BYU Football Team Rallies Around Young Fan Battling Cancer Before Utah Game
Nov 7, 2024, 7:32 PM
Joey Mecham, 5, of Lehi, Utah, was honored as a True Blue Hero at BYU football practice before the Utah game. (Courtesy of Brett Mecham)
(Courtesy of Brett Mecham)
PROVO, Utah – BYU football had a memorable moment with a “True Blue Hero” in the buildup to Saturday’s rivalry game against Utah.
Joey Mecham, 5, was recognized by the undefeated BYU squad after practice on Wednesday night.
Young Joey is one of the biggest heroes in Cougar Nation.
Joey made a poster for the team!@BYUfootball asked him to sign it then hung it in the locker room!#JoeyStrong #BeatCancer #BeatUtah
You Can Do It! 👍 pic.twitter.com/LfUQvYRj6D
— Brett Mecham (@brett_mecham) November 7, 2024
The middle child of five kids in the Mecham family from Lehi was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma last month.
His diagnosis occurred two days after his youngest brother was born.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare type of cancer that starts as a growth of cells in soft tissue, often muscle tissue.
Joey Mecham: True Blue Hero
Every week during the BYU football season, the Cougars host an individual they refer to as a “True Blue Hero” during one of their practices. Joey Mecham was celebrated as the hero for this week’s game leading up to Utah.
The only issue was that he had one of his 42-week chemo treatments scheduled at Primary Children’s Hospital on Wednesday afternoon.
Luckily for Joey and the Mecham Family, the Primary Children’s staff moved his treatment up to Tuesday. That gave him the chance to be honored by the nationally-ranked Cougars squad.
BYU’s “True Blue Hero” recognitions occur at the end of practices. Players from the team circle around the hero and give them a week’s worth of gear and gifts and cheer them on.
Beat Utah
Joey got those Cougar gifts that he could wear Monday through Sunday, but he also had a gift he wanted to give the team.
He made a sign for the team that read, “Beat Utah!! You can do it!!”
After Joey and his dad, Brett Mecham, showed the sign to the team, the team cheered, and some, like wide receiver Keelan Marion, broke out some dance moves.
The team had Joey sign the post and hang it by the Nike cleats mural inside the locker room.
“It was so fun! I felt like I was part of the team, and I got to cheer with them,” Joey said. “My favorite part was writing my name on it and seeing the poster in the locker room.”
Popular BYU mascot Cosmo was there to cheer on Joey to make the moment even more special.
Joey had a trick to show Cosmo!@BYUfootball #TrueBlueHero#JoeyStrong#BeatCancer pic.twitter.com/5nJqXxhWrM
— Brett Mecham (@brett_mecham) November 7, 2024
“The roundoff trick for Cosmo with everybody cheering for me. That was the best.”
Young Joey Mecham experienced the memories the True Blue Hero program seeks to deliver to individuals and families facing challenging circumstances.
Bigger than football
Director of Football Relations Jack Damuni leads BYU’s “True Blue Hero” program. The former BYU defensive back has worked on Kalani Sitake’s staff since 2016.
“Coach Kalani, our staff, and especially our players are the biggest supporters of our True Blue Heroes,” Damuni said. “Our players understand their battles and struggles and know that these kids look up to them. So when our True Blue Heroes and their families attend our practices, they are in for one of the greatest experiences. ‘It’s Showtime,’ and our boys give 100% effort.
“It’s the one practice day of the week that our players look forward to because it brings our players pure joy and they know it’s bigger than football. They become an instant big brother for life. It’s their way of giving back to our community and living our team culture of ‘Love & Learn.'”
TRUE BLUE HERO 💙 https://t.co/GALMuQoG6H
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) November 6, 2024
The Mecham family, whose world turned upside down a month ago, were grateful to experience that team culture in person.
“It was such an overwhelming experience,” said Joey’s mother, Katie Mecham. “From the moment the team broke their practice with a cheer and chant for Joey and started running over to greet him — the image of this Army of giants and heroes roaring and rushing to love and celebrate our little boy was something I will never forget. It reminded me of the Army of Angels — seen and unseen — that have rushed to help and support us in what has been a totally unexpected and exhausting month.”
Here’s to a speedy recovery for the newest True Blue Hero, Joey.
No. 9 BYU at Utah
Date: Saturday, November 9, 2024
Kickoff: 8:15 p.m. (MST)
TV: ESPN
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM – BYU broadcast)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
