Colt Brennan

Colton James Brennan (August 16, 1983 – May 11, 2021) was an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes, the Saddleback Bobcats, and most notably with the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, where he was a two-time third-team All-American before being selected by the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL draft.

Early life

Brennan attended Mater Dei High School in California. He helped Mater Dei advance to the league championship in basketball as a senior. While at Mater Dei, he was the backup quarterback to Matt Leinart until Leinart graduated. After graduating from Mater Dei, Brennan attended Worcester Academy in Massachusetts for a postgraduate year, where his primary receiver was David Ball, who later would break Jerry Rice's college record for touchdown receptions in Division I-AA.

College career

Colorado

Brennan originally attended the University of Colorado at Boulder (Colorado) in 2002 as a walk-on. He spent the year as a redshirt.

On January 28, 2004, Brennan entered the dorm room of a female student, uninvited, and, according to the victim, "exposed himself and fondled her," a charge which Brennan denied. Brennan, who was intoxicated at the time of the incident, was arrested and eventually convicted of charges of felony burglary and trespassing (serving one week in jail along with probation until he graduated from college), but a guilty verdict for unlawful sexual contact was vacated by the court for lack of evidence. Brennan was court ordered to take a polygraph test about the incident and passed. He later showed those results to Saddleback College President Richard McCullough. After the incident, which occurred during a period of time when Colorado was experiencing accusations of sex crimes and wild recruiting parties involving several athletes, he was cut from the team for the incident.

Saddleback

Brennan then transferred to Saddleback College in California in 2004 and helped lead the school to a conference championship. He was named honorable mention JUCO All-American, state offensive player of the year by the JuCal Transfer, and first-team all-conference for his performance in that season. He repaired his image well enough for the University of Hawaii head coach June Jones to offer him a walk-on opportunity. Looking to put some distance between himself and his past problems and interested in Jones' quarterback knowledge, Brennan accepted the offer and turned down an offer from San Jose State.

Hawaii

2005

Brennan transferred to University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (Hawaii) in 2005 and quickly earned the starting quarterback job. He started 10 of 12 games, the only games he did not start being against USC and San Diego State. He either tied or broke 11 school offensive records in what was a successful first season with the Rainbow Warriors. He led the country in total offense yards (4,455) and touchdowns thrown (35). His 4,301 yards passing is the eighth-most in Western Athletic Conference (WAC) history. Against New Mexico State, he recorded career-high numbers in passing yards (515), touchdowns (7), and pass completions (38). He also had nine 300+ yard performances on the season, including four 400+ yard games.

2006

Brennan entered 2006 as the undisputed starter at quarterback, was named to multiple award watch lists and was voted the WAC's preseason Offensive Player of the Year. He led the nation in scoring and passing efficiency, finishing the regular season with a 182.8 rating, and completed 72.15% of his passes, the best in Division I-A.

During the regular season, Brennan passed for 53 touchdowns, falling one touchdown pass short of the NCAA Division I-A single-season record of 54 set by David Klingler of Houston in 1990. On December 24, 2006, at the Hawaii Bowl, Brennan threw for five touchdowns to bring his season total to a record-breaking 58 to break Klinger's record. Prior to 2002 statistics from postseason games did not count towards records. Brennan's 58 touchdowns were accumulated in 14 games, while Klinger's 54 touchdowns were accumulated in 11 games. The team finished the season with an 11–3 record, finishing second in the WAC behind Boise State.

Brennan finished 6th in the voting for the 2006 Heisman Trophy, behind Troy Smith, Darren McFadden, Brady Quinn, Steve Slaton, and Mike Hart. During the season, Brennan passed for 5,549 yards and 58 touchdowns, both of which are school records, and had the highest passer efficiency rating in the nation. According to Jones, "Colt is a money guy. Colt is what I said he is: the best college quarterback in America, and he proved it tonight." During a press conference on January 17, Brennan announced that he was returning to the University of Hawaii for his senior season. He didn't feel he was fully prepared for the NFL and needed another year to get ready. He returned to Hawaii as a Heisman front runner and one of the NCAA's most prolific passers. Rivals.com named him one of the top 10 quarterbacks going into the 2007 season.

2007

On November 23, 2007, he broke the major college career record for touchdown passes, throwing five touchdown passes against then No. 17 Boise State. He threw the record-breaking 122nd in the first quarter, a six-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Grice-Mullen to surpass the mark set by BYU quarterback Ty Detmer in 1991. With the pass, Brennan also broke Detmer's record for the player responsible for the most touchdowns with 136. Hawaii beat Washington 35–28 in the final game of the regular season to finish with a 12–0 record, finishing the 2007 season ranked No. 10 on the AP Top 25, earning a bid to 2007 BCS Sugar Bowl against the No. 5 ranked Georgia Bulldogs.

The Sugar Bowl turned out to be a one-sided affair, as Georgia defeated Hawaii 41–10. Brennan completed 22-of-38 for 169 yards, while throwing three interceptions. Throughout the game, Georgia was able to effectively apply pressure rushing only three defensive linemen, allowing Georgia to drop eight men into coverage. This game cost Brennan the all-time passer efficiency rating that he held prior to the game. He was later quoted as saying, "This is not how I wanted my career to end." He finished the season with 38 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Brennan was selected for the second year in a row as a Heisman trophy finalist, this time finishing in third place behind Tim Tebow and Darren McFadden. At the end of the season, he was invited to participate in the 2008 Senior Bowl, where he suffered a torn labrum in his right hip during the first day of practice. He still managed to play in the game.

June Jones

June Jones, Brennan's coach at Hawaii, had a large impact upon his career and helped him become one of the most prolific passers in NCAA Division 1 history. In a short January 6, 2008 interview Brennan said of Jones: "He's obviously done a lot for me because he gave me a chance and that's really what I was looking for... He really gave me the confidence to take my game to the next level and give me the confidence to play like an All-American." Jones was instrumental in bringing Brennan to Hawaii during his sophomore year.

Awards and honors

• 2× First-team All-WAC (2006–2007)
• 2× WAC Offensive P.O.Y. (2006–2007)
• 2× Third-team AP All-American (2006–2007)
• 2× Davey O'Brien Award finalist (2006)
• Sammy Baugh Trophy (2006)
• Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award finalist (2007)
• Heisman Trophy finalist (2007)

Records

• Second all-time in most career touchdowns responsible for (146). Achieved November 23, 2007.
• NCAA record for most 400 yard games (20).
• Tied NCAA record for most career touchdown passes by a quarterback-receiver combination (39 to Davone Bess). Achieved November 23, 2007.
• Former record for passing efficiency (season), 186.0 (2006).
• NCAA record for most points responsible (for season) with 384. (2006)
• Second all-time for highest pass completion percentage (career) with 70.4%. This record was eclipsed by Dan Persa during the 2011 season.
• Fourth all-time in career touchdown passes with 131, a former record.
• Sixth all-time in total passing yards with 14,193.

College statistics

Professional career

Washington Redskins

Brennan was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round (186th overall) of the 2008 NFL draft. He was the tenth quarterback selected in the draft. On July 14, he signed a four-year, $1.8 million contract.