According to Ephraim, in late January 2008, BYU responded to the letter, informing the family the Cougar staff did have interest. A few weeks later, a formal scholarship offer came in the mail.

"We were surprised, to tell you the truth," said Ephraim. "We didn't know what to do because Bronco Mendenhall said he didn't want to disrupt or distract the missionary from his work. He left it up to me, my wife and the mission president to decide on when and how to inform the missionary of the offer."

They held the letter for about a month.

The Te'o family called the president of the New York South Spanish Speaking Mission and worked out the ways and means of informing the missionary, who received the offer a few weeks ago.

Asked if BYU initiated contact with their son while on his mission, Ephraim said it did not. "Make no mistake about it. They didn't come out and talk about it to us. We sent an innocent e-mail to them first and never expected a response at all. Now that this has happened, we feel very blessed he received an offer."

The question of BYU's policy of recruiting missionaries has been a topic this week in Utah following Nelson's decision. Deseret News sportswriter Jeff Call researched and found a taped interview with Mendenhall at a press conference announcing the recruiting class of 2006 in which he addresses the issue.

Responding to a question from the media about players who signed elsewhere who transferred to BYU, Mendenhall explained: "We have three players that committed somewhere else, Division I, served their mission, and while serving then decided to come to BYU. I think they were simply paying attention to what was going on.

"I think they see the program moving in the right direction, I think they see standards that are being enforced on a daily basis. I think they see a chance to represent what they believe, not only on the football field, but how they live and do it at a place that makes a different kind of statement than they would make — I won't mention the other schools — but where they were.

"As they came to us, they came of their own regard. We will not recruit players while they are on their missions. That's not our policy. But when they do contact us, we'll certainly listen."

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E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com