Tulane's 'Bayou Jew,' Jake Retzlaff, humbled by his CFP spotlight after his difficult BYU departure

NEW ORLEANS — 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 3,000 in all.

The ''Bayou Jew'' has help lead the Green Wave (11-2) to an American Conference championship and a first College Football Playoff berth. Tulane, seeded 11th, visits No. 6 seed Mississippi on Saturday.

Retzlaff has been ''a perfect fit'' at Tulane, said 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 said. ''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.''

While Retzlaff contended the relationship in question was consensual, that was a problem 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 found that and more.

''God's got a plan. And that's the hardest thing to realize in the worst of times," Retzlaff said. ''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 team meal inside Yulman Stadium.

The dual-threat quarterback from California thrived under offensive coordinator Joe Craddock, an Alabama native who said the pace of Retzlaff's compressed integration reminded him of NASCAR races at Talladega.

Retzlaff passed for 2,862 yards and 14 TDs with six interceptions this season. He also has been Tulane's leading rusher with 610 yards and 16 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.

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 600 students.

''I'm impressed with his Jewish pride," Rivkin said Monday, a day after at least 15 people were shot to death at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia. "It's not the easiest time to be a proud Jew right now.''

When the topic of the Bondi Beach massacre in Australia came up, Retzlaff noted that he tries to keep the Star of David on his necklace outside his shirt, regardless of whether it might make him a target of antisemitism.

Prominent members of New Orleans' Jewish community have connected with Retzlaff.

He has dined with celebrity Israeli-American chef Alon Shaya. He attended a Saints game against Tampa Bay with Tulane graduate Jill Glazer and her husband, Avie, whose family owns the Buccaneers. He met with the director of the local Jewish Community Center and recently sat courtside for a Pelicans game with an attorney whose regional firm sponsors the NBA team.

''Everybody wanted to meet Jake,'' said Michael Arata, director of the Fear the Wave NIL collective, who made some 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 said. ''‘Jewlane' and the ‘Bayou Jew' get to go make a headline and be more positive about Judaism and the faith and how this is possible.''

The game will take place during Hanukkah, which, Retzlaff noted, is a holiday that celebrates a miracle.

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