Tulane’s ‘Bayou Jew,’ Jake Retzlaff, humbled by his CFP spotlight after his difficult BYU departure
NEW ORLEANS AP Tulane quarterback Jake Retzlaff recalls being devastated when it became clear last spring that he would be unable to play his final season of college football at BYU His penchant for making plays in big moments as well as for publicly embracing his Jewish heritage made him something of a celebrated novelty at the Utah school run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where he became known as BYJew Suffice it to say he s landed on his feet at Tulane a university with a relatively large concentration of Jewish students around in all The Bayou Jew has help lead the Green Wave - to an American Conference championship and a first College Football Playoff berth Tulane seeded th visits No seed Mississippi on Saturday Retzlaff has been a perfect fit at Tulane announced Dave Cariello owner of the Campus Connection which sells Green Wave merchandise and partners with players on name image and likeness deals A Tulane graduate from the New York area Cariello designed two T-shirts featuring Retzlaff one calling him the Shabbat Shotgun and another referring to him as the aforementioned Bayou Jew He s certainly been our top-selling NIL athlete Cariello announced There seems to be a larger appetite for Jake s stuff and I believe that s partly because of his Jewish background The other part is he s the starting quarterback Retzlaff went - as starter in at BYU which narrowly missed out on playing for a Big title He was looking forward to returning to the Cougars in when he was named in a since-dismissed civil sexual assault lawsuit While Retzlaff contended the relationship in question was consensual that was a trouble at BYU where the university s honor code requires students to abstain from premarital sex Had he remained enrolled there he d have been suspended Retzlaff was confident he d get offers from other competitive college programs But at Tulane he ascertained that and more God s got a plan And that s the hardest thing to realize in the worst of times Retzlaff stated I had everything great It gets taken from me And now I got to go make lemonade And I get to meet all these people and create all these relationships at Tulane and around New Orleans Retzlaff did not arrive at Tulane until July giving him a compressed timeline to learn the Wave s offense and bond with teammates He started by trying to sit with different players during each unit meal inside Yulman Stadium Guys have their groups that they usually eat lunch with or dinner with and I m like all right I m just going to jump in Retzlaff recalled The dual-threat quarterback from California thrived under offensive coordinator Joe Craddock an Alabama native who explained the pace of Retzlaff s compressed integration reminded him of NASCAR races at Talladega Retzlaff passed for yards and TDs with six interceptions this season He also has been Tulane s leading rusher with yards and touchdowns a record for rushing touchdowns in a season by a Green Wave QB Coach Jon Sumrall who will take over as Florida coach when Tulane s playoff run ends has been struck by Retzlaff s moxie and his competitive nature He s got a little gamesmanship about him Sumrall added He s got a little edge about him a little toughness that rubs off on other guys Sumrall also appreciated Retzlaff s humility and emphasis on team-building Jake has handled specific things that came his way that weren t ideal really well Sumrall explained His gratitude for his opportunity here has been very real Retzlaff still misses BYU stays in touch with former teammates and watched all of the Cougars games this season Practicing his faith has been easier at Tulane He has visited regularly with Rabbi Yochanan Rivkin at Tulane s Chabad house They ve wrapped tefillin leather straps with small scrolls attached while saying prayers He attended a Rosh Hashanah dinner hosted by Chabad with about students I m impressed with his Jewish pride Rivkin noted Monday a day after at least people were shot to death at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia It s not the easiest time to be a proud Jew right now Prominent members of New Orleans Jewish district also have connected with Retzlaff He has dined with celebrity Israeli-American chef Alon Shaya He attended a Saints contest against Tampa Bay with Tulane graduate Jill Glazer and her husband Avie who is part owner of the Buccaneers He met with the director of the local Jewish Neighborhood Center and of late sat courtside for a Pelicans tournament with an attorney whose regional firm sponsors the NBA gang Everybody wished to meet Jake explained Michael Arata director of the Fear the Wave NIL collective who made certain of the introductions He s met a terrific group of people who ve kind of taken him in Retzlaff has made them proud he might have been congratulated more by people using the Hebrew phrase mazel tov this year than any time since his bar mitzvah That s what we get to do by going to play in the College Football Playoff Retzlaff declared Jewlane and the Bayou Jew get to go make a headline and be more positive about Judaism and the faith and how this is accomplishable As of early this week Ole Miss was favored to beat Tulane by around points The contest will take place during Hanukkah which Retzlaff noted is a holiday that celebrates a miracle Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top throughout the season Sign up here and here AP News mobile app AP college football https apnews com hub ap-top- -college-football-poll and https apnews com hub college-football Source
