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November 11, 2026

Spencer Shuman wants to be a professional athlete. While he starred in two sports at Provo High School, he wondered if his dream was compatible with serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He worried that putting his sports career on hold would cause him to fall behind his peers and lose his chance at a scholarship or reaching the pros.

“Honestly, I struggled with that for a while,” Spencer said.

One remarkable night in March, he met two former NFL players and a big-time college football coach who served missions.

Spencer was honored at Utah’s National Football Foundation awards banquet for kicking long field goals, making extra points and pinning opponents deep with long kickoffs.

Nine-year NFL tight end Chad Lewis approached Spencer. They grabbed some cookies and started talking.

“Without really knowing what I had been struggling with or what my concerns were about serving a mission,” Spencer said, “he started talking about the exact things that had been on my mind.”

Lewis told him what a mission in Taiwan meant to him. He shared gratitude for what his mission taught him, the experiences he had, the people he met and the lessons he learned.

“Instead of looking at those things as sacrifices to be worried about, he talked about how much you actually gain through serving a mission,” Spencer said. “He emphasized how meaningful those two years can be and how much they can change your life.”

One statement really stuck with Spencer.

“He said if he could go back and make that decision all over again,” Spencer said, “he would choose serving his mission over his professional football career and even winning a Super Bowl. He said he would make that choice 100% of the time.”

University of Utah head coach Morgan Scalley also told Spencer he wouldn’t change his decision to serve a mission to Munich, Germany.

Scalley said he loves missionaries and believes the things they learn and the people they become make a difference in every part of their lives, including the football field.

Spencer’s high school coach, former NFL offensive lineman Kirk Chambers, was also at the banquet.

“He spent (six) years playing in the NFL, so when he talked about his mission, I really listened,” Spencer said. “He told me that hands down, if he could go back and choose between spending those two years serving a mission or playing in the NFL, he would choose the mission.”

Spencer didn’t decide overnight, but the conversations stayed with him.

“I thought about how Chad had talked about so many of the exact things I had been worried about, even though he had no idea what was going through my head,” Spencer said.

He believed the players were answers to prayers.

“For the first time, I started to really understand that maybe serving a mission wasn’t something I needed to put off my dreams for,” Spencer said. “Maybe it was something Heavenly Father knew I needed in order to become the person I wanted to be.”

Eventually, he chose to serve. He submitted mission papers and received a call to the El Salvador San Salvador East Mission. Home MTC training begins next week. I was one of his Teachers Quorum advisers, and I’m excited for him.

“I don’t know exactly what these two years will bring,” Spencer said, “but I’m excited to find out.”

Wherever it’s game day, you’ll find BYU alumni tailgating by serving others. That’s how our alumni show their love for all God’s children. That’s how we rise and shout. Learn more about BYU’s culture of giving back.

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