What Ryder Lyons told Pat McAfee about serving a mission

Consensus five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons is headed to BYU, but not before answering the call to serve.

During his commitment announcement on “The Pat McAfee Show” Tuesday morning, Lyons confirmed that he would be serving a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prior to suiting up for the Cougars.

“I’ll be serving a LDS mission,” Lyons told McAfee. “... I’ll (submit) my papers in August, and then I’ll get a call to anywhere in the country (or in the world) two or three weeks later.”

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Lyons will depart for his mission following his senior season at California’s Folsom High.

McAfee told Lyons that he was somewhat familiar with missionary service, as his former Indianapolis Colts teammate Austin Collie — a BYU legend and returned missionary — had shared about his own mission experiences along with other aspects of his faith.

“The mission I believe is a huge honor because it is a calling from God basically to go serve,” McAfee said. “So this is considered a massive ordeal I believe for you, your family and everybody in the LDS religion, right?”

“Yeah, it’s for sure a big deal,” Lyons responded.

“You’re going to get a culture experience, you’re going to learn a lot about the world, and then whenever we see you on the football field we can wait to see what you do at BYU,” McAfee told Lyons, wishing him luck on his mission.

Lyons’ older brother Walker, who currently plays tight end at USC, served a mission in Norway before beginning his own college football career.

According to BYU, 65 players on the school’s 2023 football roster served full-time missions, serving in 29 different countries and speaking 15 languages.

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