Is BYU WR Gunner Romney Related to U.S. Senator Mitt Romney?
Gunner Romney has BYU football looking like one of the country’s top Group of 5 teams in the strangest modern college football season.
A junior receiver from Arizona, Romney might soon make his case to join the likes of Steve Young and Taysom Hill as Cougars who reached the NFL.
But as Romney’s profile grows, college football fans find themselves asking one common question: Is the talented wideout related to Mitt Romney, the junior U.S. senator from Utah and former presidential candidate?
Gunner Romney is a veteran receiver at BYU
Standing 6 feet 3 inches and weighing 195 pounds, Gunner Romney brought instant size when he arrived at BYU in 2018.
Unlike other BYU players, Romney opted to immediately begin his college football career instead of taking a Mormon mission. Romney caught 13 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns across nine games as a true freshman in 2018.
Last year, Romney turned 31 receptions into 377 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games.
Romney is having a breakout 2020 season
There haven’t been many starting wide receivers in college football this season putting up the dangerous numbers Gunner Romney did in his first four games.
Romney totaled 20 catches, 453 yards, and two touchdowns in BYU’s 4-0 start. The junior began his season with four catches for 134 yards and a touchdown in a 55-3 rout of Navy on September 7.
Returning to play on September 26, Romney had five catches for 138 yards in a 48-7 blowout victory against Troy. BYU again handled business with a 45-14 victory over Louisiana Tech on October 2, in large part because of Romney’s seven catches for 101 yards and a touchdown.
In BYU’s 27-20 victory over UTSA on October 10, Romney was held to season-lows in catches (four) and receiving yards (80).
BYU was ranked No. 14 in the latest AP football poll entering its October 16 matchup with Houston.
Romney’s 453 receiving yards ranked fourth at the FBS level through Thursday, October 15. He was 10th in receiving yards per game (113.3), while his 22.65 yards per catch were the most of any receiver with at least 20 catches this season.
Is Gunner Romney related to Mitt Romney?
Gunner Romney plays at BYU, a school in Utah. Mitt Romney, a former presidential candidate, has been Utah’s junior senator since 2019.
Are the two related? According to the Deseret News, Gunner and his brother, Baylor, are indeed distant relatives of the longtime politician.
Baylor Romney is a backup quarterback at BYU. Romney completed eight of his 10 passes in BYU’s first four games for 127 yards.
The sophomore has completed 66% of his 95 career passes for 874 yards, two touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
Mitt Romney can watch with pride at his distant relatives’ success. No. 14 BYU (4-0) plays at Houston on Friday, October 16, before consecutive home games against Texas State and Western Kentucky.
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