Sept. 9, 2009

He went from high school hero to restless redshirt to starting at quarterback as a redshirt freshman; from an injury that both sidelined him and cost him that job to wide receiver to a season-ending injury before the start of his sophomore year; from one more injury that disrupted his junior year to last Saturday afternoon at Ryan Field, where he shined while catching a half-dozen passes for 145 yards and a touchdown in the 'Cats season-opening rout of Towson. Andrew Brewer discusses his vertiginous voyage with NUsports.com's special contributor Skip Myslenski...

On The Record ... With Andrew Brewer

It's been quite a trip. It's my fifth year and as I look back on it, wow, I've learned a lot. But honestly, if I could go back, I wouldn't have it any other way.

It's been an awesome trip.

Throughout the whole process, I've learned so much about what it means to be a man, a man of God, and to just grow up being away from home. I'm doing this on my own. There's no one here to help me out and hold my hand through it. It's just me and God. That's how I look at it.

Growing up, I never really got injured. I dislocated my elbow in high school. But that was in preseason and I only missed one game. So I'd never really gone through a season- or a career-ending injury or anything like that. So it was definitely a learning process.

I went, "This really stinks." It was a new idea for me. I'd never actually missed more than one game. I'd had a couple nagging injuries here, there, where you might have had to take a week off to let it rest. But nothing serious.

There's not a whole lot you can do about it.

I talked to my parents about it and they're just encouraging me, "You can complain about the situation all you want, but the fact of the matter is you can't play. So the sooner you accept that, the sooner you get your attitude right, the easier it's going to be."

That was part of the process of growing up and being a man. I came in and red-shirted and that was unusual as an 18-year old. You're a superstar in your high school, just like everyone else is. But you come in and you have to sit out a year. Then I got to play some and then having to miss (more games with the injury), it was definitely a learning experience.

It was just before the Kenosha scrimmage that I got hurt (the second time).

It's kind of like, "Here we go again." A similar process. But I think I'd learned from the first injury how to handle it, how to get through it.

The impatience. You want to get back. You want to get healthy. But it takes time. It's a lengthy process. It's not like you can just slap some pad on your knee, or your arm, and it heels it. It's hard work to get back and get your body in the shape it needs to be in.

You have to go through rehabilitation every single day. It's not something you can just do every now and then.

The mental part's what gets you, trying to keep your attitude in the right place. That's hard for a lot of athletes to do and I struggled with that a little bit.

You want to play. That's what you came here to do and you don't get to do it. So it's definitely a struggle. But, like I said, it only makes you a better man.

The worst part was last year. That was the real difficult time to get over.

I started at quarterback and...they end up saying, "Hey, we want to move you to wide receiver full time next year." I broke my arm. That wasn't so bad. I definitely wanted to be out there and it was tough. But then, the anticipation (before last season), the buildup during the off-season to get back, and then I hurt my knee and missed five games. That was a tough pill to swallow two years in a row.

I wouldn't say it was depression. The best word to describe it is frustration. At that point, that's where I was just relying on my faith. I was really trusting that God has the best plan for my life. I think we're starting to see the fruit of that now.

The first thing I was thought (after my touchdown) was, "Thank God. I've been waiting for this for a while. It's good to be in the end zone." So I couldn't wait to thank God, toss the ball to the ref and then just celebrate with my teammates.

It was an awesome experience.

It's like Christmas time. It's a very unique feeling. I had a couple rushing touchdowns at quarterback. But here it is my third year as a receiver and this is my first reception (for a touchdown). It was a cool deal.

People always talk about the guys who were here the last couple of years at receiver and how in the world are they going to replace them. We're going to do the same thing every team has to do. You have to replace guys and we've been chomping at the bit to get our time.

This is our time now and we're ready to do what receivers here have historically done. Make plays and score touchdowns.

No one really knows who we are, no one's giving us a lot of credit and that's fine. But we're going to go do our thing and we're going to be the best players we can be to help this team win.

Something behind the scenes that not a lot of people get to see is that a lot of the guys starting now have been working with (quarterback) Mike Kafka with the twos. I did a little bit of that last year when I was hurt and getting back in the game. I was running with the second team guys and catching balls from Mike. So it isn't a brand new thing for us and we had to start all over when C.J. (Bachér) left. It's been going on for a while.

It definitely helps, just having a feeling for each other.

There's a unique chemistry between a quarterback and a wide receiver. I've played both positions and when you've played with a guy long enough, you just know what he's going to do. It's almost instinctive, you're on the same page and you know when you're flushed out of the pocket, you can find this guy at this spot. Or you know, "Hey, this is what he's thinking, this is what he's good at, this is what I know he's good at and together we can beat him this way."

A lot of the routes you run, you've got to make some reads, you've got to adjust to what they're doing. Having been back there under center and doing that for a while, I'm just naturally used to that. So that's something that definitely helps. I know tendencies and those types of things from being in the quarterback room and watching film.

The other wide outs have to do that as well. But I think it comes more naturally and easier to me because I've played that position.

An appreciation of the game. You're not guaranteed anything. We're not guaranteed tomorrow. That definitely takes hold after you've been injured. You understand, "This may be it." You've got to take advantage of every opportunity.

When you're given things you don't have to work for, you don't appreciate them as much as you do when you have to work for them.

That's definitely something I've had to do.

It's not just me. Other guys have stories like this as well. But, yeah, I definitely appreciate it much more.

That's what I meant when I said I wouldn't change (the experience). I'm a lot better man for it today.

It's the overall man. But, certainly, just the idea of maturing and understanding how the world works and I think one of the bigger aspects of that is, "It's not all about me." You learn that pretty quickly.

When you start putting the "I" above the team, that's where it gets dangerous. A lot of athletes fall into that trap and temptation. They think it's about them. It's not.

I think every athlete has an innate pride in him that, if you're not careful, can get out of control. I think that's something God worked on with me as well.