Brennan intends to stay
| • | Excuses, excuses, excuses |
| • | Tiller wanted to pull out |
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By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Next month, as a finalist for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, Hawai'i's Colt Brennan is going to Disney World.
Next year, Brennan expects to remain in Manoa.
"Those are my full intentions," said Brennan, a fourth-year junior who is eligible to apply for the National Football League draft.
Brennan said it would take an "extraordinary situation" to make him forgo his senior season.
But after the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl, Brennan will seek an evaluation from NFL scouts.
"There are things you can do," Brennan said of finding his rating. "There are ways to go about it."
If he were to project as a first-round selection in April, Brennan said, "you'd have to consider (applying for the draft). That doesn't mean I'd go, but you'd have to consider it."
But Brennan insisted: "My full intentions are to come back. I have no problem with coming back next year. I would love it."
He said he does not know if he will take out an insurance policy as a safety net for a possible serious injury as a senior.
And while he would like to eventually pursue a career in pro football, the size of the contract is not the main factor in his decision whether to remain at UH.
"I want to have a big family when I grow up," Brennan said. "I want to have a lot of kids. I want to be able to support them. I want to be able to grow old in front of a big family. Money always helps with that. Money helps give people and family around you a lot of opportunities and stuff. So, yeah, it's a factor, like it is in anything, but it's not the driving factor. It's just one of the factors."
Brennan is clearly perceived as one of the nation's top quarterbacks, as evidenced by the O'Brien announcement.
Brennan, who leads the nation in total offense and passing efficiency, joins Notre Dame's Brady Quinn and Ohio State's Troy Smith as O'Brien finalists.
The winner will be announced on ESPN's Dec. 7 Home Depot College Football Awards Show on the Boardwalk at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
Brennan and UH sports media relations director Lois Manin will attend the dinner.
"That's awesome," Brennan said, adding Quinn and Smith are "the two guys we heard about all year long. They definitely came in this year and played well. For me, to be put up next to those guys, that says it all. That's enough for me to be thankful and happy and appreciate the acknowledgement."
END OF THE ROAD
Nose tackle Michael Lafaele will no longer carry UH's defense.
"I'm done," said Lafaele, who drove about 10 defensive players from the practice field to the parking lot in front of the locker room each day.
The players would cram into the bed of Lafaele's Nissan Titan truck. "I was worried about the shocks," Lafaele said.
Lafaele, who is married with three children, never allowed sweaty teammates to sit in the king cab.
"They stink," Lafaele said. "I made them jump in the back. But I'm not going to drive around anymore."
It will be another matter in games and practices.
"His play is a metaphor for his truck, I guess, because he's the guy who really puts them on his back," defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold said of Lafaele's leadership. "If you watch him, and and it's really become evident the last three weeks, you'll see how much he knows. He's the guy who gets everybody else lined up. He's the guy who puts us in the right front. He's the guy who can look across and see the formation and know before the snap what the plays are. In a lot of ways, he carries us."
In Saturday's 54-17 victory over San Jose State, Lafaele was credited with six hits in 32 plays. A "hit," according to the UH coaches' definition, is a tackle or a play that leads to a tackle.
"Last year, I wasn't really trusting the scheme," Lafaele said of the switch from the 4-3 to the 3-4. "I wasn't that experienced with the position. This year, I know it like the back of my hand."
Most remarkable, Lafaele is playing despite plantar fasciitis in his left foot and a fractured middle finger in his left hand.
"He's done a great job for a guy with one foot and a club hand," Reinebold said. "He's got great balance. His martial arts background helps him."
Lafaele, who has a brown belt in karate, studied under private investigator Matt Levi. When he was in peak condition, Lafaele said, he could probably kick "over the head" of 6-foot-2 left guard Hercules Satele.
During Levi's two-hour practices, Lafaele was required to squat most of the time.
"It helped our form," Lafaele said, "and it helped my footwork."
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UH FOOTBALL
WHAT: University of Hawai'i (9-2, 7-1 in Western Athletic Conference) vs. Purdue (8-4, 5-3 in Big Ten) WHEN: 6:05 p.m. Saturday WHERE: Aloha Stadium TV: Live on Oceanic cable pay-per-view digital; rebroadcast on PPV at 10:30 p.m. Call 625-8100 on O'ahu or (808) 643-2337 statewide. Delayed on KFVE Sunday 10 a.m. AUDIO WEBCAST: www.espn1420am.com VIDEO WEBCAST: Available through Hawaiian Telecom and KFVE. Tickets available for single game at $9.95, a full season for $39.95. Go to www.hawaiiantelmedia.com RADIO: Live on ESPN 1420, with warmup show at 5 p.m. Neighbor Island simulcasts on KAOI on Maui/Kona, KPUA in Hilo and KQNG on Kaua'i GATES OPEN: Parking lot 2:30 p.m.; Stadium gates 3 p.m. TICKET PRICES: $38 sideline, $32 South end zone, $27 North end zone (adult), $22 North end zone senior citizen, $22 North end zone students 4-18, $5 UH students. TICKET SALES: Available online at hawaiiathletics.com, by calling 944-2697 (BOWS) between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or at Stan Sheriff Center, Aloha Stadium, UH Campus Center, RainBowtique at Ward Centre and Windward Community College's OCET Office during business hours. Convenience fees may apply. PROMOTIONS: Tickets are $20 for special “Kids’ Night” sections in the North and South end zones. A minimum of four tickets must be purchased and there is a maximum of 12. Senior citizens (65 years and older) will receive the discount (maximum of 8). A driver's license or identification card is required when purchasing tickets at the Aloha Stadium Box Office in advance and on game day. It is only available at the Stan Sheriff Center Box Office in advance (Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.). Other restrictions may apply. PARKING: $5 ALTERNATIVE PARKING (no tailgating): • Leeward Community College (free with $2 charge for shuttle service); • Kamehameha Drive-In ($5 with free shuttle service); • Radford High School ($3 with no shuttle service). All shuttle service runs from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and approximately one hour after the game ends. SECURITY: Only fanny packs, purses, backpacks and handbags will be allowed into stadium (subject to check). TRAFFIC ADVISORY: Sports Radio 1420 will provide traffic advisories and updates before each UH football home game. BUS SHUTTLES: For UH students: Chancellor office is providing free bus transportation to the home games at Aloha Stadium. Buses will pick up UH students on Dole Street in front of Gateway House two hours before game time.The buses will leave the stadium 30 minutes after the game and return to Gateway. Sign-up sheets are at the front desk at each UH residence hall. Roberts Hawaii is offering round trip "air conditioned" shuttle bus services to Aloha Stadium for $6 from three O'ahu areas. Bus No. 3 will pick up at the Hawai'i Kai Park n' Ride at 4 p.m., at Bank of Hawai'i at Kahala Mall at 4:15 and proceed to the stadium. Bus No. 2 will pick up at the Kailua District Park, Kainalu Avenue at 4:15 p.m., at Windward Mall Shopping Center on Alaloa Street facing Sears at 4:30 and proceed to the stadium. Bus No. 1 will pick up at the Mililani Mauka Park n' Ride at 4:30 p.m. and go directly to the stadium. Reservations are required and service is first come, first serve. Call Roberts School Bus at 832-4886 for reservations and additional information. City bus service The FootballExpress offers 17 pickup locations throughout O'ahu. The first trip from each location leaves approximately three hours before kickoff and the last trip leaves approximately 90 minutes before the game. Return trips leave as soon as the bus is full, with the final trip leaving 30 minutes after the game ends. Honolulu pickup locations are at Ala Moana, downtown, Hawai'i Kai, Kahala Mall, Kaimuki, Palolo, Waikiki and the University of Hawai'i. Leeward pickups are at 'Ewa Beach, Kapolei, Mililani Mauka and Village Park. Windward pickups are at Kalaniana'ole Highway and Kailua Road, Kailua Road at Keolu Drive and Hele Street, Kailua Road at Hahani Street, Kane'ohe Bay drive at Mokapu Boulevard and Kane'ohe Bay Drive at Makalani Street. Rates are $3 one way and $6 roundtrip. Passes and transfers are not accepted. For information, go to: www.thebus.org
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Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.
