Colt Brennan

Colton James Brennan (born August 16, 1983), known as Colt Brennan, is an American professional football quarterback, last with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft, and was released two years later. He played college football at Hawaii.

He holds the NCAA Division I (NCAA) record for most touchdown passes in a single season with 58. He holds several other NCAA Division I FBS records.

Early years
Brennan attended Mater Dei High School in California. He helped Mater Dei 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 receivers were David Ball, now a wide receiver for the Erie Explosion of the Ultimate Indoor Football League, and Carl Elliott, the former starting Point Guard on George Washington's basketball team.

Colorado
Brennan originally attended the University of Colorado in 2003 as a walk-on. He spent the year as a redshirt.

Dismissal from the team
On January 28, 2004, Brennan entered the dorm room of a female CU 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 was caught up in the middle of the time when CU was flooded with other accusations of sex crimes and revelations of wild recruiting parties involving Colorado football players, he was kicked off the team.

Saddleback College
Brennan then transferred to Saddleback College in California in 2004 and helped lead the school to a conference championship. He was named honorable mention All-America, state offensive player of the year by the JuCal Transfer, and first-team all-conference for his performance 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.

2005
Brennan joined 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 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 and a 515-yard performance.

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 1 touchdown pass short of the NCAA Division I-A single-season record (set in 1990 by David Klingler of Houston). On December 24, 2006, at the Hawaii Bowl, Brennan threw for five touchdowns to break the record. (Statistics accumulated during the postseason now count towards records.) The team finished the season with an 11–3 record, finishing second in the WAC behind Boise State.

Brennan finished 6th in Heisman Trophy voting in the 2006 Heisman race, behind Troy Smith, Darren McFadden, Brady Quinn, Steve Slaton, and Mike Hart. During the season, Brennan passed for 5,549 yards, 58 touchdowns, and the highest passer efficiency 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 former Brigham Young University Quarterback Ty Detmer in 1991. With the pass, Brennan also broke Detmer's record for most touchdowns responsible for with 136. The Hawaii team would go on to 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. Quarterback Colt Brennan was selected for the second year in a row as a Heisman Finalists, this time finishing in third place behind Tim Tebow and Darren McFadden.

June Jones
June Jones, Brennan's coach at Hawaii, had a large impact upon his career, making him 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 at 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. After the Hawaii Warriors lost the 2008 Sugar Bowl against the University of Georgia, Jones revealed in a press conference that he would no longer be coaching at the University of Hawaii.

Awards and honors

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

Records
Some of Brennan's achievements include:
 * Second all-time in most career touchdowns responsible for (146). Achieved November 23, 2007.
 * NCAA record for most 400 yard games (20). Achieved in 2007.
 * Tied NCAA record for most career touchdown passes by a quarterback-receiver combination (39 to Davone Bess). Achieved November 23, 2007.
 * NCAA single-season record for most touchdown passes, achieved in 2006 (58)
 * NCAA two-season record for most touchdown passes, (96, achieved 2006–2007)
 * Third all-time for passing efficiency (season), posting a 186.0 mark in 2006, record was eclipsed by Russell Wilson and Robert Griffin III during the 2011 season.
 * NCAA record for most points responsible for (season) with 385. (2006)
 * Second all-time for highest pass completion percentage (70.4%), this record was eclipsed by Dan Persa during the 2011 season.
 * Second all-time in career touchdown passes (131) behind Graham Harrell.
 * Sixth all-time in total passing yards with 14,193 behind Kellen Moore, Graham Harrell, Ty Detmer, Timmy Chang and Case Keenum.

Washington Redskins
Brennan was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round (186th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft. He was the 10th quarterback selected in the draft. On July 14, he signed a four-year $1.8 million contract.

Brennan appeared in his first NFL exhibition game in the 2008 Hall of Fame Game against the Indianapolis Colts on August 3. He was impressive in his debut completing 9-of-10 passes for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns for a 157.5 passer rating in the Redskins' victory. His success continued two weeks later against the New York Jets when he completed 4-of-5 passes for 79 yards and scored the game winning touchdown on a 33-yard pass to Jason Goode.

Brennan led all 2008 NFL rookies in touchdown passes, passing yards and quarterback rating through the preseason. He finished the 2008 preseason with a strong performance, going 36-for-53, for 411 yards and three touchdowns and with no interceptions. For the preseason, his completion percentage was 67.9% and his quarterback rating was 109.9. He also carried the ball twice for 11 yards. He was placed on injured reserve on September 4, 2009, ending his 2009 season due to a torn hamstring and a hip injury. The hip injury was similar to one he suffered while in college at Hawaii and required surgery.

On August 2, 2010, the Redskins traded for Baltimore Ravens quarterback John Beck, making Brennan expendable. He was subsequently released.

Oakland Raiders
On August 7, 2010, Brennan signed with the Oakland Raiders. Brennan was later cut on September 4.

Hartford Colonials
On June 3, 2011, Brennan signed with the Hartford Colonials in the United Football League for the 2011 season. The league suspended operations of the Colonials on August 10, 2011. Brennan was not selected by any of the four remaining UFL teams in a dispersal draft held on August 15, 2011.

Saskatchewan Roughriders
On February 28, 2012, Brennan signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. The announcement was widely reported online and attracted widespread attention in its aftermath. Although he was expected to be the backup, the Roughriders later signed former National Football League journeyman J.T. O'Sullivan, pushing Brennan down in the depth chart. Brennan was released on June 11, 2012.

Personal
While at Hawaii, Brennan grew dreadlocks to better bond with his wide receivers and learned enough Samoan so that he could use it to call plays from the line of scrimmage; Hawaii has players of Samoan descent.

Brennan was a communications major. On December 16, 2007, Brennan received his Bachelor of Arts in communications and a 27-second standing ovation. Hawaii-based venture capitalist Barry Weinman, wore Brennan's No. 15 jersey while delivering the commencement address at the 2007 graduation.

Brennan was hospitalized and listed in serious condition after he was a passenger in a car crash in Hawaii on November 19, 2010. The accident left him with broken ribs and injuries to his head and collar bone. He was released from Queen's Medical Center on November 27, 2010 and headed to his parents' home in Southern California to continue his recovery.

Brennan was arrested on July 25, 2012 in Kailua, Honolulu County, Hawaii on suspicion of driving under the influence and third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug. He was released the next day without charges, pending further investigation, without having to post bail. His attorney said a police officer stopped Brennan for going 10 miles over the speed limit while Brennan was on his way home to Kailua. The attorney said Brennan is still suffering from the brain injury from the November 2010 auto accident in which he was a passenger. Brennan's father said his son recently moved back to Hawaii to live. It was reported on July 31 that Brennan's blood-alcohol level was 0.17 percent, more than twice the legal limit for driving a vehicle, when he was arrested.