Where are they now?: The recruits that could have been

Alex Brink grew up in Eugene, Oregon and played quarterback of Sheldon High School. He was a 3-sport athlete at Sheldon, lettering in football, basketball and baseball. His senior season as a quarterback would lead him to his future. He passed for 3,946 yards and 36 touchdowns, winning the state championship over Lake Oswego. That same year he was name the Oregon State Player of the Year. Sound familiar? (In case it doesn’t, Kellen Moore was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Washington HIS senior year). Though not as highly rated as The Great One, he was a hotter recruiting target. Rated as a 2-star recruit by both Scout.com and Rivals.com, he garnered offers from Boise State, Idaho, Portland State, and eventually Washington State.

While it WAS a different time, Boise still had a stellar offense. It had the #1 passing offense in the country in fact. That was impressive enough to get Brink to commit to the Broncos in January of 2003, according to an article from Greg Biggins on scout.com.

"It's definitely a relief to get this decision out of the way," Brink said. "I've been so busy this year with football, now basketball and school work. Now that I don't have to worry about where I'm going to college, it's a load off my mind.

Strangely, but somehow, not so strangely, less than a month later, he flipped his commitment to WSU after receiving an offer from the coveted Pac 10. Boise has seen it’s fair share of flips since then, but we needed an heir to the Dinwiddie throne, so this one stung a bit. Instead we ended up signing Mike Altieri and Taylor Tharp.

Brink went on to an illustrious career at Washington State, setting school records for career passing yards, passing attempts, completions, touchdowns, and total offense. If my memory serves me correctly, and it usually doesn’t, Connor Halliday has since beaten all of these. Brink, though, still sits ahead of other notable QBs: Drew Bledsoe, Ryan Leaf, and Mark Rypien. Yes, the same Mark Rypien whose nephew now plays football for the Broncos. Quite the turn of events, isn’t it Washington State.  TAKE THAT!

After college, Brink was drafted in the 7th round of the 2008 NFL draft by the Houston Texans. Unfortunately for him, though, he didn’t even make it to the beginning of the season. He had an on-again, off-again relationship with the Texans for another couple years before his NFL career came to an end and his CFL career began. He spent three years from 2010 to 2012 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, starting 7 games and throwing for 2,573 yards, 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions before being released in April of 2013. He spent a month with the Toronto Argonauts, and finally became a free agent after the Montreal Alouettes released him after year and a half of service.

In addition to being a CFL free agent, he also writes for Cougfan.com in a regular column titled "Monday Morning Quarterbacking with Alex Brink". He is also a quarterbacks coach at the Barton Football Academy. If you are interested, he also offers private football training. Hey, I have 4 years of eligibility left…