The stars were out for last weekend’s rivalry game between the Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies. And they weren’t limited to just famous alumni like Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel. Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees made the trip to Kyle Field, too, and his presence there didn’t go unnoticed.
There were dozens of cameras on hand for the high-profile matchup, and one of them caught an exchange between Brees and Manziel prior to kickoff, which he spoke about on “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd this week.
“I always wanted to be an Aggie,” Brees had laughed, shaking hands with Manziel. Brees, of course, was a college football star at Purdue — and before that, he achieved a sensational career at Austin Westlake High School. As a Texas native, would have stayed in-state if given the chance. But why the affinity for Texas A&M?
“So both my parents went to Texas A&M,” Brees began. “And I grew up in Austin, Texas which ironically the University of Texas was right down the road. I used to walk down to Memorial Stadium and buy scalp tickets in the cheap seats there to watch UT play back in the early Nineties. I loved Texas A&M but I was kind of outsider in Austin being an Aggie fan.”
Had he gotten his way, Brees says, he would’ve relished the opportunity to bring his parents’ alma mater into the modern age.
“A&M always had the reputation as being a hardnosed football program. Great defensive linemen, great linebackers, defensive ends, running backs and tight ends. They certainly weren’t known for their quarterbacks and passing game. I always wanted to be that guy to bring A&M into the next generation with their evolution of the passing game,” Brees grinned.
Instead, Brees went out of state to write a different story in his football life. He earned Heisman Trophy votes himself (finishing fourth in 1999 and third in 2000) while airing it out with the Boilermakers, which helped him get drafted highly after turning pro. The skills he developed there bore fruit when he joined the Saints in 2006, and the rest is history.
Brees continued: “Unfortunately I wasn’t offered by them and had to go out of state to Purdue. It’s funny because I tell people now it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I would’ve been handing the ball off to you know, Dante Hall and some of these other guys at Texas A&M, instead I got to go up and play for Joe Tiller at Purdue and throw the ball 50 times a game. So I think it worked out okay.”
Decades later, Brees has a Super Bowl ring, dozens of NFL records in his name, and a spot waiting for him at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That’s a career anyone can be proud of, though some Aggies fans may be left wondering about what may have been.
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