HONOLULU — With a golden arm and humble charm, Hawai‘i quarterback Colt Brennan captured the attention of the sports world this year despite playing some of his best games while most of America slept. The junior emerged from almost nowhere
HONOLULU — With a golden arm and humble charm, Hawai‘i quarterback Colt Brennan captured the attention of the sports world this year despite playing some of his best games while most of America slept.
The junior emerged from almost nowhere to become the first-ever Hawai‘i player to earn votes for college football’s most-prized award, the Heisman Trophy. He finished sixth in Heisman voting and was considered for many other national awards.
Brennan’s record-breaking season was voted the top Hawai‘i sports story of 2006 by sports editors and directors from across the state. He received seven of the eight first-place votes from AP-member newspapers and TV stations.
KITV sports director Robert Kekaula said what Brennan accomplished this season was “astonishing,” and the way he handled himself made his story better.
“Deflecting praise, pointing out the efforts of his teammates, the humility and grace which he showed all season, added some spice to his competitive spirit on the field,” Kekaula said.
Brennan finished the season with 5,549 yards and 58 touchdown passes, breaking the 16-year-old NCAA record for touchdowns thrown in a season and setting a new mark in passing efficiency. He shattered numerous school records and became just the third player in college football history to pass for 5,000 yards and 50 TDs in a season.
Maui News sports editor Brad Sherman said Brennan being mentioned as a Heisman contender was impressive alone, especially because the Warriors face several obstacles to garner national attention such as “being dismissed as a product of a system and playing games that voters never see.”
Paul Arnett, sports editor at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, said: “Just to have somebody from the obscure Division I ranks make it into the Heisman Trophy race, plus be nominated for several other major college football awards, is truly remarkable when you consider where he was at the start of the season.”
KHON’s Kanoa Leahey said anytime a player is included among the college football elite like Brennan was, it’s a victory for all fans in the islands who are constantly told from the Mainland that Hawai‘i athletics are inferior.
“With Brennan’s success, there was an explosion of interest and fanfare, beyond anything else we saw throughout the year,” he said. “He is evidence to the fact that every once in awhile, Hawai‘i can taste what it’s like in the big time.
“The year 2006, in my mind, will always represent ‘Colt craziness.’”
KHNL’s Russell Yamanoha said he went with Brennan with his top pick because, “for all but two weeks of the season, everyone kept asking me about Colt Brennan. Until the Purdue and Oregon State games came along, then all anyone wanted to talk about was the bad parking situation at Aloha Stadium.”
