SPOKANE, Wash. -- When the Boise State football program's spring camp convenes in March, a lot of eyes will be on freshman quarterback Brett Rypien.
The blood lines of the Rypien family tell you everything you need to know about his potential. Brett's uncle, Mark Rypien, was the 1992 Super Bowl MVP for the Washington Redskins.
And while his pedigree may add pressure, Brett it taking it all in stride.
On his last day of high school, he walked the halls of Shadle Park High School, saying goodbye to friends and teachers.
"This whole senior year has been a blur to me, honestly," he said. "It's definitely bittersweet."
Rypien, a four-star recruit, is one of the most accomplished high school quarterbacks in Washington history. His 13,044 career prep passing yards are a state record - more than even the Prosser Passer himself, Kellen Moore.
An intense, yet awkward, tug-of-war ensued for his services at the collegiate level. The old Boise State coaching staff competed against the current one.
"Coach Drink (Boise State tight ends coach Eliah Drinkwitz) was at school the first day after signing day," said Rypien. "Then he left, I went back up to class, and about ten minutes later I get a call, 'hey, Petersen is here from UW. You need to come back down.' So I went back down, met with coach Pete."
Eventually Washington head coach Chris Petersen presented an ultimatum. He placed a scholarship offer on the table for Rypien and four-star California quarterback Jake Browning.
Rypien proved he doesn't panic when it comes to decision making.
"I wanted to take all my visits," he said. "I told everyone that from the start. That I was going to see this process through."
He took his official recruiting trips to Arizona State, Oregon State, Washington State, and Washington, before visiting the City of Trees on April 4, 2014.
"When I went down there, I just really felt comfortable with the situation and the coaching staff," Rypien said.
On April 5th, after talking it over with his family, Rypien scanned the field and revealed his decision.
"They are by far the best coaching staff that we met in the whole process," said Brett's dad, Tim. "We met some great coaching staffs, but by far and away they are the best."
"I just felt like I had to pull the trigger," Brett added.
It didn't take long to see what type of competitor he is. Committed to the process, he made the choice to graduate high school early.
His goal: To enroll early at Boise State, and compete for the starting quarterback position. Over the summer, he began working towards that goal both on and off the field. He followed a plan approved by his counselor.
"To be able to take the level of classes that he's done and to be able to finish early, it's the most impressive that I've come across as a counselor," said counselor Kyle Bush. "He's the best of the best."
Despite a greater workload, Brett maintained his perfect 4.0 accumulative grade-point-average and remains a candidate to be his classes valedictorian.
"I'm not that interested in football," said history teacher Gary Brown. "And he is probably one of the best students that I've had in 24 years of teaching."
At practice, he worked on even the finest details, which included getting comfortable with the brand of football that Boise State uses.
To that end, Shadle Park High used Nike footballs during Rypien's senior year, because that's what the Broncos use.
On Jan. 10th, the morning after his last day of high school, Brett and his family packed up his pickup. As you can imagine, saying goodbye is difficult for an 18-year-old.
"Obviously it's going to be tough," he said. "I've lived here my whole life."
But he says he's ready for the next chapter and the challenge carrying on the Boise State tradition at quarterback.
"I can't wait. These past eight months or so have just been talk, talk, talk. Recruiting talk. Social media is so hyped up these days with recruiting especially," he said. "To finally just put all this talk aside and get to work, I think is going to be a great thing. Obviously there's a lot of expectations and I'm hoping to live up to those. It's been all talk at this point and I just want to get to work."
