Colt Brennan -- WWBWD? (What Would Bill Walsh Do?)

It’s probably fair to say that the criticism of his character began with Brennan’s well publicized incident at the U. of Colorado. To set the record straight: Brennan ended up being convicted of SECOND DEGREE BURGLARY and FIRST DEGREE TRESPASSING, "for not leaving the woman’s room in a timely manner”. Any sexual assault charges were DISMISSED FOR LACK OF EVIDENCE. In addition, Brennan passed his polygraph test that showed he was being truthful when he said the girl had invited him to her room.

Brennan admits he made a mistake, has paid his penalty, and has grown from the experience—his actions since then have been exemplary, and he has become a role model for young boys in Hawaii, even voluntarily visiting a juvenile detention facility near his apartment regularly, along with UH wide receiver Davone Bess. Yet, the general public and the media in general refuse to let this go—mostly out of ignorance.

Brennan’s demeanor is laid back, non-chalant—and he’s been extremely honest and forthright in his answers to the press. Although his transparency is admittedly “refreshing” according to some reporters, it has also been used against him. In his lengthy interview during the combine, Brennan was thanked by one reporter for his frankness, and then was berated by that same reporter who only printed “sound bites” of the interview—making Brennan out to be a whiner, while actual transcripts of the entire interview showed a much different picture.

Yet, instead of becoming defensive and bitter from all this, Brennan has responded with comments like: “I just need to turn all these negatives into positives,””I think all this adversity will make me a better football player,” and “I can’t listen to my critics”. I’d say Brennan’s ability to endure all the scrutiny and criticism—much of which is not based on fact—in an honorable way, indicates a great amount of courage. It is hard to imagine anyone, let alone any draft prospect enduring such scrutiny while maintaining his composure.

Courage to play, even though hurt: Recently we learned that Brennan had injured his hip the first day of Sr. Bowl practice (and he recently underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair it). He “pushed through it” as he says, continuing to work out, earning the respect of his teammates and was voted team captain. He also did well enough in the coaches’ opinions during the week of practice to earn the starting position on game day.

So—Brennan showed up at the Senior Bowl 16 pounds less than his pre-season weight of 201, after having 2 bouts of stomach flu just prior to, got hurt the first day of practice, and yet still CHOSE TO PLAY in the Senior Bowl—while, Matt Ryan and Brian Brohm—the number 1 and 2 rated QB’s (who were completely healthy) chose not to participate at the last minute. I’d say Brennan showed a lot of courage.

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