Posted on: Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Broncos' placekicker
Jason Elam

Jason Elam's best memories of UH football included "all the wins over Brigham Young." UH beat BYU three times in Elam's career. Advertiser library photo

Jason Elam, a member of the University of Hawai'i's Circle of Honor, was a two-time All-American kicker for UH in a record-setting (1989-92) career. Elam finished his UH career with 79 field goals, one short of the NCAA record. He's starting his 14th NFL season with the Denver Broncos, for whom he has been a three-time Pro Bowl pick.

What's your fondest memory of playing at UH and how did playing at UH help you?

"The (1992) WAC championship and Holiday Bowl season — and all the wins over Brigham Young (were fondest memories). When I got there, they hadn't beaten BYU in, like, forever. And, we beat them three times.

"I think it (playing at UH) made me grow up a lot faster than I probably would have normally. Just having to go that far away from home (in Georgia) and having to go through some of the homesickness stuff. it was hard being a 17-, 18-year-old kid going that far away. But after my sophomore year, once i got over it, I absolutely loved my junior and senior years years. And I think that being able to play all four years and get that experience and get my name out really helped.

"I mean, UH was great when I was there. We had great teams. We were going to bowl games and won the WAC my senior year, played in the Holiday Bowl and got a lot of exposure. In coach (Paul Johnson's) offense we were definitely going to score a touchdown or kick a field goal."

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