By Valerie Chapman
With a chorus of 5,000 students and alumni, Cosmo surprised former football coach LaVell Edwards with a blue football-shaped birthday cake and a harmonized rendition of happy birthday on the stage of the Marriott Center Tuesday.
Edwards made a surprise appearance at the Homecoming Week opening ceremonies devotional yesterday despite an injured foot that caused him to hobble on to the stage with his wife and a crutch.
Audience members cheered loudly as he shuffled on stage and many even stood to honor the legendary coach.
Edwards? wounded foot didn?t bring him down, though; he merely joked that the reason it was broken was because he had gotten too close to the coach at the TCU game and was put in to play.
Along with being honored on his birthday, Edwards attended the assembly to give a few words of encouragement to the football team and coach for the Homecoming game this weekend.
?They?re going to come along and be a very good football team,? Edwards said. ?I like what Bronco is doing?let?s fill those stands and have another victory.?
In response to Edwards? heartening words, Coach Bronco Mendenhall offered his own suggestions to help ensure a win against Colorado State this weekend.
?Show up early, stay late, wear blue and yell loud,? Mendenhall said. ?[Do that and] we?re sure to get a victory.?
Edwards? and Mendenhall?s encouraging words helped to instill a sense of hope in the students for the game this weekend.
?LaVell?s optimistic speech about the team and the game really helped,? said Vess Pearson, a sophomore from Corona, Calif., majoring in accounting. ?I?m definitely more excited about Homecoming Week now.?
The Cougar Marching Band performed the theme from Disney?s ?The Incredibles.?
Heidi Harris, a senior from Tokyo majoring in humanities, read her winning entry for the annual George H. Brimhall Memorial Essay Contest.
A special video presentation and musical number by Truman G. Madsen and Dallyn Bayles honored the Prophet Joseph Smith and brought a spirit of remembrance and reflection to the devotional.
John Lewis, associate advancement vice president, said the goals of the Devotional were two-fold.
?First we wanted to introduce students to their founders, to give them a perspective of what we have here today at BYU,? Lewis said. ?Our second goal was to get the students and alumni hyped up for homecoming week and to make them aware of all the homecoming activities that will be happening throughout the week.?
Immediately following the assembly, students followed the ?Free Food? signs to the Carillon Quad for a free barbecue hosted by BYUSA.
Later in the week, students can look forward to noon-time activities in Brigham Square, the annual baby pageant and True Blue Football at Helaman Field.
