{"id":328430,"date":"2025-12-05T01:51:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T01:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/328430\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T01:51:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T01:51:16","slug":"jake-retzlaff-eyeing-college-football-history-isnt-the-only-jewish-qb-with-big-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/328430\/","title":{"rendered":"Jake Retzlaff, eyeing college football history, isn\u2019t the only Jewish QB with big dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"

When he takes his opening snap on Saturday, Jake Retzlaff will be eyeing a date with college football history \u2014 and hoping to put a coda on a comeback story.<\/p>\n

Until the end of last season, Retzlaff was the star quarterback at Brigham Young University, and gained national attention as one of only a few Jews at the flagship Mormon institution. But this summer, Retzlaff, who was known as \u201cBYJew,\u201d said he was leaving the Utah school after violating its honor code, and landed at Louisiana\u2019s Tulane<\/a>, where he wasn\u2019t even guaranteed the starting job.<\/p>\n

Fast forward a few months, and Retzlaff has led the Green Wave to a 10-2 season, leads his team in rushing and has set a school record for quarterbacks with 14 touchdowns. If Tulane wins its game Friday night against the University of North Texas, it will clinch the American Athletic Conference championship and a berth in the College Football Playoff. That means Retzlaff\u2019s team will be one of 12 to vie for the national championship.<\/p>\n

It also means Retzlaff would be the first-ever Jewish quarterback to make the playoff, a milestone in a sport that has seen Jewish signal callers from Sid Luckman in the 1940s to Josh Rosen eight decades later. But though Retzlaff has gotten a heavy dose of attention this year, he isn\u2019t the only Jewish QB on the NCAA gridiron.<\/p>\n

Across the country, and away from much of the media swarm, is Washington State\u2019s Zevi Eckhaus. In some ways, the two are different \u2014 Eckhaus is Orthodox, Retzlaff Reform \u2014 but both have put their Jewish identity front and center.<\/p>\n

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Retzlaff wears a Star of David necklace and scored a sponsorship deal last year with Manischewitz, which he said involved \u201ccelebrating Jewish pride in ways I never expected.\u201d Eckhaus also hopes to show that a Jew can throw the pigskin.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tWashington State quarterback Zevi Eckhaus throws a pass during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Oregon State, Saturday, November 29, 2025, in Pullman, Washington. (AP Photo\/Young Kwak)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to look at myself as a role model for other Jewish kids growing up with dreams and desires of playing competitive Division I football,\u201d said Eckhaus.\u00a0 \u201cJust showing them that [if] they have the ability and work hard they can achieve whatever they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both grew up in California.<\/p>\n

Retzlaff is the son of Steve Retzlaff, who coached college football for a quarter-century at Hofstra in New York and at California\u2019s San Bernardino Valley and Claremont McKenna College. His older brother, Reggie, also plays college football as a wide receiver at Colorado State Pueblo. His younger brother Danny, meanwhile, opted for baseball and is a left-handed pitcher.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tJake Retzlaff in Philadelphia on November 22, 2025. (Jon Marks\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n

Eckhaus was raised in an Orthodox Jewish household, attending the Chabad-affiliated Cheder Menachem Los Angeles through elementary and most of middle school.<\/p>\n

Students at Cheder Menachem learned Jewish texts for most of the school day, then crammed \u201ctwo hours of what they called English, which was essentially math, science, everything kind of in a bunch,\u201d he told Cougfan.com last year. (The school\u2019s website says it provides \u201can exemplary well rounded Judaic and general academic education.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Eckhaus said he \u201cstarted davening [praying] with tefillin\u201d when he was 13. He went away from it for a while, but said that, \u201cThankfully, I\u2019ve had interactions in my life that brought me back to davening every single day with Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam\u201d \u2014 that is, the two distinct sets of tefillin worn by Chabad and other particularly stringent Orthodox movements.<\/p>\n

He isn\u2019t the only member of his family to take to football. Eckhaus believes his 16-year-old brother, Chaim, playing wide receiver and safety at his old high school, will be even better than he is.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tWashington State quarterback Zevi Eckhaus (left) during an NCAA college football game against UNT, September 13, 2025, in Denton, Texas. (AP Photo\/Richard W. Rodriguez)<\/p>\n

Now, though Eckhaus does play on Shabbat, when nearly all college football games take place, he still incorporates Judaism into his routine.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery game, I go to the 18-yard line, get down on a knee, and pray,\u201d Eckhaus said, referring to the number that symbolizes life in Jewish tradition.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I put on my pads and go outside and throw a football, I know that\u2019s with God\u2019s help,\u201d the 6-foot, 209-pound quarterback told The Cholent, a newsletter in Seattle, in a recent interview. He also still puts on tefillin every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wake up every morning and put on tefillin. I read mishnayos every week,\u201d he said in that interview, referring to the foundational Jewish legal text. \u201cThere\u2019s a small Hillel group here I can meet with sometimes. I try to keep as much as I can with my religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last season, Sam Salz became likely the first Orthodox player to appear in a Division I NCAA football game, and spent three years as a walk-on with the Texas A&M Aggies, for whom he did not play on Shabbat. Orthodox players in other sports, such as Arizona Diamondbacks pitching prospect Jacob Steinmetz and former NBA G-league hoopster Ryan Turell, have played on Shabbat but insisted on walking to games or practices.<\/p>\n

Eckhaus said he feels comfortable with the balance he has struck.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, some people would disagree with me playing on Shabbos, but I\u2019m not here to make everybody happy,\u201d he told The Times of Israel. \u201cI\u2019m very comfortable with my religion and how I incorporate Judaism in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tNew Tulane quarterback Jake Retzlaff, a transfer from Brigham Young University, shows off the Star of David on his necklace after football practice at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans, on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AP Photo\/Brett Martel)<\/p>\n

While Retzlaff isn\u2019t as observant, he goes to the Tulane Hillel when he can. And he traveled to Israel this summer with some of his former BYU teammates through \u201cAthletes for Israel,\u201d which brings groups of pro and college athletes to the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were everywhere,\u201d said Retzlaff, who once found himself seated next to Jewish WNBA Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lieberman at an event. The group toured sites of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught, and also experienced some of Israel\u2019s lighter sides.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an awesome experience,\u201d he said. \u201cWe got to see the Nova Music Festival site and went to a military base and talked to IDF soldiers. We went to Yad Vashem, which was heavy, and walked through the Old City of Jerusalem and the Western Wall. But we also got to experience the nightlife of Israel and see the fun in people\u2019s eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

His father, Steve, said that his son feels the trip was \u201cthe most important week of his life.\u201d Steve added that both of his sons may find themselves in Israel again.<\/p>\n

\u201cJake and his brother have already been invited to play flag football for the Israeli Olympic team in LA in 2028,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tBYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff reached a sponsorship deal with Jewish food brand Manischewitz. (Courtesy of Manischewitz via JTA)<\/p>\n

This season, Retzlaff was focused on the transition to Tulane, which is across the country from BYU\u2019s campus in Provo, Utah, and has one of the biggest Jewish student bodies in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever gone to a more opposite place to New Orleans than Provo,\u201d said Retzlaff. \u201cIt\u2019s completely different here at Tulane.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cWe have a [large] Jewish student body, but the transition was very hard at first from a place I\u2019d been for a long time. I had to get to know the guys\u2019 names first and foremost, and then obviously learn the playbook and run the offense.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Retzlaff has been transitioning in New Orleans, Eckhaus has made himself more at home in Pullman, Washington state, where he arrived last season after two years at Bryant College in Smithfield, Rhode Island.<\/p>\n

By a twist of history, he got his first real chance to show his stuff for the Cougars in the second half of a 59-10 blowout loss to UNT in September, the same team Retzlaff will face off against on Friday. Eckhaus has held the starting job since, throwing for 1,760 yards and 12 touchdowns while rushing for 337 yards and eight scores.<\/p>\n

His latest win clinched a 6-6 record, making the team eligible for a postseason bowl game, though it won\u2019t make the playoff for the national championship.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tWashington State quarterback Zevi Eckhaus carries the ball during the first half of an NCAA college football game,\u00a0 November 29, 2025, in Pullman, Washington. (AP Photo\/Young Kwak)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to play football as long as I possibly can,\u201d Eckhaus told The Cholent. While there\u2019s been no buzz around Eckhaus as an NFL prospect, the Canadian Football League\u2019s Montreal Alouettes have secured his negotiation rights, should he choose to go north of the border.<\/p>\n

Retzlaff, on the other hand, is drawing the attention of pro scouts, which could allow him to become the first Jewish NFL quarterback since Rosen in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll that stuff happens after the season,\u201d said Retzlaff. \u201cRight now I\u2019m just focused on the season.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When he takes his opening snap on Saturday, Jake Retzlaff will be eyeing a date with college football…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-328430","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}