Coach Spencer Danielson officiated the wedding of player Braxton Fely in May
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Spencer Danielson, Braxton Fely
A college coach from Idaho shows that he is there for his players on and off the field.
According to an August 8 post on the school’s athletic website, Boise State University Broncos football coach Spencer Danielson officiated the wedding of defensive end Braxton Fely to his wife, Kelly, in May.
Fely said the idea of having Danielson perform his wedding ceremony originally came from a joke in the locker room, but he ultimately decided to pursue the idea because of the coach’s importance in his life.
“He is like family to me,” Fely said in the post. “But more than that, he is a man of faith. That was so important to me and so important to us. And it was important for our families to see his faith represented the way he does.”
Eli Lucero/The Herald Journal via AP)
Boise State interim coach Spencer Danielson celebrates after a Utah State turnover in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023, in Logan, Utah.
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Danielson said in the post that he didn’t hesitate to agree to Fely’s proposal. He recalled telling Fely, “I appreciate you asking me, Braxton, and yes, I will marry you,” adding with a laugh that the football player “looked at me kind of funny and then laughed.”
The Broncos defensive player said it took a little longer to convince his then-fiancée of the idea because she “didn’t know the Broncos coach very well at the time,” even though she had heard him “talk about” the coach several times.
“Kelly was surprised at first,” Fely explained her initial reaction. “Because it’s not often that a man goes to his fiancée and says he wants his football coach to officiate the wedding.”
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“At the time, I was living in a house with six football players, and she heard them all talk a lot about what a great man he is and how much he cares about all of us as individuals, not just as football players,” he continued. “And she trusts me. It didn’t take a lot of convincing.”
He shared a photo of the ceremony with Kelly standing at the altar and her bridal party lined up behind them in various shades of pink. Between the couple, Danielson could be seen holding a microphone while reading from a book he held in his hand.
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“Having Coach D officiate our wedding made it ten times more special,” recalls Fely, who held a small formal ceremony at her temple before a larger ceremony with more people and Danielson.
Danielson noted in the Boise State Athletics post that it “means everything” to him that his players trusted him enough to be a part of their lives.
“I believe that’s why God put me in this position – to develop young men,” he said in the post. “For some, that means they’ll be husbands later in life, and for some, it’s husbands now. Everyone is at a different point in life and that’s the only reason I’m a coach – to develop these young men.”
“Football has given me the platform to do that, but I can’t pass up the opportunity to teach them what it means to be a husband, father, entrepreneur, professional,” he added. “Yes, becoming an NFL football player is the goal for everyone in our facility, but that’s not going to be the reality for everyone. So it’s about teaching them what it means to be that husband, father and worker.”
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