Colt Brennan college and NFL stats: Looking back at former Raiders QB's career

Jacksonville Jaguars v Washington Redskins
Jacksonville Jaguars v Washington Redskins

Colt Brennan never turned out to be an NFL star, but as of today, he still holds a lot of college football passing records.

Brennan died in May following an accidental overdose. He consumed a lethal concoction of powerful stimulants and opioids. A toxicology screening and autopsy report revealed Brennan had methamphetamine, amphetamine, ethanol, and fentanyl in his body when he died. However, there is no information about whether the drugs were prescribed to him.

Brennan was 37 years old when he died. He had attempted to enter a detox center hours before ingesting fentanyl (which led to his death) but was turned away because there were no open beds available. He majored in communications and his cousin, Brent Brennan, is the head coach of the San Jose State Spartans, who play in the FBS.

Brennan's college numbers are impressive

While playing for Hawaii in the '00s, Brennan set a number of NCAA passing records that he still holds today.

He's the recordist for most NCAA games with at least 400 yards (20). He held the NCAA record for most career passing touchdowns for some time, with 131, but he's now fourth. on that list. He is also second in the all-time most career touchdowns (146).

His 63 touchdowns during the 2006 season were an NCAA single-season record until 2019. In 2019, Joe Burrow from LSU scored his 64th during the national championship to become the number one all-time. Burrow went on to become the first-overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Why Colt Brennan's NFL career didn't pan out?

Brennan was fantastic during his college career. However, it's a common occurrence for quarterbacks that play at a lower level to have difficulty translating their qualities to the NFL level. Hawaii played in the WAC conference, the weakest in the FBS.

Colt Brennan was a legend during his Hawaii days
Colt Brennan was a legend during his Hawaii days

His situation was made even more difficult when he suffered a torn labrum during the first day of practice for the 2008 Senior Bowl. Even though he still managed to play in the game, he needed to have surgery and this plummeted his draft stock.

Drafted in the 6th-round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins, he impressed in the preseason as a rookie, but never managed to see playing time during the regular season. He suffered a torn hamstring and a hip injury in his second season and was subsequently released.

He later signed with the Oakland Raiders, but again never saw playing time during the regular season. He also played for lower leagues across the States.

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Edited by Diptanil