Before his mega five-year, $265 million contract extension this offseason and before the San Francisco 49ers made him "Mr. Irrelevant" with the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Brock Purdy was the starting quarterback at Iowa State for the better part of four seasons.
But all that hard work could have happened at another program had Purdy opted to enroll elsewhere.
In a podcast appearance on "Bussin' With The Boys," Purdy detailed the frenzied recruiting whirlwind he experienced weeks before signing day as a college prospect.
"(Recruiting) was all last minute. I was still the guy that-- I don't know if I hit a growth spurt late is what you want to call it-- I was just overlooked. The last five weeks before signing day is when I got the offers coming through. So I took like five trips in a row, then decide and sign."
A three-star recruit in the 2018 class, Purdy was ranked 839th in 247Sports composite rankings, the 36th pro-style quarterback and the 12th best player from Arizona.
Iowa State senior quarterback Brock Purdy
Iowa State senior quarterback Brock Purdy
© Bryon Houlgrave/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
In early 2018, Purdy made official visits to Boise State, Iowa State, UCF, Alabama and Texas A&M, in that order. Ultimately, he chose the Cyclones but the Aggies were in the mix late.
"At the time, Jimbo Fisher just got to A&M, Matt Campbell had been at Iowa State and I just loved what Matt Campbell stood for. He had this vision of like you're playing Big 12 football, Power 5. They're the sleeper program. I was like, I want to go somewhere, do something for the first time," Purdy explained when asked why Purdy picked Iowa State over Texas A&M.
The Cyclones enjoyed four consecutive winning seasons under Purdy's leadership for the first time since the 1920s. He finished his collegiate career with 32 school records and was a three-time All-Big 12 quarterback.
"Like my high school that I went to, they weren't known to be good or anything," Purdy continued. "And then, as I grew up, I thought, 'I'm going to go there and change that culture, and then win.' We went to the state championship game, we lost, but, took it to a new height. The same thing with Iowa State. I wanted to do that, so I chose Campbell."