How some BYU football stars are writing their own rules on LDS Church missions

One of the most prized recruits in BYU football history opened his phone and streamed the moment for the world to see.

Wearing a gray tie and button-down shirt, five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons looked like so many other young men preparing to find out where he would be called to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

From his living room in Northern California, he announced he would soon be headed to Orlando, Florida, on a Spanish-speaking mission.

Lyons’ choice to serve his church before suiting up to play for BYU is far from unique. This year, nearly half the players on the Cougars’ roster have served a full-time mission.

But that’s where Lyons is calling an audible.

He reportedly intends to spend just one year as a missionary before returning to play college football, rather than the two years young Latter-day Saint men are usually expected to serve.

And he isn’t alone.

“People bug me and they’ll talk [about me not going for two years], but I could just not go at all,” said Brock Harris, a star tight end at Pine View High School in St. George. “I’m still going out there and sacrificing time. I could potentially provide for my family with football. And I’m giving up a whole year to go out and spread the word.”

Latter-day Saint missionaries “are expected to serve their full term of service,” according to the church’s website. Those terms are 18 months for young women and 24 months for young men.

“Please do not ask your mission president to release you earlier than your assigned release date,” the church’s website states on a page dedicated to mission preparation.

But in an era when the top college athletes can make millions, at least a few have felt empowered to redefine those rules.

Harris, the fifth-ranked tight end in the country, started contemplating whether to go on a mission during his sophomore year of high school. By then, the 6-foot-7 tight end was a football prodigy. The University of Miami offered him a scholarship as a freshman, and former Alabama coach Nick Saban asked him to play for the Crimson Tide before ever watching him in a game.

Harris wondered where his faith fit into the picture. He had realistic dreams of playing in the NFL and lucrative college offers already on the table.

When Harris ultimately decided to play at BYU, he was offered a multiyear contract worth over $1 million.

He didn’t want to step away from football for two years, regress physically and risk his future earning power. BYU head coach Kalani Sitake acknowledges return missionaries typically come back so physically unfit they need to sit for a year, or sometimes two, before it’s safe to play football again.

But when Harris committed to BYU, owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he wanted the missionary experience.

“For the longest time, I didn’t really want to go on a mission,” Harris explained. “But after committing to BYU, I’m talking to these guys and they’re going on missions before they play. And that’s when I really started thinking about it. And in church, I still remember it, this female missionary was talking, and she’s like, ‘If you’re thinking about a mission, just do it.’ I’m sitting there and we’ll start crying. It just hit me so hard.”

So he looked into making it work for him.

Harris helped recruit Lyons to BYU and had developed a friendship with him. The young quarterback told Harris about his older brother: Walker Lyons entered the church’s Missionary Training Center in Provo in February 2023. He returned home from Norway 16 months later to prepare to play football at the University of Southern California.

Ryder Lyons, who will reportedly have a name, image and likeness deal worth $3 million when he enrolls at BYU, inspired his future teammate.

“Brock was like, ‘Well, could I do that?’” Todd Harris, Brock Harris’ father, said. “I go, ‘Yes, you can go six months and say, I’m done.’ It’s your mission.”

“Ryder was like, ‘I’m going for a year.’ And that’s my plan, too,” Brock Harris said.

Still, the choice has created some questions among fans.

Latter-day Saint missionaries can return home at any time. Many do, for a variety of reasons. But it is not typical for members to say they are only serving one year before they even leave, essentially writing their own rules.

But Harris doesn’t see himself as a typical 18-year-old. After all, most kids just graduating high school don’t have a million-dollar offer waiting for them and the potential of an NFL payday.

Sacrifice, he said, looks different for everyone.

“Some people, even people in the church, will be like, ‘You’ve got to go through with the full two years. You’re not fully doing it.’ Well, I could just not go at all. Isn’t that worse?” he said. “I didn’t want to be away from football that long and then come back and just be garbage.”

Harris’ father had discussions with his son about those questions. At first, Todd Harris said was skeptical about a one-year mission, for practical reasons.

“I was like, ‘Just don’t go if it’s one year.’ Because you’re just really getting into the swing of things, especially if there’s a [new] language,“ he said. ”That’s really when he starts picking up language [in year two]. So I kind of just told him, you go out with the expectation you’re going two years if you go."

But Todd Harris thought about his own experience. He was in a similar situation when he was Brock’s age. He pitched at BYU and was drafted by the New York Mets. He had the choice of a mission or continue pitching. He chose to leave for two years. But if a one-year mission was presented to him, he said, it would have been enticing.

“A mission, that’s something we didn’t push,” Todd Harris said, noting none of his other children went. “I said, ‘Look, everything you’ve done up to this point, you’ve prayed about it and just do the same thing now.’”

The elder Harris knew there would be criticism from certain corners of the church if his son went down the one-year route. He told his son not to worry about it. This was his life, he said, and his own expression of his faith.

“There are some puritans that have criticized [him]. It’s just none of your business,” Todd Harris said. “They aren’t in any position to judge a kid.?

Brock Harris is at peace with his choice.

Recently, Harris was called to serve his church in Spokane, Washington. He plans to serve his church faithfully.

“Just come back a little earlier,” he said. “Everything’s the same, though.”

Harris plans to return home after a year and enroll at BYU with Lyons in 2027, starting their freshman season ready to contribute for the Cougars.

But plans, of course, can change. Walker Lyons intended to serve for a year but ended up staying an extra four months, Harris pointed out.

“Who knows,” he said, “maybe I’ll stay a little longer while I’m out there.”