"When it comes to Drew Brees, him being the first successful quarterback, I think that kind of puts you in a different hierarchy when it comes to things around here,” said Steve Ramsey, current Westlake principal and Foles' former offensive coordinator. He tore his ACL during the quarterfinals his junior season - an injury that prevented him from participating in college recruitment camps that summer, one of the reasons he received only a pair of college scholarship offers - but he returned to lead the Chaparrals to a 16-0 record and the school's only state title his senior year. And when he got to play as a sophomore on our JV, you could see his competitive instincts, his feel, his recognition, and he just looked the part when he was in the middle of the game.”īrees got the varsity gig starting his junior year, and Westlake went 28-0-1 with him at the helm. “Drew is not impressive in camps because he doesn’t score well, or he didn’t, on the measurables," Schroeder said. A little bitty thing, and those receivers, I can’t say they caught all the passes he threw to them, but that really caught my attention."īrees was going to play for the sophomore team the next year while Rodgers manned the JV squad, but Rodgers tore his ACL in a scrimmage, and as Long put it, "that was the last time Johnny saw the field as quarterback, basically.” “I remember sitting in the stands watching the freshman B team," added Long, "and he’d be scrambling around, and he had this unique ability to avoid tackles and still get the ball to receivers. “When he came in there, he really didn’t know how to put his pads in his pants," said Brees' head coach at Westlake, Ron Schroeder. Plus, there was a quarterback by the name of Johnny Rodgers - brother of Jay Rodgers, the varsity QB who would go on to play college ball at Indiana - who was set to be the quarterback of the future. Andrews, Brees was also an unknown - not part of the feeder system like many of the boys. Having attended a private middle school called St. One had to overcome lack of size and familiarity, not to mention a highly touted QB in waiting the other was a man among boys who had to live up to the instant hype of being "the best since Drew Brees." But those who were around them saw common traits, developed on the same fields, that have proved key to their now storied careers.īrees was a "little old scrawny thing" when he arrived at Westlake, according to his old defensive coordinator, Derek Long, who later served as Foles' head coach. “We’ll always be a Chap for life, and I know there will be a lot of people in Austin watching this game.”īrees and Foles had two distinct experiences. "I know that and I both think highly of the school," Foles said. On Sunday, Brees and Foles will make history, becoming the only Super Bowl MVPs who attended the same high school to face off in a playoff game when the New Orleans Saints host the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round (4:40 p.m. "I remember flying back and kind of being part of that homecoming experience, and the starting quarterback for my high school at the time was Nick Foles. He returned to Westlake for the 10th anniversary of the team's 1996 state championship - still the only one in school history - and watched as Foles led his old squad and chased down his old records. He figures if he ever attended one of his games - a distinct possibility as a native of Austin, Texas - he was probably playing tag or tossing a miniature football around somewhere beyond the stands, seeing as he was just a young boy.īrees definitely remembers seeing Foles play. ![]() ![]() Nick Foles has no memory of watching Drew Brees play ball at Westlake High School. One high school, two Super Bowl MVPs: The Brees-Foles connection You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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