my jaw oh my I broke my jaw right here and let and that's all I played my senior season so I have I played one and a half half games my senior season in high school my freshman year at BYU I didn't play at all played on the freshman team right my third second year at BYU I red shirted so I didn't play at all made the varsity I'm backing up gford playing in the fourth quarter being up by 50 I haven't started a game a real game backing him up I'm backing him up but I haven't started a real game for two and a half three years so is there a question mark in your head like am I still up to it oh there was a lot of question marks in my head but anyway I go to Doug's office and Doug puts this Playbook in front of me with a bunch of posted notes and he says I want you to go through every one of these plays in The Playbook and I want you to put a posted note on your favorite plays so I said okay so I put a post- a note on all my favorite plays I gave it back to him he looks through and he says these are all roll out plays what is the deal with these roll outs he he liked the pocket fasters right well you may not I mean he preferred that he preferred it but you may not even have known we had roll out plays in The Playboy but right cuz we never ran them ever I know so I said to him listen in our system this dropback game you got to know what you're doing you got to read the defense you got to know how to where to kind of attack the defense you time to focus and and get out of trouble but if you're rolling out you really divide the field in half because you can't really throw it to about half the field and in that divided field you only got a couple options because there's only probably two guys on that side of the field right so it makes it a lot easier and I said to him and if I can't find anyone to throw it to I'll just run because I could run a little bit yeah get us a few yards so let's just do that and I said the other thing is they got a really good pass rush they got these good Defenders and let's see if we can't get away from the rush let's don't put the burden on the lineman or even on me standing back there all day and so he said okay but then he says something else significant he said so Mark the reason I'm doing this is because you're not gford I he didn't need to remind me of that not but he but he said but then he said this but gford isn't you that's that's what I was going to say and he said so it makes no sense you're both really tall for me to yeah you more scrambling ability so he said it makes no sense to run the place gford wants to run if you don't like him right so we got to focus on what you what you like to do and what you want to do and and go from there and so he in five days in four days he changed the whole offense did he he changed the entire offense and we went from a dropback team to a rollout team who now it just so happens we get over there to Colorado and they thought and I would probably have thought the same thing this kid hasn't played ever we're gonna really lay it back and put the pressure we're going to Blitz the heck out of him Y and see if he can hold up and do that good thing you had a roll out set up it was the best thing they ever did because you know the years we played at BYU we prayed that they would Blitz us because we didn't want to have to face you know seven eight nine guys in coverage right we wanted we wanted them to play Man coverage and so that you could pick the one you that was going to be you can Blitz all you want but please please Blitz us so they blitzed us all game and we torched them on those roll out plays did and I threw seven touchdowns and ran for one and was the national player of the week and then I thought there's nothing to this this is easy this is easy so whack record player of the week I'm just G to keep doing this so the next game was in Wyoming yeah at Wyoming weather was not Story about changing the offense before the Colorado State game a factor and I contined to set records I set a whack record six interceptions in one game because because Wyoming said we just saw what happened against the blitz we're not blitzing they put a bunch of they rushed two or three guys and put eight or nine guys in coverage and I and I was too stupid to realize you can't throw into that very well and but the reason we but we won and the reason we won is because they ran the wishbone whatever and they fumbled nine times that's the only reason we won and those were the first two games I played in college football wow crazy that is amazing totally crazy I mean but you you just refreshed my memory of so many things um for example in 1979 going back to that year against Texas A&M I was grateful to be playing with you in the offense and so uh do you remember Jacob green oh absolutely because Jacob so in 1984 and I I started with the Raiders in 1980 yeah and for the first three years the team was in Oakland and so I lived in we lived in the Bay area for a year round but where did you live we lived in arinda okay nice area but the team moved South to LA and when they moved to South to La Colleen and I moved home we're both from Seattle yeah and we built a home in Woodenville we looked all around we decided on Woodenville one of the reasons we decided to go home was to be in our family but the other reason was to escape football because when you're the quarterback and you and you stay there year round it it's a different lie I can I it could be demanding that anywhere in you can't really go anywhere you know it's it's just that dealing with that unless Kenny Stabler was with you and then they go after and that would wear me out yeah and I just never felt like I could get away from it so going home was great because no one in Seattle cared about me they cared about the Seahawks so we buy a lot in a road that's dirt a dirt road that's been platted so all the lots are but they're not built out so we buy a lot we pick a builder we go for the season we come home the house is built now there's 15 houses built in this neighborhood and who lives three houses from me so I've gone all the way from La back home to escape football right three houses for me is Jacob green oh man five houses for me is Kenny Easley half a block the other way is Manu Tu tuas esopo all Seahawk great names great players for the Seahawks people might know we go all that way to get away from football my neighbors are all Seahawks one of them Jacob green oh and Jacob green I mean let me tell you a story there was a there was a play fact there are two plays I want to remind you of um but there was a play where you were doing I think just a roll out left and I'm fullback and so my my job and I'm I'm a good siiz fullback you know so my job was to take out the outside hip of the defensive end yeah and that never scared me I I knew how to how to hit a guy even though he's a big defensive end and fast except Jacob green yeah because you you were rolling out back here I'm coming at an angle to catch him so I come in hard to hit him with this inside shoulders so he can't go through me and uh he went through me in fact his leg threw me like a ragd doll and I don't know if he impacted the play you know when you were out there on the left but I just remember oh baby this is real football here against Texas a because that man was big and fast and strong well he was great in college and he was even probably better in the pros yeah you know he's in the Ring of Honor for the Seahawks for a reason W he a phenomenal player wow yeah and then there was another play there was another Recollections of the following game against Wyoming play where there was a bootleg and you were bootlegging left and I remember we were at that Stadium rice Stadium rice stadium and uh and the fullback was just supposed to I don't know if I was faking a block and then I go up the right sideline I was the only one on the right side of the field and you had some time Mark here I am but of course you're concentrating over here on the left side of the field I think I came back said Mark nobody came out again on me let's run that way again we never did no we never did I probably would have dro Dr the flipping ball I don't think so those are fun memories yeah but my favorite memory with you Mark is another championship we won there was a champ well we got it before you get off this Texas we got we got to finish the story so no Texas A&M you know it comes down to the end we're we're down by two points and we're on the two we're down by we're down by one we're down by one yep we're down by one and 176 and we score a touchdown to go down by one Kay Brown catches a pass from you yep and there's not much time left in the game and we haven't played great at all all game and uh lval decides were going for two to try and win the game rather than I had heard him say that see you were out on the field and I was there that I think I was shuttling plays back and forth and I was listening to LVL and Doug speak to each other yeah and Doug asked him when we score because this is this is uh and this is before Tim alerson even blocked the punt so uh Doug asked him when we score are we going for one or two yeah and that's exactly how Doug always talked yeah so that's not surprising at all and I heard I heard LEL say too so now I'm out on in the huddle with you we just scored the touchdown yeah well they called timeout yeah you did or yep I go over there and they ask me what play I want to run like really I mean this is like the biggest this is going to be the biggest play up to this point in BYU history and you want to know what I want to go so I said this is the play that I think will work and looking back it wasn't a great play because would run a fake draw who would run a fake draw on the you know for a two-point conversion because they know you're not going to fake it draw but the the middle linebacker let me through yep and uh the play worked but it almost didn't work because you were open but Jacob green he was on you well he was he didn't really even Rush that much he just kind of came a couple steps and just stood and looked at me he growled at no he was getting ready to block the he was he was standing he wanted to block the pass he wasn't interested in really sacking me because we're on the two yard line there's not a lot of depth so you can't throw it high and drop it in that's right so he was just standing there waiting to block the pass you are telling me something that's totally new to me that's why I had to throw it to the left yes so I couldn't throw it directly to you or he would have blocked it so I had to throw it to the left which wasn't a great pass but it was the only pass I could kind of do to get it by Jacob and you Dove and caught it with one hand and we won the game and that even today you know 2024 a million years later in my opinion it's one of the greatest catches in BYU history oh Mark I love that and the most and the most consequential catch in BYU history and trust me when I chose to go away on my mission it wasn't an easy decision at the time and and I disappointed some coaches at the time and and there were some other people incl including some coaches who said Mike you may not ever play football again because you come back with this love and you know and charity and you're not football oriented and I I said my mind I made a promise said I am G to come back and I want to play football and I want to do something well for this team and you made that right for are you you enabled me to be there Mark and I great moment but but here let me share something one more little tidbit because I remember this distinctly do you remember how loud it was in rice Stadium I mean you you almost couldn't hear yourself think it was reverberating so loudly and so here we are at this very consequential time in the game and so we're all I mean you don't have the most powerful voice in the world did you know but so you're telling us the play we're all in there listening and then you turn to me as Lacy this is coming to you and and part of me was a little bit nervous and scared but part of me was wow my friend Mark uh trusts that I I can catch that ball so those those are wonderful memories and I appreciate that yeah and that got us started and that was a magical year it was truly a magical year and then I mean now you go on and you're with the Raiders you've told me some funny stories because we've all you know coach Edwards in fact tell us I mean share with us if you're if you want Detailed discussion of the 1979 Texas A&M game to um your career as a quarterback and at BYU was maybe one of the most unique careers ever do you want to share any of that with us well I just we just talked about the first two games I don't think anybody's ever started their career with two games like that that was that was crazy the ups and downs the ups and yeah in just two weeks back to back games that was crazy um you know that my second year my junior year Jim and I ended up splitting time and I was a red shirt so I was witnessing That season that was that was an awkward year because I I came into the season as an All-American candidate because I was the whack Player of the Year in 1977 coming in for gford I came into 1978 I was a preseason All-American I was a pre-season Heisman Trophy candidate and then by five six games into the season was no longer playing that was odd that was a awkward very awkward year and then to be honest I I wasn't really even G to play but we had all right I want to go there don't I don't want to interrupt you here but I just wanted to add some highlights here we had now had a different offensive coordinator and Doug Scoville where did Doug go Doug went back to the NFL he came from he came to us from the NFL and he went back to the NFL so 1978 we had a new and he went to Chicago okay but he went to Chicago as a special teams coach that's surprising and well it isn't it isn't I mean it is because he was such a great offensive mind to go back and be a special teams coach but you know you also have to understand that you know your pension is based upon how many years you're in the NFL if you're getting a pension from the NFL and so I could understand why he wanted to go back and add to his pension by putting in more years in the NFL and if it meant being a special teams coach well then so be it right yeah and that's why he went back and so I understood that I think we all understood that but it imp imped our our team at BYU because I I mean I when I came back and when I switched from defense to offense I mean we were running one of the most I won't say complex it was complex it became very complex but in a way it was a beautifully simple yeah Playbook an offensive Playbook and and it was AV on guard in so many ways maybe I don't know if Bill Walsh and Doug Scoville got together on weekends but this West Coast offense was really created by those two guys and maybe a couple others I don't know yeah and I'm not sure either I just know that uh it was phenomenal it fit us it fit our the skill sets that we had the players on the team especially on offense it fit me really well it fit gford really well it ended up fitting Jim and Steve and everybody really well but we learned a lot of things from that one year oh my Heavens well as a we learned a lot of things lvll learned a lot of things and the thing that lvll Learned was he was never and he said it he made his decision he was never letting that offense leave the valley again which is why he was really careful on who he hired after that and he ended up with ncha because and they kept the same offense They just added to it but he that offense was never leaving the valley again because in 1978 it left the valley and we all saw the results yeah Mark then we got Doug Scoville back I don't know how LVL worked that out because he probably needed more years in the NFL no I know how how level worked it out really Doug Doug was not happy being a special teams coach and if you and being in the NFL all those years I can I know why it's not fun being a special teams coach in the NFL because no one wants to be on special team so right you got to beg borrow and steal to get those guys to play and then to play hard and play well for you because they really want to be offensive defensive players right so it's that's a real challenging thing Gary honor is the one one guy who might have the personality but it takes to make that work but it takes a special guy to make that work and it's not fun cuz the guys really don't want to be playing special teams true so and Doug had a lot of fun with us in Provo you know with gford and then with me well remember all summer long working out together yeah I mean was it five nights a week was five nights a week night and and yeah we're out there doing the turnaround drill and running our plays all you quarterbacks there might have been eight of you we all everybody was there everybody was there all of us receivers were there too but I understand why Doug came back because Provo was really fun and it wasn't probably all that much fun in Chicago as a special teams coach right so lville convinced him to come back but the but the problem was I don't want to fire the other guy because I got to pay the contract so lvll went to the NCAA Coaches convention and talked up this other guy and got another school to hire him and that paved the way for Doug to come back wow so we avoided the salary we didn't have to pay the salary because he left because the budgets were kind of tight back then I assume and Doug came back and when Doug came back all of us all of us sigh of relief well not only that we all knew that okay this is going to be fun but Mark you you were going somewhere that I interrupted you because you were telling me that 78 season was hard and you started even saying that you might not play anymore well I had red shirted so I was pretty much done with school after the 78th season and so I was going to hang around for the 79th season but I really didn't need to and I always had Ambitions to go to law school I'd you know taken the exam the entrance exam was accepted and so um I just I just in my mind couldn't couldn't do this again in 79 78 was I couldn't do that again and I wasn't the only one because I went home for Christmas talked to my dad told him what I was thinking he said okay if that's what you're thinking that's fine but you got to go tell LEL it's only fair to teville I agreed with him so I went back to school but I was too chicken to go in to tell him so I waited a couple weeks and then I finally did go in and tell him and lavel was just typical lavel he pulled out of his I'm talking to him and he pulls out of his drawer uh a legal pad like yours and he writes my name down at least 25 lines because there were 25 guys in there before me oh wow that he had kept a tally of and I was way down and he wrote my name and then he said you don't have to decide that today we got all we got eight months before nine months before the season's going to start so take your time take a couple months I said well okay that makes sense I'll do that and then a month later two months later whatever it was we had that meeting with Doug Scoville oh Bo and as soon as Doug came back we knew Doug was Analysis of how football has evolved since their playing days back everybody was back and we're all back on board way we went yeah you know and I'm a red shirt so I was unaware that much of that was happening at all I mean we all knew how frustrating that season was well it was frustrating because the year before we had such a great season yes in 78 we had a few a decent season it was a I'm not saying it was a decent season because compared to what we had were used to it was not a decent season but what was frustrating is we had great players and that's why it was so frustrating because we knew what we were capable of we just did it the year before we led the nation in every offensive category and in 78 I'm not sure we led the whack you know in offensive categories sure and it was just so frustrating to see all these Talent around you and then just not being able to utilize it the way that we knew how to utilize it yes and I like I said it was just it was just too frustrating for me I wasn't going to do it again and fortunately Doug came back and you know we we got right back to where we were you know we got right back to where we were in fact there was an augmentation of say of of enthusiasm because the 1979 season now I look back you know and we had I was looking at all these guys in the red shirt weight room with me and I mean that that team alone was a really powerful team yeah when you look at all the the people who red shirted SE 1978 and then we knew that your team that had been out there was had so much talent in fact I've gone back and looked at our uh our rosters and when you count all the guys that had real time in the NFL I mean I've counted more than 24 guys from from those team from those series of years yeah I mean that's why I say it was 78 was so frustrating because we had such talented guys right and 79 you know we kind of put it together Doug really made it fun Doug was excited to be back energized everybody but it wasn't just the offense you know sometimes in talking to me you think I'm just talking about the offense when I say we had a talent Team all across the board I mean we had a great defensive team so we had so much talent on that side of the ball as well and like I said it all came together in 79 and we had a magal year Well speaking about defense just for a moment our offense was so potent think of 1979 and how many times we scored back in 1977 um our offense was so potent that our time of possession frequently wasn't that high yeah and so our def defense was probably seeing or on the field 150% more time than say Ohio State's defense or Michigan Michigan's defense not because they were letting the other teams run up and down the field not at all in fact quite the difference because Texas a think about it one of the top they were one of the greatest teams that year at least they were preseason selected really high they had one of the fastest human beings in the world was that Curtis Dicky Curtis Dicky and uh and they have had a really powerful offense potentially they at the end of the game they had 17 points right so our defense even though they saw a lot more plays than most other teams because our offense scored so quickly shame on you our defense was really good I totally agree with you they were great and and the interesting thing about it you know looking back and kind of analyzing it our offense we were so good we would start games so fast because that's how Doug Doug was not warming up to the game from the moment you stepped out there it was pedal to the medal do you remember San Diego State yeah yeah but I but I loved that and in fact I when I was on national TV yeah I mean that was a crazy three touchdown passes in the first 30 seconds I don't I mean it was crazy it was crazy mark it was crazy but that played into that played into kind of how the offense and the defense complimented each other because our defense was really fast and really Nimble but let's be honest they were not going to probably stand up to a big powerful three yards and a cloud of dust kind of team if they had to play that way all game Matt mendenhal was a tall defensive end but I don't know did do you think he weighed 240 his senior year well yeah I think he did once he got over the appendix thing right that's true because Matt played a long time in the NFL Matt was a great oh I I'm not great great player we didn't have the biggest guys Story about teammate asking about money made at BYU but but my point is is that we would get ahead of these games right and in 1979 there weren't a lot of teams that could throw it or could throw it well that was kind of an aberration we were anomaly which meant when we would get ahead by 20 or 30 points in the game we would take the opponent completely out of their game because they came into the game to run the ball that's right and now they couldn't run the ball if they had any chance to win so now they had to throw it which they weren't good at doing I know and they played right into the hands of this fast Nimble defense and it just we just complimented each other so well and that's why the team was so great cuz we just complimented each other so well on both sides of the ball mark it was the next year so you may or may not be aware of this but we went to Wisconsin and now Jim's our quarterback but same thing you know our offense is going up and down the field and it was so funny as as a player who had played both offense and defense to watch Wisconsin's response to what the heck do we do now yeah because they unlike most other teams just kept running it into the middle of the line well and but if you look at their team today that's how they play they have those big card fit lineman monsters up front they get a monster defensive back I mean running backs that's how they play in Wisconsin they they're playing that way today but that was at 30 to three one and and then Wisconsin was in trouble because then they have to say okay if we're going to try and win we have to throw it because we're going to run out of time or we can just run it and try and keep the score down and lose you know respect respectfully respectfully but those are the only two choices they have weren't those good times great times well tell me how your opinion because I I do want to get to your playbook at at the Raiders I want to talk about the precursor to that 79 season has the game of football changed so much because in my opinion we've gotten away from the old Doug Scoville Playbook somewhat because maybe with one back you guys used to always hit the tight ends of back 60% of the time and the wide receivers were you know more like 40% of the time um and now it's kind of reversed and so we've we're not playing our strengths anymore has the game changed because to me cornerbacks nowadays are so good that we should still be trying to just hit our tight ends and backs out of the back field because linebackers still can't stay with those guys when they run the right patterns well or has the game changed in our Playbook wouldn't work as well no it wouldn't work as well I mean Discussion of summer jobs for college athletes the game evolves there's no question about it so we and this will make sense hopefully we came along LVL came along and said we can't win playing the way everyone else plays and let's be honest the reason why we can't is because we cannot recruit the same way that USC Texas Oklahoma Alabama can recruit they are going to get the first pick at the huge offensive lineman and the huge running backs and we're going to take the next group of guys and when we end up playing that caliber team we're going to lose and we're going to lose every time and so the only chance we have to win consistently is we have to change the game in our favor and that means we have to throw it now no one knows how to throw it back then very few people knew how to throw it say yeah there's only a couple things that can go wrong or go right right everything goes wrong when you throw it yeah I think you said so like there are only three things that can happen happen when you throw the ball and two them are back and two them are back yeah so everyone ran the ball which meant everyone on offense ran the ball but everyone on defense was geared to stop the run that's right right so how do you do that you have big defensive lineman which they still have today but you have big linebackers that can take on blocks from big offensive linemen right and stuff holes and stop the running game they can't stay with me when I'm at fullback they can't stop the running game because they can't or the passing game because they can't cover anybody that's right they're not designed to cover anybody right they are there to stop the run and to plug holes that's what they're this is 1979 correct right so level comes in and totally flips the NCAA on its head with this team that's thrown up 45 times a game and that actually knows what they're doing right and no one knows how to do that so over all the years what's happened the game's evolved right so first of all they started getting faster linebackers and more Nimble strong safeties that can cover those kind of guys right but then the offense they then go to multiple sets they're not tied to one two backs two two receivers and one tight end they throw that they flip that on its head and sometimes Andy Reid puts out there five six guys right now the defense has a problem because now instead of having four or five defensive backs they got to have seven that can cover because there's going to come times where we're going to show up with six receivers right or five receivers sure and they got to be able to cover them so now we need at least Five Guys that can cover well it's taken some time but now they pretty much have that Talent those skill sets there's five or six or seven guys that can cover now so now it's like okay if you can cover our tight ends with a really good defense back we're going to go back now to focus on the receivers in fact we're going to take the tight ends out of the game we're going to put in five white outs it gets complicated on the protection side extremely complicated but that's how the game's evolved I'm waiting now for the to this is what's probably going to happen some team's gonna show up because on third Downs in the NFL even when I was playing we'd run the ball why because they got these little defensive backs we're just gonna run over try to T Marcus Allen or Bo Jackson good luck with that you bring in those seven defensive backs we're running the ball and we're going to spread you out and run the ball we're going to make that 175 pound guy who can cover like crazy we're GNA make him tackle B we're gonna make him tackle Marcus that's what we're going to do right so I think the game will evolve again and it's probably going to evolve back to a really powerful running team that's just going to run over all these defensive backs and force teams to come back with bigger stronger guys to stop the run and then will evolve back so it's fun to see that happen but it takes some time but the game evolves right and it's evolved that's a good point I appreciate that Mark yeah because so yeah we get we get entrenched in our old school thinking of oh our Playbook would still eat everybody alive but you're right the linebackers are different the strong safeties are different to today if you played the whole game with two white outs one tight end two backs you'd have a tough time you'd have a really tough time mark leading up to the 1979 season here I mean that's interesting and and so many of the guys that went into the NFL have admitted or or told us Mike I was about to quit you know and you just said I mean here's a guy how many years were you in the NFL I was I was 10 yeah yeah now I never you know it's funny to use that word quit I never thought of it quit not quit but in my mind I'd played my four years and now this fifth Year's an option and I'm going to make the option to not play that was the wrong that was the wrong word but what I'm saying is you were ready to leave the game because it was so discouraging and disappointing you went from being the top dog to somehow being put shoved off onto the sideline in some respects because now you're splitting time with a guy um and with in less than a year we all as a team were energized to hey guys we're going to go beat Texas A&M because we knew we had a really good team from our quarterback to Mel every melar yeah you know it's a great name great guy a great guy in fact we interviewed him he'll come out pretty soon um and so think about how how did Detailed account of Marc's fishing trip and health issues before Texas A&M game we how did we become so unified in that objective that year you and I I think were working at Geneva rock or Geneva steel well that year I was working with Scott neelson and his brother okay and I had one of the most unique jobs that summer ever so we his brother had a construction company got the contract out at twia Army Depot oh wow and we drove out there so you were you were taking toxic waste we our job was to replace all the asphalt aprons to the igloo that house the nerve gas no no that was our job seriously and we would drive to twia we had a gas mask that we had to have on our hip we had an arm guard and if the siren went off which it did several times that that summer the guard would come and get us put us in his van there were wind socks all over and drive up wind about 60 miles an hour whoa that was our that was our job yeah because the TOA Army Depot had all the nerve gas that was that was our job that had to be did you ever have any smells man I wonder if that was I don't think it smells that's the problem oh so they have rabbits in cages all over the place if those rabbits start dying they they think something's out but I bet you're getting paid fairly well you know I don't remember what we got paid but uh that was a fun job working with Scott NCAA rules allowed athletes back then to only be paid in summer jobs and so frequently um the companies that liked BYU or friends like Scott neelon would help us athletes get jobs during the summer I think I was at Geneva steel that Sumer yeah there was a whole bunch of guys at Geneva steel and then and and the truth was we had to find the jobs who would pay us the most because we had to save money during the season because we couldn't we couldn't have a job you couldn't get paid during the season you couldn't get paid how my how the world has changed so I was in training camp my rookie season I'm walking off the field after practice and this uh teammate I won't tell you his name or where what school he came from but he said said kind of saddled up next to me said so kind of in a quiet voice tell me how much money you made at BYU and I looked at him like what are you talking about and he said dude come on you were an All-American quarterback you finished high in the Heisman Trophy you must have made a fore so tell me how much money did you make it be what you and he said dude I'm telling you the truth I didn't make any money he said you're lying to me come on just tell me I said there was one place in Provo where the players knew that if their car broke down they could take it and they would fix it and they wouldn't charge us and that happened to me maybe three times which was probably a violation of the NCAA rules but that's it I I didn't I didn't no one ever gave me$ one dollar except for the guy that helped me with my car a couple times so then I said to him so how much money did you make and he said I'm not telling you because you didn't tell me tell me but I will tell you this I took a pay cut to play in the NFL My First Year Mar so the nil was alive back in 19 it was alive apparently everywhere but Utah County oh isn't that amazing and and I was naive enough to think that when you read about you know the SMU team later the the best money that are the best team that money could buy you thought oh that that's an aberration that's not really happening but then as you read about the old Southwest Conference and certainly the the big tin um unfortunately you we weren't at the place where you made the money no I I can tell you we didn't we didn't make any money no and then that's just the way it was and we didn't know any different no so maybe it was okay and the other thing it did I think in some respects you know it galvanized us well I was going to say we were I that was one of the most unified teams in 1979 as we as we moved forward to that big game against Texas A&M one of the most unified teams I can remember yeah yeah I think you're right that summer was special you know everyone did show up and they didn't have to no but everybody showed up about 7:00 7:30 every night down at this that field and we'd have at it and that's when Doug scobo call started calling me big boy big boy big boy hey big boy yeah he had a name for everybody he had a name for everybody in fact we met with Steve Carlson and what was Steve he was masher and remember Steve Carlson in fullback but Mark I remember those Summers doing the turn drill with all of you quarterbacks so here's a funny story about the turn drill tell me so you remember when Donnie and Jay Osman came out I don't they came out one spring you might have been on your mission I might have and Jay was a quarterback and Donnie was a receiver Donnie had his purple socks oh jez this was in the Heyday of the Donnie and mauce show so it was kind of fun to have them there sure that's a bit were there any TV cameras I don't remember that okay I think it was fun for them and it was fun for all the guys and we had this turn drill and the turn drill was the quarterbacks were probably 15 yards apart from receivers or running backs and the quarterback's facing this way but the receiver was also facing that way and the quarterback would throw the ball in so you had your back to the quarterback right and the only thing you knew is when the quarterback yelled turn turn that it was going to go to one side or the other you you had right or left you knew which side it was coming right so if you knew it was coming to the right the quarterback would yell turn you'd turn and you'd have to find the ball mid-flight and catch it and it was just to train you to find the ball mid-flight the critical thing was turning your head first y because if you tried to turn your body first you're going to get a face full of ball that's exactly right and they wanted us to have a little Pace on the ball because that's how it was in the game you know this was to prepare you for the game to find the ball mid-flight not have to see the quarterback throw it and have it leave his hand which is an interesting skill to find the ball mid-flight and then catch it so I so I came up and Donnie was the guy that was going to catch the ball and so I looked at Doug Doug said just treat him like everybody else oh je so I threw it and yelled turned and Donnie turned a little slow and the like you said the ball hit him right in the face mask and dropped him right on his back and I thought I've just killed Donnie Osman you're gonna make the news Mark those were good times those were super good times but you had a little bit too much time that summer because you took a trip yeah can you tell us about the trip that you got invited on so let me go back my freshman year I you know freshman come in together and you usually align yourself with a few of the guys become really good friends and and there were two guys that I was really close to a guy named Neil Tidwell who was an offensive lineman from the Nampa idah area and a tight end from California a guy named Mike house I remember Mike house and Mike Oakdale Mike was Oakdale but Mike was way ahead of Neil's n Mike was ready to play his freshman year Mike was 6'4 weighed about 240 crazy yeah was a great player and played as a freshman but anyway I was really close with those two guys Mike ended up transferring out went back to California and then two years later my freshman year redirt year Neils also red shirted so we were together but then Neils went on his mission so I stayed played two years then Neil came back so Neils comes back a few weeks before the 79 season from Mexico oh he was down at ver Cruz neels has lost 40 pounds he weighs about as much as me as an offensive guard right and we decide you know it's kind of a reunion for him being back that we're going to go on This fishing trip in the high Alpine Lakes up in the Sawtooth mountains in Idaho on Horseback right on Horseback and so like a week or so before the season starts that's going to be our final deal then we're going to go to come back hit it hard yeah Colleen because I'm going to be gone a week she goes home my wife she goes home to Seattle Seattle uhhuh and so I get with Neils and we get up to Idaho we ride these horses 16 miles up and these HP Pine Lakes his grandfather's with us and his younger brother who ended up playing a BYU to really and oh is that his name Dave David okay so we're all up there we just get up there we're set we set up campsite we're all excited the next morning to start fishing and that night I get sick and I'm really pretty sick but I'm hoping it's like the 24-hour flu bug kind of thing and hoping in a few hours it's going to kind of go away I'm up all night um we get up in the morning I'm not doing well well his grandfather says okay enough's enough we're we're leaving well I'm so sick now that I can't really even sit on the horse without falling off so I sit behind David I put my arms around David and grab the Horn of the saddle wow and we walked 16 miles out of there so now you're you're not just going you're going back we're going back you're turning around they left their stuff there cuz they took me down to the trail head I we didn't have cell phones in those days cuz I I don't remember how we got a hold of Neil's dad but his dad met me at the trail head they dropped me off they went back Neil's dad took me to the train station put me on the train and I took a train down to Salt Lake City had a friend pick me up and drive me home but now I'm feeling better really now I'm mad that I've left I mean totally better or totally but I'm not throwing up every two seconds I'm not lightheaded and feeling like I'm going to black out right none of that and then the next morning I actually feel quite a bit better and it was so funny because that morning we had our physicals for the football team and I wasn't planning to be there and they knew I wasn't going to be there but now I am so I decided Well I'm going to go down there and I I tell the doctor I've been really sick for the past couple days and he says well I think it's just a flu glad you're feeling better the next day A bunch of us go play golf up at Heber at the was out Mountain course beautiful course um couple days pass and then we're only now a week probably from training camp starting and I get up in the morning and and I'm really sick same thing sicker than I've ever been in my life again no cell phones I crawl out of bed Colleen still in Seattle I crawl out of bed go over to a bookshelf grab the cord of the phone pull the phone down dial the training room and say I don't know what's happening can you please come and get me because I can't I can't get down there they come none of the doctors two trainers two trainers like Marv or no no two trainers who I don't even know okay show up at the apartment they take one look at me they call down to the training room and say I don't think we should bring him down to the training room I think we should take him to the hospital yeah so they say take him to Description of Marc's hospitalization and diagnosis the hospital so I go over to the Utah Valley I'm there all day and they can't really it's not that they can't figure out what's going on they don't tell me what's going on but I'm there all day Jim bear you know Professor bear he comes over and spends the day with me there at the hospital and uh about 7 o' that night they come in my room and they say okay here's the deal something's going on because your blood CS are crazy but the pain is way over here on the left which is odd we hope this is this is an appendix problem but we hope it isn't we hope it is oh but the Pain's on the wrong side the appendix is on the right your pain is all on the left and it's acute so we got to do something but we're going to make the incision as if it's an appendix problem if it's not an appendix problem you're going to wake up and there's going to be a scar right down the middle and you're going to lose the season the only hope you have that you can salvage the season this has to be an appendix problem Mark but we don't know Mark so here we go wow so I wake up and they're going to put you under so you don't know yeah so I wake up and and the scar is on the right hand side but the reason why the pain was on the left hand side is because in their view I had a ruptured appendix on the fishing trip wow and it blew everything onto the left side and after eight days there was such infection that's why the pain was all on the left side oh work so I had to massive infection uh had disrupture appendix and lost 20 some pounds yes I remember and then was at risk of losing the whole season so then you know you know if you have this kind of stuff you have a drain in and I had this drain in and they were watching that drain like crazy and they were also watching my temperature because they were afraid of infection right and the temperature would would kind of be the precursor to there's an infection we've got a serious problem so they're paying attention to that uh everything seems to be fine I'm I'm not at full strength but I'm getting better as the we get closer to the game and then the day before we left for the game right Stadium I I had a temperature of 104 get on the plane now they're worried that I've got this infection and they're worried that if it doesn't break I'm not going to be able to play the game and probably G to have complications so when we get to Houston because we played at Rice Stadium because Texas sanm stadium was being refurbished I go to the hotel and go to bed the rest of the team goes goes the stadium like we always would do and um I remember you know I'm kind of in and out of it let me interrupt you for a second you're kind of in and out of it we as a team look at our leader Mark Wilson as the critic one of the critical pieces of the puzzle for this game that we've all been focusing on if you ever circled a date on the calendar you know we as the BYU football team that year had circled that date so here we are on the stadium floor ready you know getting ready for the game coach is talking to us and everything and here's our quarterback who can't even walk out on the field who goes to the hotel because he's down 20 pounds he's got4 degree temperature and he is just trying to get healed so he can step out on that field and you were never the big tall you were one of the tallest quarterbacks but you were never one of the heav EST quarterbacks out on the field well you you know I was normally like 205 27 I weighed 179 going into that game Mark 179 which I hadn't weigh six right well 65 which I hadn't weighed since I was like a sophomore in high school wow yeah all right so you went to the hotel so I Recounting of teammates giving Marc priesthood blessings go to the hotel you guys you guys go to practice and then um later that night uh three guys show up on my hotel room door the three knee fights and it was Scott neelen the starting center was Tom Bell starting left tackle and it was Brent Johnson the kicker wow and they give and they give me a priesthood blessing and I wake up in the morning and that fever's gone and I play the game and knowing those three men yep and you know I mean here these are Big Burly strong impressive intelligent but spirit ritual all returned missionaries all returned missionaries and they show up at your door to give you a blessing yeah yeah and something happened the rest is history yeah the rest is history fact I didn't know this until last Friday night they were telling me the story they said you probably don't even know this but when you were over at Utah Valley do you know that we came over and saw you I said no they said well we didn't think you would remember because you were way out of it but he said us three gave you a blessing that night too Mark isn't it cool to have good friends like that what's crazy to think about is having teammates like that in this sport you know that's true I mean football's not known for having gentle ministering angels and these guys were gentle and we ministering angels and are to this day but those are the some of Brett not an offensive lineman so a little different but Scott and Tom some of the toughest guys you'll ever know you're right you're all fact if you're walking into a fight today if I know there's a fight out outside your house when I leave here and I can only call two two or three guys two of those guys are Tom Bell Scott Tom Scott you know it's funny because we had Danny Hansen sitting right here I was sitting there and then Tom and um and Scott were on it so we had the three of them on there there's still their episode still hasn't come out but I love those men those are good good men and and the fact that they played offensive line they don't get the accolades that I you know that I consider myself when you threw that pass to me I was in the right place at the right time I was a very fortunate Soul um but we we running backs or receivers every once in a while we get our name called you quarterbacks frequently get your names called other you know linebackers and other guys who make tackles but those offensive linemen Brent Johnson had his name called because he was a leading scorer but you got to respect and I love Tom Bell to this day when I consider anyone you know he was the guy who always called me Spacey Lacy and I deserved it completely but uh to me that that was a a term of endearment I love those guys but knowing that story of uh of how even they showed up at your hospital those same three guys MH wow and you know that's just how the team was you know we had those kind of guys on that team which was a great element to our team it was a lot of maturity to our team and a lot of depth to our team but uh being able to play with those guys you know every day was a a great blessing and playing with you Mark was a great blessing I'm so grateful that things happened the way they did and and I'll I'll say it now that when you chose to call that play and then you tossed the ball to me that was an answer to prayers so thank you um this has been fun having a guy from my class 1975 uh be here with us and tell these Marc's thoughts on Patti Edwards' impact really really good stories do you have anything any parting thoughts yeah I do like to share I have one that that I want to talk about not so much share but talk about because I I don't think that this person has gotten the credit that she deserves she's gotten credit but I don't know that she's gotten the credit she deserves and I saw her Saturday night at the uh at the broadcast oh and I hadn't seen her for 25 years and when she saw me she knew my name she knew colie's name then she she said before we laugh I love you after all this this time and that's Patty and I've said this so many times that lavel and Patty were a team and I don't know that anyone's really understood it so I want to talk about that just for a minute I love that you have to you won't remember this but you have to understand what it was Discussion of the challenges faced by young married players like you know to be a young player not so much the player because the burden wasn't on us the burden was on our wives so I'll just talk about my situation so Colleen and I get married we're 20 years old Colleen is the oldest of five sisters and a brother grew up in a house that was noisy and loud and fun she marries this guy and they move a thousand miles away and he's a student and he's an athlete and we're trying to figure this out as a young married couple because we never been married we don't know how to do this right so you have but her husband has the pressure of succeeding in school then he has the pressure of succeeding in football on the football team then what comes with football are injuries he has the pressure of getting of rehabbing and and getting better sometimes that took a significant part of your Sunday after a Saturday again you got go get therapy then you have the pressure of the finances that we talked about of yes a sacrifice and then you just have the the reality that you don't know what you're doing you're newly married but any newly married guy will say this probably and that is the worst thing that can happen to me is to leave my home feel feeling like my wife is not happy is she's upset with me or she's upset with her life or she's upset with something that's the last thing I want to leave my house feeling like right so why do I say all that because there was tremendous pressure that nobody realizes and where did it really fall because I this is this was my day I would leave early I'd try to have all my classes done by 1 o'clock so I'd leave I'd be out of the house by 8 o' but then we're in fil room then you go straight to practice then you go straight to straight to Training Table then you get home about 7 o'cl first time you've seen your spouse this new bride what about her she's lonely she feels isolated right then you don't even have a lot of time with her because what do you got to do you got two or three hours of studying you got to do to keep up with your class and then you got some time you got to spend with the play with the game plan coming up so there's not really a lot of time for her so she feels lonely especially my wife coming from a big family I can tell you at dinner when I would go home and spend some time with her in most I would sit down with I'd already eaten cuz I'd had training table I would sit down with her and she would eat dinner she would wait for me to come back nine times out of 10 tears would be run down the face oh more cuz she felt so lonely so isolated a thousand miles from her family doesn't really know anybody was she taking classes no no she wasn't a student so how did this all work oh man right because I I will tell you if I had to leave and go to a game feeling like Colleen wasn't okay I wouldn't have been able to play very well wow focus on what I was doing and none of us would have been able to you're right we had 20 some guys married so who who how did that all work Patty yeah Patty got those young Brides all together every year and somehow she unified those young ladies in such a good way she unified them she made them feel like they weren't alone she made them feel like they were heard and understood that she understood what they were going through and she did and most importantly she treated them like daughters she did she loved those in fact she still does she still does to this day to this day she lvll had a hundred men 100 Sons which he treated like sons and I think you and I would probably agree that he treat us like Sons which is why we love him so much because we knew he cared about us outside of football and Patty did the same thing for those young brides and but for Patty and being able to connect with those young brides and make them feel like they were understood and cared for I don't know how it would have turned out because I didn't know what I was doing as a young as a young married guy I I didn't know what I was doing and I didn't know how to help her and yet she felt like she had even though she wasn't there very long she had 25 other sisters in the same situation and she had a woman in Patty Edwards who loved her and could she could talk to and she could call and she could express some of those frustrations with and Patty would make it seem all right and free up us so we could go play Patty was so powerfully in tune with those things she said to my wife recently she said well Diana it's really easy to date uh an NCAA football player it's really hard to be married to one it's true and the way you just described it is so perfect and we won oh imagine if you know because in 78 we didn't win we we probably Lo we lost three or four games right right imagine if we lost five or six games cuz you and I are fun to be around we lose and and so going home to this new bride in that situation would not have been even harder even harder you can't she couldn't justify why are you spending all this time with some that isn't even fruitful Mark so lville was a genius in so many different ways on as a football coach and we were so blessed to be able to play for him and Patty was the heartbeat and he cared for us and we knew that but Patty was the glue yes and and but as I said but for her I don't know how this would all played out I you know I don't know how it would have played out because how would you have left that door and go out because that that's happened to me in the NFL there were a couple times where I left to go to the hotel the night before the game and I knew it wasn't we weren't things weren't right at home and I turned around Mike and I drove home and I showed up at the doorstep and I said to Colleen I can't do this unless I feel like you're okay and we're okay yeah so I'm not leaving until you can tell me we're okay and everything's going to be okay good for you CU I I I can't I can't go play this game like this yeah I maybe that was just me but I got a feeling it was a lot of guys and as I said when we were at BYU Patty made it work without Patty I don't know what would have happened she was so sweet to those young ladies and and did treat them as her daughters and they felt it they absolutely felt it and think about this I mean where is your wife from Seattle Seattle my wife Diana was from New Mexico totally different cultures and experiences and yet Patty was able to bring these girls young l together in such a good way I love that Closing thoughts do do you have any other I mean we could hear hear a lot more stories from Mark Wilson well I you know one thing I love about what you're doing is that there's been so many stories that people have never heard I do that I think people wonder you know what really does go on over there you know and I think it's fun for people to kind of get a little insight into what it's happening and and what it's really like it applies to life too you know the ups and downs that you know hear these and multiple guys who ended up you know doing very well in the NFL um or the NBA at some point thought well I I'm probably done you know this might be it and yet you kept going and and Colleen kept going and you chose and have done so well we're so proud of you mark thank you for these wonderful stories it' be it'll be super fun to hear more in the future but uh those days back then and then we we haven't even talked much about your Oakland Raiders or the Raiders experience but um and well no we won't even talk about the playbooks and everything but thank you for all that you've shared oh thanks for having me good to see you m this was good to be with you thank you for your turn yeah [Music]