The stars were out at last weekend's rivalry game between the Texas Longhorns and the Texas A&M Aggies. And they weren't just limited to famous alumni like Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel. Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees also made the trip to Kyle Field and his presence there didn't go unnoticed.
Dozens of cameras were on hand for the high-profile duel, and one of them captured an exchange between Brees and Manziel before kickoff, which he discussed on the website this week.
“I always wanted to be an Aggie,” Brees laughed and shook Manziel’s hand. Brees, of course, was a college football star at Purdue University – and before that, he had a sensational career at Austin Westlake High School. As a Texas native, I would have stayed in the state if I had the chance. But why the affinity for Texas A&M?
“So both of my parents went to Texas A&M,” Brees began. “And I grew up in Austin, Texas, where, ironically, the University of Texas was right next door. In the early 1990s I used to go to Memorial Stadium and buy scalp tickets at the cheap seats there to see UT games. I loved Texas A&M, but as an Aggie fan, I was kind of an outsider in Austin.”
Had he had his way, Brees says, he would have relished the opportunity to bring his parents' alma mater into the modern era.
“A&M has always had the reputation of being a hard-nosed football program. Great defensive linemen, great linebackers, defensive ends, running backs and tight ends. They certainly weren't known for their quarterbacks and passing game. “I always wanted to be the guy to take A&M into the next generation with the development of the passing game,” grinned Brees.
Instead, Brees left the state to write a different story of his football life. He received Heisman Trophy votes himself (fourth in 1999 and third in 2000) while playing for the Boilermakers, which helped him achieve high draft status after his professional career. The skills he developed there bore fruit when he joined the Saints in 2006, and the rest is history.
Brees continued, “Unfortunately, I was not offered by them and had to go out of state to Purdue. It's funny because now I tell people it's the best thing that ever happened to me. I would have passed the ball to Dante Hall and some of those other guys at Texas A&M, but instead I got to play for Joe Tiller at Purdue and throw the ball 50 times a game. So I think it worked out well.”
Decades later, Brees has a Super Bowl ring, dozens of NFL records to his name and a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame waiting for him. That's a career anyone can be proud of, even if some Aggies fans may wonder what it was like.
