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 Life's a Brees Acclaimed QB rare highlight of Purdue's spring
Posted: Thursday April 15, 1999 11:25 PM
By Mark Ambrogi, Special to CNN/SI WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The preseason honors keep pouring in for Purdue quarterback Drew Brees -- and it's only April. The junior-to-be has recently been named Playboy All-American first-team quarterback and The Sporting News Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. "It's been kind of overwhelming," he said. "You kind of sit back and think, Why are they choosing me for that? I don't think I deserve it. Last year was definitely a good year for the team. It was a lot more than I expected. But still I think I can get a lot better. There's a lot of things I have to work on." That's typical of Brees. He frequently found fault with his performance last season, despite setting Big Ten records for completions (361), attempts (569), passing yards (3,983) and touchdowns (39) for the Boilermakers (9-4). "He had a heckuva year," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. "The question is, well, can he repeat the performance? It's not that we doubt it. It's just that if you're going to establish yourself, you have to do it more than once." Brees took about 95 percent of the snaps last spring as the only healthy scholarship quarterback. This spring, he's splitting time about equally with backups David Edgerton and Mike Segard. "We'll manage it differently in the fall," Tiller said. "Those guys won't be getting as many reps." The coaching staff also did not want to rush Brees following his off-season foot surgery. "I don't think about my foot when I drop back or I run," he said. "I don't think I'm back up to full strength, but I'm getting there pretty quickly." The offense has been hampered by a thin receiving crew this spring. Seniors-to-be receivers Chris Daniels and Cliff Jackson have been sidelined while recovering from knee surgeries. Junior-to-be Donald Winston has missed several practices with a hamstring injury. "It's tough when a guy runs 15 routes in a row and then he has to go again. He's going to be tired," Brees said. "It's getting the receivers in shape definitely and it's getting a lot of guys reps who in the past have not been about to get a whole lot of 'em." Purdue also has been hampered this spring at linebacker. The Boilermakers knew they would be rebuilding at that spot without departed seniors Lee Johnson, John Reeves and Willie Burroughs. Then Tiller allowed another linebacker, Mike Rose, to concentrate on baseball this spring. But an unexpected blow came when they lost Willie Fells, the team's top tackler the last two seasons. Fells was arrested two days before spring practice began after getting in dispute with the boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend. Fells was charged with battery, resisting law enforcement, disorderly conduct and two counts of criminal mischief. He was immediately suspended indefinitely. Tiller said Fells might be able to return for his final season, but it won't be easy. "He's got to deal with his situation [with the law] and take care of academics," said Tiller, who added Fells will have to pay for his summer school classes. "He's a long way from being out of the woods." Tiller also suspended senior-to-be running back J. Crabtree for violating team rules after two weeks of practice. Crabtree was the team's leading rusher last season. The Boilermakers will conclude spring practice with a game on April 24. Brees said he hopes the practices between now and then plus summer workouts will help him get bigger, stronger and faster. "I'm just trying to get better and better every day and get smarter every day," he said. "I am taking this [the honors] kind of as a challenge. As long as I'm winning games, I'll be happy." Not that Brees doesn't have personal goals. He hopes to throw for 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns, but they take a back seat to team goals. "We have that ultimate goal of winning a national championship," he said. "If we end up falling short of that, we can still have an 11-1 or 10-2 record, which ain't all that bad."
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