After graduating from Gilbert, Arizona’s Perry High School, Brock Purdy—who will start at quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday—was not a top prospect.
But head coach Matt Campbell sensed there was something unique when he enrolled at Iowa State as a freshman in 2018. He was even aware of the precise drill that let him realize how beneficial Purdy could be for his Cyclones.
During a Monday media session, Campbell said to reporters, “Practice 13, fall camp, his freshman year.”
Campbell described how Purdy ran right down the field on the first-team defense for a score while playing with the third-string offense. Purdy fakes a shovel pass to senior defensive end JaQuan Bailey, his running back, and crosses the goal line in the play that put them in the end zone.
“Uh oh, this guy is going to give a lot of people anxiety,” I remarked as I turned back. Yes, he did. After four weeks, he dominated Iowa State football for an extended period of time. I will always remember it for the rest of my life.”
Throughout his four seasons at Iowa State, including most recently when he led the 49ers to back-to-back NFC Championship Games, Campbell witnessed Purdy make more plays like this.
“HE’S FIGURED THAT OFFENSE OUT,” says 49ers legend Joe Montana in response to Brock Purdy’s “game-manager” argument.
This is the reason Campbell can’t help but chuckle at the “game-manager” moniker that many are giving Purdy coming into his game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
“On the final drive of the [Green Bay] Packers game, I was smirking as he scrambled and won the game for them. I was smirking then, during the scramble against the [Detroit] Lions, on third-and-two, when he throws it back across the middle and makes the play. Additionally, he had the big scramble on third-and-four when he scurried away from everyone.
