Under a Hawaiian flag, Colt Brennan pledged his allegiance to what he hopes will be a long and productive National Football League career.

Brennan, who set 31 NCAA records as Hawai'i's quarterback, is heading to the nation's capitol as the Washington Redskins' sixth-round pick — 186th overall in the NFL draft.

"It really is a great situation," Brennan said. "I really like the coach they have, and they're bringing in the West Coast system. I definitely have experience with that offense. I'm really excited about that."

Brennan underwent the gamut of emotions during the two-day, seven-round draft.

After being snubbed during the first five rounds, Brennan recalled, "I was sitting there pretty bummed. Then all of a sudden I got a strange area code (on caller ID) and picked it up. Sure enough, it was, 'Hold on, Colt, would you move to the Washington D.C. area?' I was like, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Hold on, we're going to punch you through to coach (Jim) Zorn and the (general manager).' It was an awesome feeling, a really good feeling."

Brennan and more than 20 family members and friends had gathered at a rented beach house on Balboa Island yesterday. They raised a Hawaiian flag.

"When (the selection was) announced," Brennan said, "my whole family went nuts."

His father, Terry Brennan said, "We're very happy for Colt."

Last year, Brennan turned down an opportunity to leave UH early, opting to return for his senior season.

He led the Warriors to a 12-0 regular season, and a berth in the Sugar Bowl. He finished third in the 2007 Heisman Trophy voting. He also earned a bachelor's degree.

But his stock dropped following the Warriors' blowout loss to Georgia in the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl.

Later that month, he suffered flu-like symptoms, and reported to the Senior Bowl weighing 185 pounds. During the first Senior Bowl practice, he suffered a partially torn labrum in his right hip.

Despite the injury, which was not detected by NFL medical examinations, Brennan was named team captain and starter for the Senior Bowl.

At the NFL Scouting Combine in February, he was the only quarterback to record a perfect score in passing drills. He weighed 207 pounds at the combine and 218 at the April 1 Pro Day in Carson, Calif.

Five days after that, Brennan underwent successful arthroscopic hip surgery and emerged pain-free. He is expected to be fully healthy by the start of training camp. But that did not dispel the doubts.

"The way it kept being described to me, the closer you get to the draft, the more conservative everybody gets," Brennan said. "Unfortunately, I came with a lot of question marks because of the (offensive) system I played in and the conference I played in, to obviously my situation at Colorado (when a dormitory incident led to a seven-day jail sentence), to obviously my hip injury. With all of those question marks, when you compare it to a guy like (USC's John David) Booty or (Michigan's Chad) Henne who don't have any of those question marks, it's just one of those things."

Those concerns did not scare away the Redskins, who drafted Brennan as a long-term developmental project.

Vinny Cerrato, the Redskins' vice president of football operations, told ESPN: "I think he's coming into a perfect situation for him. There's no pressure. We've got a quarterback (Jason Campbell). We've got an outstanding backup quarterback in Todd Collins. And he's got time to learn. He's got time to develop. We said in the draft we were going to look for a guy we can develop, and I think this is a guy that Jim (Zorn) will enjoy developing, and we wanted to develop."

Brennan said he will ask to remain in the D.C. area to complete his rehabilitation.