San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy's journey from being the 262nd and final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, aka Mr. "Irrelevant," to being an NFL MVP finalist and starting in Super Bowl LVIII is nothing short of remarkable.
Naturally, those who were tangentially a part of Purdy's improbable football rise are coming out to claim they knew of Purdy's greatness back when. Current Nebraska head football coach Matt Rhule is one of those people. He elaborated on what he instructed his Baylor Bears defenders to do when defending Purdy as they dueled in the Big 12, with Purdy as the Iowa State quarterback and Rhule as Baylor's head coach. He also said he vouched for the Carolina Panthers to take a look at him during the 2022 NFL Draft, his last as the Panthers head coach.
"I think Brock Purdy is an amazing player because I played against him at Iowa State," Rhule said Wednesday, via KETV NewsWatch 7. "When I was in the draft room at Carolina, I brought his name up. I said 'hey guys, his name should be on the draft board.' I got vetoed on that one. We used to tell guys when we played Brock Purdy, 'do not, do not fall for his pump fake.' First game against him, he pump-fakes and our defensive backs jump even though he is past the line of scrimmage. A lot of respect for Brock."
Carolina had a chance to take Purdy 242nd overall in the seventh and final round of the 2022 draft, but the Panthers instead selected cornerback Kalon Barnes, a player Rhule coached at Baylor.
