There is only one football program in the country with a wives club, and that program is BYU.

Some people think that because of the two-year Mormon missions most players take. . . [players] come into each season with a major advantage. They are older. They may be bigger. And they are unquestionably more mature.

But besides the fact that they spend 24 months away from football – often times in third-world countries where simply maintaining your physique is a challenge – they come back carrying a lot more weight than helmets and pads.

Being a husband is demanding enough. And being a parent is its own full-time job. But to be both while balancing a full slate of classes with the demands of college football? You don’t need the Book of Mormon to see that these Mormons are booked.

. . . And sometimes, players have to miss workouts altogether because the demands of parenthood simply outweigh those of the pigskin.

“They have quite a bit of leeway,” said BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall. “They miss practices for ultrasounds, doctors’ appointments, pregnancy tests, well, (laughing) that one’s not accurate – but things like that.”

Who do you fear more, an angry Coach Mendenhall, or an angry wife? Hansen is asked.

“Oh, definitely my wife,” he said. “Coach Mendenhall is pretty intense, but I’d rather be on his bad side than hers."