Hall of Fame Registration
TACOMA, Wash. - This is the fifth of six installments profiling the six individuals who will be inducted into the Pacific Lutheran University's Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, Nov. 2 in the Chris Knutzen Hall at 11:30 a.m. Today's installment features football student-athlete Brody Loy (1989-1992).
Initially a walk-on to the Pacific Lutheran University football program, Brody Loy walks into the PLU Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2018.
Loy knew very little about PLU and the football program when he arrived on campus in the fall of 1989. A love for football pushed him towards deciding to try and be a part of the team. He had no idea that decision would be as extraordinary as it turned out to be.
"It was not a surprise that I went unrecruited, as I was physically underwhelming," Loy said. "Your initial hopes as a walk-on are pretty modest: having a coach learn your name and maybe getting assigned a non-duplicate jersey number. There were several of us from that walk-on class that will always have the bond of wading through the anonymity and self-doubt to eventually playing quite a bit and feeling like we belonged."
Loy's presence on the football field became one of the most overwhelming in program history. Loy was a two-time Little All-Northwest and All-CFA Mt. Rainier League selection and an Honorable Mention NAIA All-American in 1992.
Loy's career interception total is one that no one has been able to duplicate. His 21 interceptions still sits atop the PLU record books. Loy's time on the gridiron saw the Lutes rack up three NAIA playoff appearances and one league title along run to the NAIA Division II National Championship game in 1991.
"The PLU football experience was like drinking from a fire hose of life-altering positivity, much of it having nothing to do with football," Loy said. "Constant silliness and laughter, a steady diet of corny yet weirdly-wise platitudes, the John Nelson story, Frosty and bad Frosty impersonations, "attaways" given to inanimate objects, Breakaways, Defense meetings at the Hoseths, a Tiananmen Square practice, "enjoying the trip."
Loy admitted that winning made everything more fun. That success helped connect people to one another, creating life-long relationships for Loy and others involved in the program.
"PLU's strength is connecting people, and it connected me to my spouse, true life-long friends, and numerous people that inspired me to grow and be better," Loy said. "My PLU education made me better at listening, paying attention, asking questions, thinking through issues from different perspectives, and having empathy for people and their stories."
Loy now serves his community as a Battalion Chief at the Bellingham Fire Department. Loy mentioned that the fire service continually challenges your mind, body and heart. Much like the PLU footballl program challenged him from 1989 to 1992.
"Turns out, being part of PLU football was excellent preparation for a firefighting career," Loy said. "There was so much carryover, from the bigger ideas of teamwork, compassion, leadership, and service to the physical aspects of wearing heavy gear and functioning in uncomfortable conditions. Playing a football game in North Dakota in December is not unlike emergency response in a blizzard."
From a physically underwhelming walk-on, to an overwhelming mainstay in the PLU football record books, Brody Loy can look back on his time as a Lute fondly as a member of the PLU Athletics Hall of Fame.
