It figures at a school like Texas, the star quarterback being named Colt.
But at Hawaii?
“I’m glad my parents choose Colt,” Colt Brennan says. “They were going to call me Maverick.”
Gotta start here, with his name because this story is about a player trying to introduce himself to America, one outrageous statistic at a time.
If people still think of the Longhorns’ McCoy when the subject is QBing Colts, that’s only because of geography not arithmetic. The numbers lean strongly in Brennan’s favor, like the fact this season he has passed for 2.8 miles.
Working against this math magician, however, is playing so west of the West Coast. These days, there’s a two-hour time difference between here and Honolulu, but it also can be a one-planet perception difference.
How out of mind is this school? When detailing Brennan’s accomplishments, multiple mainland media outlets have referred to Hawaii’s football players as the Rainbow Warriors. The school dropped “Rainbow” from its football nickname eight years ago.
See how tough it can be to establish your name in America when you’re closer to Tokyo than New York City?
“We’re on our own little rock out here,” says Brennan, who played at Mater Dei High and Saddleback College. “This island is all ours.”
Thanks mostly to Brennan, the Warriors (10-3) have thrown themselves – quite literally – into the country’s conscience this season, during which they were ranked in The Associated Press top 25 for the first time since 1993.
They are averaging 47 points and have scored at least 32 in every game after the opener. Their season high is 68, a total Hawaii’s men’s basketball team already has failed to reach four times.
Brennan has passed for 53 touchdowns, one short of the NCAA’s single-season record, a mark he should break Sunday against Arizona State in the Hawaii Bowl. He has had seven games with at least five touchdown passes. He has more touchdown passes than USC, Michigan and Florida have touchdowns.
Still not impressed? The San Diego Chargers are the highest-scoring team in the NFL. They just scored their 53rd touchdown last weekend.
And there’s a lot more where that came from for Brennan. Of course, with the run-and-shoot, all-you-can-eat offense, there’s always more.
“People say this system puts up numbers,” he says, “but not necessarily numbers like these.”
He’s right. This is the caffeinated run-and-shoot. Brennan broke the school record for touchdown passes in a season five games ago.
He has set seven other Hawaii records and leads the nation in total offense, passing efficiency, completion percentage and passing yards. Brennan, statistically, has trumped Troy Smith and buried Brady Quinn. He simply has been way better than John, David and Booty.
Says Warriors coach June Jones, “I don’t care what anybody says, no quarterback has played like he has.”
On top of everything else, Brennan has made one of the most stunning comebacks in recent college football history. He has done a Doug Flutie-to-Gerard Phelan with his career.
At Mater Dei, he played behind Matt Leinart until Leinart left for USC. As a senior, Brennan finally had the starting job. The Monarchs were good, but not Mater Dei good. Brennan knew it, and he knew everyone else at the school did, too.
“My confidence was shaken,” he says. “I succumbed to the pressure. It really hit my ego. I wasn’t sure how good a player I even was anymore.”
Brennan regained himself by attending Worcester Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts, for one year. Then he walked on at Colorado, redshirting as a freshman and impressing on the scout team.
“I was a practice kid All-American,” Brennan says.
Then came a real problem. He was arrested in January 2004 after entering a female student’s room and allegedly making sexual contact. Brennan denied the claim, his version backed by testimony from one of the woman’s friends and confirmed by a judge.
Still, his opportunity at Colorado was over. So Brennan, his legal case pending, transferred to Saddleback, where he received a new start, although it didn’t feel altogether fresh.
An opponent sacked him during one game and punctuated the hit by calling Brennan “rapist.” He was intentionally stepped on and kicked by other opponents.
“In that situation, you almost don’t care if they take you off the field on a stretcher,” he says. “The future was so uncertain. There were no guarantees. I thought, ‘This could be the last time I play football.’ I wasn’t afraid of anything.”
Brennan was acquitted of the most serious charges and found guilty of first-degree criminal trespass and second-degree burglary. He was sentenced to seven days in jail and four years of probation.
Through it all, one thing remained steady: Saddleback’s commitment to a kid trying to make right with the world around him.
“The people at Saddleback genuinely wanted to help me,” Brennan says. “The school stood strong and kept fighting for me. If Saddleback hadn’t been there, my story might not be what it is now.”
This is a tale about going from a community college to a walk-on at Hawaii to a Heisman Trophy candidate. All in two years. A tale of going from a pit to paradise, from a future uncertain because of legal problems to a future uncertain because of NFL draft possibilities.
A junior, Brennan plans to return for his final season with the Warriors, unless the pros offer a better option. Jones says Brennan, with another season like this one, could be the first quarterback taken in the 2008 draft.
“Coach Jones was still there for me in the heat of it all,” Brennan, 23, says of being recruited by Hawaii. “He trusted me. He also challenged me. He said, ‘If you don’t have the courage to walk on here, you’re not the sort of player I thought you were.’ Things are working out well.”
Warriors safety Leonard Peters calls Brennan “Hawaii’s Golden Boy.” The Honolulu Advertiser calls him “Michelle Wie with a winning record.” The newspaper last month ran a well-researched, in-depth story on Brennan, 2,242 words total, each of them positive.
Things are working out well, no doubt. Brennan has righted himself, rebuilt a foundation, one on the sand, of all places. He has worked to fit himself in, even learning a few Samoan words to help communicate with some of his offensive linemen.
This Colt from Orange County is the only Colt in the islands, where they know him by name and by reputation, also. And now, that’s a good thing, a very good thing.
