Blue-Grey Football Alumni Update: Brett Rypien

Blue-Grey All-American Bowl alum Brett Rypien is doing well nowadays at Boise State.

Plenty of prospects, some of them high-profile, others under-the-radar, have come and gone in the past decade or so, since the inception of the Blue-Grey All-American Bowl. Still, the talent level across the board on the national level has been about as good as it gets.

Things don’t figure to change anytime soon, either, as the hype continues to build for this year’s games: Dec. 18 and Jan. 22 at Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, Jan. 6 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium and Jan. 13 at Jacksonville Jaguars’ EverBank Field.

To gain a better understanding about the rapidly growing direction of things, perhaps it’s best to take some time to reflect on the humble beginnings. Therefore, moving forward, the plan is to more closely examine the brand’s many alumni from all over the country.

Brett Rypien from Shadle Park (WA) is the next topic of conversation. No surprise considering, when as a member of the Class of 2016, he first made his name known on the national level with an eye-opening effort in the West’s 7-6 victory over the East at AT&T Stadium.

Still in the spotlight, the attention will be on the 6-foot-2 and 208-pound junior quarterback for Boise State against BYU on Oct. 6 in a Mountain West Conference game at 9:15 p.m. (EST). Rypien, as always, figures to be the difference between winning and losing.

No stranger to his share of success, and since stepping foot on campus, he has started. In his first year, in fact, Rypien was named Conference Freshman of the year and All-Conference First-Team. Also worth mentioning, he earned Poinsettia Bowl MVP honors.

What could Rypien possibly do for an encore? Well, as a sophomore, he threw for 3,646 passing yards and 24 touchdowns with a 61.9 completion percentage. Another postseason appearance followed and Rypien was in the running for Cactus Bowl MVP honors.

A two-time Maxwell Award Watch List member and two-time Davey O’Brien Watch List member, plenty was expected of him this year. Despite a couple of lingering injuries, Rypien continues to deliver weekly results with a completion percentage of more than 60.

Some might already know, while most likely unaware of the family gene pool, but his uncle is NFL veteran Mark Rypien. The nephew could be following down a similar path, a journey that essentially started back during the brand’s All-American Bowl in Texas.