Starting opportunity years in the making

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/10/2010 (5819 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Alex Brink is hunkered down in a boardroom at the Winnipeg Blue Bomber offices — his trusty quarterback notebook at his side — and surrounded by the images of the franchise’s legends.

Names like Jacobs, Ploen, Hanson and Lewis, among others.

Now, while the Bombers’ new starting pivot might not know the complete history of the men whose images he occasionally takes a peek at during the course of a 25-minute chat, he does understand this:

His first professional start this Monday against the B.C. Lions is a long way — both literally and figuratively — from the warehouse in Eugene, Ore., he was working in this winter while waiting for his agent to call.

“This is neat,” begins the 25-year-old former Washington State star. “Obviously this is something I look forward to. I came up to the CFL looking for an opportunity to play and the organization is giving me that chance so I’m obviously very excited.

“But I’ve had a lot of people who have seen my highs and the lows along with me and so to have another opportunity is huge on a personal level.”

Now, maybe you already know these two juicy nuggets about Brink from his days with the Cougars…

— He is the all-time leading passer in Washington State history, a school that has pumped out QB stars like Jack Thompson, Mark Rypien, Ryan Leaf and Drew Bledsoe;

— He is third on the Pac-10’s all-time passing yardage list behind only Carson Palmer and Derek Anderson.

What you may not know, and this speaks of the man’s perseverance and drive, is that he was cut three times by the Houston Texans after being drafted in 2008 and that he had thanks-but-no-thanks stints with both the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets before the Bombers traded with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for his rights on CFL draft day this spring.

“The ups and downs I’ve had in three years of professional football are unbelievable,” Brink admitted.

“The thing I learned when I was in the NFL is this is a 24-hour deal. You’ve got to put the time in to prepare. I came up here knowing that Buck (Pierce) and Steve (Jyles) had experience, but I wanted to compete and to compete as a young player you’ve got to give yourself an edge and for me that was getting in here early to try and do things right.”

So whether it was as the third-stringer or as a starter, Brink has put in some long hours learning the CFL game. It was no different on Wednesday, as he stayed until 9 p.m. watching tape and then returned to the office at 6 a.m. Thursday morning.

But to truly understand Brink and what drives him, you must know the story about his older brother Ben. A competitive scholarship swimmer at the University of Tennessee, Ben suffered a stroke after competing in the 2000 Olympic Trials. He returned to the pool fully recovered, but was told by the school he couldn’t continue to compete as an insurance liability.

And just like that an Olympic dream was kaput.

“He was 20 and he had to stop swimming… I was 17 and a senior in high school and seeing that happen gave me an appreciation of the opportunity I have,” said Brink. “That changed my outlook. I’ve always been that guy who ran around, had a good time and bounced off the wall a little bit and enjoying myself. But what my brother went through gave me an appreciation for what I get to do and it’s not to be taken lightly.

“He was just getting into the business world when I went to college and half the time he was flying up to Pullman, Washington to watch me play and watching me whenever he could on TV. It was like once he lost what he had he really invested in what I was doing and was there to support me. I can’t say enough about what that did to shape me as a player and as a person.

“And that’s why I don’t take something like this lightly.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca