Jim McMahon guested on Dan Patrick’s radio show today to talk about McMahon’s father’s recently-failed bid to get the former Bears QB into the BYU Sports Hall of Fame. Astonishly, McMahon has never been inducted, and BYU states that he will not be allowed in until he graduates. But McMahon had a whole ‘nother story for Patrick on the subject.
First, McMahon intimated that the reason he hasn’t been honored by the school was because he never converted to Mormonism. When it came to religion, he said that BYU football representatives lied to him repeatedly during his recruitment.
McMahon: “They mentioned the rules, this is what goes on here. If you don’t want to be part of the lifestyle there, that’s no problem. They’re (BYU officials) not going to bother you. That was a lie they bothered you pretty much every day. … The religion part.”
Patrick: “Did they want you to convert (to Mormonism)?”
McMahon: “I’m sure they did. But that was never in doubt, I was never going to do that.“
McMahon said he refused to take part in nightly prayers at his dorm, and that he was “on probation” at the school from his freshman year on after he was seen with a beer on a public golf course.
More interesting is that McMahon was essentially kicked to the curb by the school after he played his last game for the Cougars: “I was called in and told I was no longer wanted there. Because of a number of students who said I was doing certain things I shouldn’t be doing. When I confronted them (BYU officials) and asked ‘who are my accusers’, and they couldn’t tell me, well, that’s because they were all full of crap. I’ve been here five years. You guys are now just finding this stuff out?”
McMahon said he didn’t recall what he did wrong at the time, that he was accused of a “number of violations.”
Patrick to McMahon: “Do you feel they used you?”
McMahon: “No doubt, that’s what college football’s all about.”
I’m guessing McMahon’s “violations” at BYU were petty lifestyle stuff, trumped up to get him of campus once he wasn’t of use to the school.
Ironically, McMahon said later that he would go to BYU if he had to do it over again, because of all he learned in his football experience. And the hardships he encountered by being a non-Mormon at BYU.
Think we’re really getting whole story here? Yeah, I know. No way.
1:51 pm on November 5th, 2008
Kind of like going to Notre Dame without attending Sunday morning mass. Or going to Miami with a criminal record.
1:57 pm on November 5th, 2008
That's what he gets for being the punky QB known as McMahon.
Chi-town still loves ya, Jimmy!
1:59 pm on November 5th, 2008
It seems a little ignorant to attend a Mormon college named after the Mormons' leader and not expect to act like or adopt the Mormon way of life or teachings. If he didn't want to be a Mormon, there's a hundred other schools McMahon could have gone to instead.
2:07 pm on November 5th, 2008
But the fact of the matter is that the BYU football reps lied to McMahon. Promising him that he could do what he pleased, and then turn around and slap him with probation and expulsion - that just smacks of hypocrisy.
2:10 pm on November 5th, 2008
Was he put on double secret probation?
2:18 pm on November 5th, 2008
Instead he converted to MORONism…his act is tired and he is over-regarded.
2:19 pm on November 5th, 2008
The BYU dean was still sore about the time McMahon dumped a truckload of fizzies into the pool during the swim meet, and the time he delivered the medical school's cadavers to the alumni dinner.
2:24 pm on November 5th, 2008
McMahon can now join Steve Young in the very select group of BUY QBs shunned by their school.
2:26 pm on November 5th, 2008
Over? Nothing is over until we say it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell, no!
2:30 pm on November 5th, 2008
Big-time college football school officials going back on their word? Shocking!
2:34 pm on November 5th, 2008
If he had changed his last name from McMahon to McMormon, maybe they would have left him alone.
2:40 pm on November 5th, 2008
Wasn't this stuff in his autobiography about 20 years ago?
3:38 pm on November 5th, 2008
Thanks for letting us know about his book. Apparently you were the only person who read it.
4:20 pm on November 5th, 2008
While at BYU, I would have stood out in a crowd if my shorts were above the knees or if I didn't shave for a few days … and I was nobody, not a high profile athlete. I can't imagine that McMahon's version of his recruitment is on the spot. (Like, drinking beer on the golf course was going to be overlooked. Yeah, right.)
7:38 pm on November 5th, 2008
This doesn't surprise me. I've met plenty of Mormon people, and although they've generally been very nice & polite, they are very strict & unbending when it comes to their beliefs.
7:49 pm on November 5th, 2008
In order to attend BYU, you have to sign what's known as the "honor code", which does not require you to be Mormon, but does require you to live by the same basic standards (no alcohol, premarital sex, etc.). Every student has to sign it, regardless of what they're there for. He obviously did not live up to it, so…
7:50 pm on November 5th, 2008
McMahon should have attended BYU's Hawaii campus instead. He might not have been able to play football, but he would have enjoyed the scenery much more.
7:54 pm on November 5th, 2008
Jim must have been pretty happy when TCU ruined BYU's chances of a BCS bid.
1:33 pm on November 6th, 2008
I'm a devout Latter-Day Saint (Mormon), but Brigham Young rejected me when I applied so I'm kind of indifferent toward the school. With that said, it is a private instiution and McMahon's conduct clearly contradicted LDS doctrine and standards. McMahon was an excellent signal-caller but I'm not sure if the "Y" owes him anything. Even though he's not LDS, the numerous things he's done have brought the Church considerable shame. When you represent Brigham Young University, you represent the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and in that regard, McMahon failed miserably.
4:08 pm on November 6th, 2008
Not much of a shocker that a cult would be bugging him everyday about joining that's what cults do. I have a couple friends that graduated from BYU all I needed to know about the school I found out when he told me he had to have a permit to grow a mustache. Thankfully I found the magic glasses on my own. Cults Rule
2:24 pm on February 21st, 2009
Seriously, get your facts straight. Anyone can grow a mustache. Beards, you need a permit for, but once more, that's all inside BYU's honor code. You can't even fill out the application without saying you'll agree to those standards. It's a private school. It can ask it's students to do whatever it wants. And if you agree to live by those standards, well, suck it up and live by them. Don't complain that the school isn't happy for you for breaching a contract if you don't live by the contract (the honor code) you agreed to live by.
8:13 pm on September 5th, 2009
The school sucks. The people are losers and they try to convert you at all costs. There football team is one of the most overrated programs in all of college football. They play in a horrible conference and got spanked by not only Utah but TCU as well. Drink beer and have as much caffeine as you want people. Long live McMahon for having the only personality in all of Provo
12:28 am on September 13th, 2009
I am sorry, but it appears that it is McMann who is doing the lying here. As a BYU student at the time McMahon played at the Y, I know that all students who came to BYU were required to sign an agreement that they would abide by the BYU honor code, which included not smoking, drinking alcohol, using illegal drugs, etc., or violating moral codes of conduct. McMahon admits that he violated these codes, so he should have been expelled for not living up to the honor code he signed. No one made him sign this code, so McMahon failed to live by the code he promised to obey.
7:09 pm on November 18th, 2009
The issue is not the restrictive contract that all students sign at the BYU campuses, the issue is that McMahon was not disciplined until after his final game. He was probably lied to because the LDS church did not want to see one of there own Utah boys leave the state.
8:02 pm on November 28th, 2009
How ridiculous!! I have lived in the Provo area my whole life. BYU players are very often guily of the same behavior as McMahon. They party like rockstars. So do alot of the other students. There are many, many violations going on at BYU. Sometimes the administration chooses to make a big deal out of it and sometinges they don’t. Sorry Jim you were just one of the examples.
1:47 pm on December 17th, 2009
The treatment of a non-Mormon Jim McMahon, makes me wonder how many other rumors about BYU and the Mormons are not really rumors.
2:02 pm on July 12th, 2010
Didn’t the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor?
If you think BYU has turned their back on Steve Young you are very far out of touch. He is in their hall of fame because he has graduated with not only his bachelors but with a law degree as well.
Also BYU fans have not turned their back on Jim either. We may not be happy with the broad brush he paints us with but we love what he did on the field for us.
BYU’s got one specific rule that disqualifies Jim McMahon from being honored in their hall of fame. That rule is you must be a graduate of the university. Whether Jim left on his own or was asked to leave for rule violations (whether or not a blind eye may have been used for months/years) he did not graduate and has stated that he has no intent of graduating from BYU.
1:46 pm on July 21st, 2010
This is crap BYU will punish players as they find out about the incident. If you want to have premarital sex and do drugs don’t go to BYU. Ronny Jenkins was a standout player for BYU and he was not Mormon, he was also asked to sit out a year of football due to an honor code violation. Second , The TE Clay Brown who caught the pass was also Catholic. BYU has had tons of Non-Mormon football players come through the system and many of them choose to live the standards. Many of them come back to BYU Alumni days and get to watch the new players practice. Jim is a “punky” QB is all.
As for Mormons being a cult for trying to convert people…. have you read the bible? Christ himself tells the true believers to be missionaries and bring others to the gospel. Mormons are a christian based church that proactively does missionary work. It’s in the bible, why should we ridicule them for it?
3:46 pm on October 30th, 2010
Oh yes…non-LDS are welcome at BYU…as long as
they continue to listen to the ”missionaries” in the
housing who come very often to ”talk” about their
religion. A good friend of mine way back in the 60’s
who was a top-knotch academic finally had to leave
BYU after her first year. They pestered her SO much
that it ate away her study time.
Jim M. and Steve Young could have gone to a good school with a great football program. LDS are so
entranced with their own egos that they are experts in how to massage that of others.
You bet: It was ONLY after he had brought some
wins and a bit more attention to the church team
that they decided to dishonor him.
A BYU graduate has NO clout unless he is a Mormon among the Mormons.
4:10 pm on October 30th, 2010
Oh yes…non-LDS are welcome at BYU…as long as
they continue to listen to the ”missionaries” in the
housing who come very often to ”talk” about their
religion. A good friend of mine way back in the 60’s
who was a top-knotch academic finally had to leave
BYU after her first year. They pestered her SO much
that it ate away her study time.
Jim M. and Steve Young could have gone to a good school with a great football program. LDS are so
entranced with their own egos that they are experts in how to massage that of others.
You bet: It was ONLY after he had brought some
wins and a bit more attention to the church team
that they decided to dishonor him.
A BYU graduate has NO clout unless he is a Mormon among the Mormons.
from Danceman: As for Mormons being a cult for trying to convert people…. have you read the bible?
The Mormons are not in the Bible, Danceboy…except when referenced as the sheep who come in wolves clothing and the warnings to beware of the false angel, the false gospel and the false prophet.
Christ himself tells the true believers to be missionaries and bring others to the gospel. Mormons are a christian based church that proactively does missionary work.
BJ: One cannot be a ”true” believer in Jesus the Christ AND a ”true” believer in Joseph Smith, jr.
Mormonism USES ”Christian” words and terms but
those words have completely different meanings in Mormonism. Easy to prove….
Suddenly having the ”name” of Jesus Christ in
big, bold letters on the signs on your church and
on your website and on your stationery…does NOT
automatically mean you are ”Christian” doctrinally.
It’s in the bible, why should we ridicule them for it?
4:55 pm on October 30th, 2010
Oh yes…non-LDS are welcome at BYU…as long as
they continue to listen to the ”missionaries” in the
housing who come very often to ”talk” about their
religion. A good friend of mine way back in the 60’s
who was a top-knotch academic finally had to leave
BYU after her first year. They pestered her SO much
that it ate away her study time.
Jim M. and Steve Young could have gone to a good school with a great football program. LDS are so
entranced with their own egos that they are experts in how to massage that of others.
You bet: It was ONLY after he had brought some
wins and a bit more attention to the church team
that they decided to dishonor him.
A BYU graduate has NO clout unless he is a Mormon among the Mormons.
from Danceman: As for Mormons being a cult for trying to convert people…. have you read the bible?
The Mormons are not in the Bible, Danceboy…except when referenced as the sheep who come in wolves clothing and the warnings to beware of the false angel, the false gospel and the false prophet.
Christ himself tells the true believers to be missionaries and bring others to the gospel. Mormons are a christian based church that proactively does missionary work.
BJ: One cannot be a ”true” believer in Jesus the Christ AND a ”true” believer in Joseph Smith, jr.
Mormonism USES ”Christian” words and terms but
those words have completely different meanings in Mormonism. Easy to prove….
Suddenly having the ”name” of Jesus Christ in
big, bold letters on the signs on your church and
on your website and on your stationery…does NOT
automatically mean you are ”Christian” doctrinally.
It’s in the bible, why should we ridicule them for it?
..BECAUSE the evangelising taught in the Bible is
to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who
haven’t yet heard it…..the ”missionary” work of
the Mormons is to increase membership in your
CHURCH….big difference.
8:47 pm on November 16th, 2010
isn’t mcmahon’s wife a morman?
8:51 pm on November 16th, 2010
isn’t mcmahon’s wife a morman? Also, i believe Jim meet her at BYU. What’s that all about. If he disliked the morman life style so much why did he marry one?
8:43 pm on November 23rd, 2010
McMahon intimated that the reason he hasn’t been honored by the school was because he never converted to Mormonism. what is that all about? he didn’t have the nad to flatly say so ….. or he wanted readers to infer ……
he said that BYU football representatives lied to him repeatedly during his recruitment. when it came time for him to sign on the bottom line ? the lights didn’t go on? he didn’t see the “lies”. duh !
If you don’t want to be part of the lifestyle there, that’s no problem. JUST ABIDE BY YOUR CONTRACT. DUH!
They’re (BYU officials) not going to bother you. since when are the missionaries byu officials ? just say no. not even the missionaries want that kind of rejection.
I was no longer wanted there. Because of a number of students who said I was doing certain things I shouldn’t be doing. well he admits to doing them so who care who accuses.
McMahon said he didn’t recall what he did wrong at the time. works for me since i have a selective memory too.
after whining he says, he would go to BYU if he had to do it over again. and sign the honor code just to disregard it all over again ?
funny how the christian preachers get on their soap boxes and wail. the article was about mcmahon at byu. not about byu. not about religion.
9:09 pm on April 28th, 2011
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1:19 pm on July 4th, 2011
Jim went there coz his dad wanted him to. His ex-wife Nancy was Mormon but she’s very normal. I still wanna know why they got divorced. Was it coz he was taking penis pills n bone-ing another woman?
10:30 pm on February 25th, 2012
It’s a religious war. Muslims believe every word of the Koran is the Word of God because Mohammed said so. Catholics believe the Pope is infallible and cannot make a mistake because he said so, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe the Watch Tower is the Word of God because Charles Russell (founder) said so, Mormons believe every word of he Book of Mormon is God’s Word because Joseph Smith said so. True Christians believe every word in the Bible is the Word of God and will not return to him void because Jesus said so. Whose word is more reliable? Read the King James translation. Joseph Smith plagerized much of it.
10:51 pm on February 25th, 2012
Ask Mitt Romney what he believes as a Mormon and he will
answer, “I believe everything Joseph Smith believed.” (i.e., Satan was Jesus’ brother, Adam was God, worthy Mormon males become a god if they do enough good works, will have sex with worthy women, and their children who will populate distant planets. JS translated the Book of M from an ancient language of golden plates through miraculous glasses. Check Google on what Mormons believe. It reads as if Billy Graham wrote it but is all smoke and mirrors designed to deceive. It is a lie based on the Bof M, Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrine and Covenants Don’t be intrapped by it.
9:15 am on March 16th, 2012
Jm was never a Utah boy. He grew up in SoCal. Attended El Segundo high. Can’t beat the big boys. Need more blacks