WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Drew Brees returned to Purdue’s campus Saturday to celebrate his greatest college feat and, as with the team he led 25 years ago, he had plenty of friends giving an assist.
Sixty-four of his teammates returned for the 2000 Rose Bowl reunion, some of whom were part of Brees’ recruiting class that was considered the worst in the Big Ten when it arrived in 1997.
Four years later, Brees and that same underestimated core completed a seemingly unimaginable run as the self-dubbed “runts” of the Big Ten reached the Rose Bowl.
“A lot of us got to Purdue ranked dead last in the Big Ten’s recruiting class and I think there was only about 14 or 15 of us, too,” Brees told The Associated Press recently. “(Coach) Joe Tiller got that job kind of late, but these guys were kind of under-recruited from other places, so he assembled a group of guys who really wanted to be there and appreciated the opportunity to embark on this new journey.”
It was an incredible story for Purdue — one that few outside the locker room believed possible.
Brees came to West Lafayette to earn a degree from the school of management with a minor in engineering and developed lifelong friendships while meeting his wife, Brittany, on campus. On the field, he became an instant sensation in 1998 by producing mind-boggling numbers in the old-school, ground-and-pound conference.
“I was a Texas kid coming to the Midwest and had no idea what to expect,” he said. “Everybody thought I was crazy, but I came to Purdue because I wanted to get a first-class education and throw the ball 50 times a game with Joe Tiller and to play against some of the best teams in the country. I would say it lived up to those expectations and so much more.”
A quarter-century later, Brees is a Pro Football Hall of Famer, a Super Bowl champion, a Super Bowl MVP and perhaps the best signal-caller to play at the Cradle of Quarterbacks.
The Rose Bowl team walked through the Tiller Tunnel onto the field following a highlight tribute on the video board between the first and second quarters. Brees was joined Saturday by two other members of the elite quarterback club, Mark Herrmann and Gary Danielson, the color analyst on CBS’ telecast of the Southern California-Purdue game. They presented Danielson — who is retiring after the season and was honored at halftime — with a framed Purdue jersey.
Brees, as he usually is around these parts, was the headliner. He finished his career as Purdue’s leader in attempts (1,678), completions (1,026) yards passing (11,792) and TD passes (90). And those Purdue roots still run deep.
He worked on the board of the school’s NIL collective, helped fund the Brees Academic Performance Center and now plays a prominent role in the Big Ten’s blood-drive contest. Brees and former USC star Matt Leinart, the 2004 Heisman Trophy winner, engaged in some playful banter on Instagram this week to spur involvement.
But Saturday was all about 2000 — and one key cog was missing. Though Tiller died in September 2017, his widow, Arnette, attended the ceremony and walked out with the first line of players.
Brees and teammates such as Vinny Sutherland, Matt Mitrione, Tim Stratton and others still will never forget how that surprise run happened — a late field goal to beat Michigan after a loss at Penn State and a 31-13 thumping of rival Indiana following a late-season loss to Michigan State. The win over the Hoosiers gave the Boilermakers the Old Oaken Bucket, full of roses. And it led to an image that has lasted 25 years: Brees wrapping his rose-holding arm around the beaming Tiller.
“It wasn’t going to be easy, and I think (Tiller) communicated that early on. He definitely made us earn it,” Brees said. “But that was a commitment we made to each other. It’s pretty awesome it came to fruition.”
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