ILTV’s Devo Klein was at the Kraft Family Sports Campus with Jake Retzlaff, BYU Cougars quarterback. Retzlaff and his teammates play Division 1 college football but were recently in Israel showing solidarity through Athletes for Israel.
BYU ATHLETES VISIT ISRAEL
(קרדיט: ILTV)
Klein: What brings you out here today? Why are you here in Israel?
Retzlaff: Me and the captains of the football team at BYU, at Brigham Young University, have all been invited out here by Athletes for Israel. It's an incredible opportunity to connect with Israel, because it's always been a dream of mine.
A couple years ago was my first time here, and it’s an incredible opportunity right now. We’re out here playing some football. There are kids out here, a couple kids from the national team and stuff like that. So it's really exciting. The Holy Land, Israel, is an incredible place, incredible people. The country doesn't get enough positive news, doesn't get enough positive messaging out there. The rest of the world—there's always a lot of negative things going on. Of course, there are lots of negative things here with the war and stuff, but just other than a little bit of that, this has been an incredible place—so welcoming. I felt nothing but safe here. The people around me have been so awesome. So it's been unbelievable.
The welcome I’ve gotten for BYU has been unreal. The people—it is a campus of the Latter-day Saint Church and the community—and they're so faithful themselves that they respect faith so much. And so I get nothing but respect, nothing but welcoming.