What I know now, as I've gotten older through the years is football doesn't really matter.

Who wins the games?

Heavenly Father isn't weighing in on who's supposed to win those football games. There's so much

great potential for what BYU does with its athletic programs to be a force for good in the world.

So I think it's always an ebb and a flow and sports can get out of proportion. So I wouldn't have had that attitude

40 years ago, Mary, but now I've a little more perspective and I think, well, it doesn't matter

that much who wins and loses. It matters how you play the game and how you carry yourself.

So I think there's a great potential as there was then

now for BYU to show the world what it is. This is John Ryan Jensen, editor of the Church News.

Welcome to the Church News podcast. Today we're taking you on a journey of connection as we discuss news and events of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I'm Mary Richards, a reporter with the Church News and guest hosting today's Church News podcast.

40 years ago, in 1984, Brigham Young University's football team was second to none.

In a series of big wins and nail-biting victories, the Cougars ended the season undefeated and were named

national champions. Two Desirette News sports writers who witnessed it all are here today to talk

about that incredible season,

the BYU football program, and how it advances the mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints. Dick Harmon and Lee Benson are here. Dick Harmon is a sports column list for the

Desiret News in his fourth decade reporting on college athletics. He is the author of four nonfiction books,

a Heisman Trophy voter, and holds a bachelor's degree in communications from Brigham Young University.

He enjoys travel, fishing, movies, and is passionate about golf. Lee Benson has written

slice of life columns for the Desiret News since 1998. Prior to that, he was a sports

columnist. His subjects have ranged from the Olympic Games to the arrival of the jazz to the

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