Colt Brennan is Centurians #1

About walking on to UH, Colt said:
"I wanted to get away and play football. "It was that simple." (HSB)

About how Hawaii accepted him even before had played a game, Colt said:
"When I came here to Hawaii we talked about it being so much different than the mainland. Money, material things are not valued as much out here. The person you are, the character you have, that's what's valued. I was accepted before I ever started a football game." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Prior to 2007, the BCS was a goal for other people. And surely, having a Hawaii player among the elite at the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York was fantasy at best. Yet there they were that December. Hawaii, the last undefeated team in the land accepting a berth to the Sugar Bowl. And Brennan, a lei draped over his dark suit, sitting in the front row of the Nokia Theatre in Times Square as the Heisman was awarded to Florida's Tim Tebow."

HSB Note: "Following his conviction for second-degree burglary and first-degree trespassing while at Colorado in 2004, Brennan spent a year at Saddleback Community College in Mission Viejo, Calif., and had a scholarship awaiting him at San Jose State, where his cousin was a receivers coach. But it was also about that time that Hawaii associate coach Rich Miano, while watching footage of Saddleback receiver Jerard Rabb, took note of Brennan's accuracy and quick release, and began the process of recruiting him to Manoa. The Warriors didn't have a scholarship to offer, but Brennan found a head coach with a history of presenting opportunities to those he believed deserving of a second chance."

About giving Colt and Pisa Tinoisamoa second chances at UH, JJ said:
"I knew they were great kids. (I) told them I'm not going to judge you from the past, if you want a new start, we'll do it. From this day forward is what we'll know you as." (HSB)

HSB Note: "While Miano's decision to take Brennan to the North Shore to check out the Pipeline Masters during his recruiting visit certainly didn't hurt, it was meeting the players already in the program that sealed his decision to walk on."

About how meeting the Warrior players helped convince Colt to walk onto their team, Miano said:
"He told me he saw Mel Purcell and Ikaika Alama-Francis and Nate Ilaoa and Davone Bess and guys like that and he knew we were going to be a good team." (HSB)

HSB Note: "While Brennan's grasp of the offense his first season was lacking, his playmaking ability was undeniable. So expectations ticked up a notch in 2006, and the Warriors came within 18 points of going undefeated during an 11-3 season as Brennan set an NCAA record with 58 touchdown passes. Although Brennan looks back on the 2006 team -- which he regards as the most talented of his tenure -- with a sense of "what if," he now views those tight losses as a key to the 2007 campaign."

About how they learned from their losses in 2006 to overcome adversity in 2007, Colt said:
"People correlate sports and life all the time, and that's exactly what it was. Whether in business or whatever, you take your losses here and there and years down the road you know how to take advantage, you know when opportunity comes to jump on it. We took our losses, and when those situations happened our senior year, instead of letting them slip away, we succeeded and we rose up." (HSB)

Colt said that the constant demands for interviews and autographs in 2007 weighed on him, but:
"I remember being like, 'Dude, this is what you came back for, this is what you wanted.' " (HSB)

HSB Note: "While he attended the Senior Bowl in Alabama, a few of the youngsters in Mobile told him about their "Hawaii sleepovers," when their parents would let them stay up past midnight to watch the Warriors play."

Happy to have affected people like that, Colt said:
"You hear little stuff like that and you realize that's why you play the game, to touch people, to make a difference." (HSB)

About his maturation process, Colt said:
"The biggest thing now is becoming a man. When I was here I was finding myself. Now that I've found myself, it's maturing into who I want to be in the future." (HSB)

http://www.starbulletin.com/specialprojects/09/centurions/20090802_the_greatest_warrior.html