Not For Luke: The Story of BYU's Most Prolific Running Back

Luke Staley was incredible. He had everything you want in a running back -- size, speed, lateral quickness, explosiveness, and toughness. I don't think we see another player like him at BYU for several generations.

Agreed. I saw him as a Marshall Faulk, but ratcheted up to 150 percent of what Faulk was. And that's the way it would have been for him in the NFL, if not for the injuries.

Luke acknowledges in the video that his body doesn't seem built to withstand the rigors of football without getting injured, but man, Crowton just rode that horse until it broke.

It seemed like as soon as he made his cut to the whole, whether up into the hole or once he got the corner, he all of a sudden shifted into another gear that nobody else in the stadium had. And he had the patience to lull you to sleep by going about half that speed until the blocks lined up and he made that cut, and the boom - the defense's only hope was that someone was back there with the right angle.

He seems to have come to peace with things and to have a perspective that is at once mature. im impressed. He was always a great athlete. He seems like a great father and husband.

Luke Staley along with Taysom Hill are athletes that BYU simply just does not get. Unfortunately for all of us, their bodies don't seem to be able to handle the pounding that football gives them. If it weren't for injury, Luke would have dominated the NFL and same for Taysom Hill. I am hoping that Taysom's last chance gets him his dream and we see him lead BYU to victories next year that we normally wouldn't get without him.

One thing that was glossed over, understandably as well, was that Luke had to turn pro once he decided he was leaving BYU sometime in October 2001. He wasn't injured yet, and decided to leave BYU. When he made that decision, he also decided to cut way back on his school attendance and began focusing more on training and preparing for the NFL.



I don't believe he would have been able to return to the football field due to academics. He was already forced to miss a game (New Mexico, IIRC) due to academic concerns. I think missing that game contributed to his decision to be done playing in Provo.



So when he got hurt, it really put Luke in an extremely difficult position. He was now damaged goods to the NFL and he couldn't return to play for BYU either.



Sad story all around.

I wonder whether Staley's experience influenced Taysom's decision to stay.



Either way, the Doman/Staley combo makes me very excited about what the 5th-yr Sr Hill/Williams combo could be. I'd take Mangum as a gilded insurance plan. If Taysom is really back to 100%, you simply cannot keep that kind of talent off the field.

good stuff... well done.



Question: is Brett Engemann related to Stiffler?