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 Cowboy transplant Purdue's gunslinger Brees lives football dream up north
Posted: Monday September 20, 1999 02:02 PM
By John Giannone, CNN/SI WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Although he was the Texas 12-and-under tennis champion, football was Drew Brees’ birthright. After all, he was named after former Cowboys receiver Drew Pearson, his granfather was a Texas high school coaching legend, his uncle the Longhorns quarterback when Earl Campbell won the Heisman trophy. Now it is Brees, spurned by his home state colleges, who has emerged as a candidate for that cherished hardware at a most unlikely venue: Purdue. The Heisman Trophy stood in all its splendor last week at the Purdue bookstore, part of a national tour and just a Hail Mary pass from Drew Brees’ dorm room. But the urge to shake hands with Heisman never consumed one of its frontrunners. For Brees, September is not the time to ponder what dreams may come. "Maybe somewhere down the road I’ll get to be a little bit closer to it than that," said Brees. "It’s just ... it’s just, I don’t even want to think about it." The man dubbed Cool Brees by his teammates has parlayed a howitzer arm, bullseye accuracy and steely demeanor into collegiate stardom. But just beneath that persona lies an unquenchable passion for perfection -- a trait that fuels Brees’ success but one that sometimes needs harnessing. "He shouldn’t be so hard on himself just because he’s a human being, you know?" said Purdue tight end Tim Stratton. "Nobody can be perfect, and I know it’s one of his goals, but we’re not always perfect. I know exactly, first-hand." "He [Brees] does spend a lot of time, more time than probably anyone else on the team, going over game film and thinking about football, related issues, things like that," said wide reciver Chris Daniels: Brees himself describes nearly impossible expectations when discussing his desire to improve every week. "If I go 29-of-30 passing one game, and the next week I come out with a 28-of-30, then I’m thinking 'Man, I didn’t get better.' So I just look at little things like that, but maybe that’s just putting too much pressure on myself." Actually, Brees thrives under pressure, which is why the junior was named a team captain. And while his heart will always belong to Texas, Brees remains perfectly content in the wide-open offense and wide-open spaces of rural Indiana. "I get asked the question, do you think you could be effective in a two-back offense?" said Brees. I’m like, two-back offense, what’s a two-back offense? You’re so used to getting back there in the shotgun and seeing five wide receivers." In a year's time, Brees has gone from an unknown to college football superstar, a burden he seems to handle like an oncoming blitz. "He’s kind of one of the guys, and they recognize that in him and appreciate that about him," said coach Joe Tiller. "He hasn’t changed. He came in a pretty humble guy and kind of stays that way." Of course, the question will always be there: What would have happened if Brees had taken his cannon to a more feverish football town back home like Austin or College Station? There would have been 80,000 screaming fans, but no wide-open Joe Tiller offense. "I’m at the place where I need to be," said Brees. "I wouldn’t want to be at any other place but Purdue." While modesty is his policy in public, Brees is not shy about privately setting some exorbitant goals. Brees lists as his target numbers for this season 4,000 passing yards and 40 touchdowns. Numbers that, if attained, would break the Big Ten records Brees set last season.
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