FORT COLLINS — Colorado State football coach Steve Fairchild rarely has the last word when the Rams finish practice each day. That’s because he hands over the speaker’s role to senior linebacker Ricky Brewer.
The tri-captain uses his time to do everything from reminding teammates to have Sharpies ready for autograph day to pumping them up if they seem to be dragging to simply reminding them to take care of business.
“I just tell the guys to be responsible,” he said.
Consider the irony. Brewer, suspended all of last season for a positive drug test at the 2008 New Mexico Bowl, is now the team leader.
“It’s huge,” Fairchild said of Brewer’s return to the Rams. “I can’t say enough about the leadership he brings. He has a natural charisma. I like him in front of our football team.”
So do Brewer’s teammates.
“He brings a lot of energy, and leadership, to our team that was missing last year,” linebacker Mychal Sisson said. “It’s great to have him back.”
Brewer, a 6-foot-2, 212-pounder who plays a physical, punishing style at either outside linebacker slot, has counted down the days until Saturday’s season opener against Colorado in Denver since he was reactivated in spring ball.
“If you are a Colorado native, this game is big,” said Brewer, a former Mullen star. “All Colorado natives either are from CU or CSU. We all understand the gravity of the game. We enjoy playing each other. We understand rivalries are what college football is all about.”
It seems like a lifetime ago, but it wasn’t even five years ago. That’s the day Brewer stood on the sideline on a chilly December day with other recruits watching Colorado State’s 2005 Poinsettia Bowl preparation. He had given an oral commitment to CU, but Buffaloes coach Gary Barnett had just been fired. CSU coach Sonny Lubick saw an opportunity to land an area star.
“We used to go every week to CU games,” said Ricky’s father, Rick Brewer Sr. “It’s where he always planned to go. The first day Coach (Dan) Hawkins got here, he gave me a call. By that time, Rick (had) made his decision (for CSU) and didn’t want to change it anymore.”
Brewer never looked back. He started as a redshirt freshman and led the Rams in tackles as a sophomore in 2008. When his sophomore season ended with a game-high 10 stops in the bowl victory over Fresno State, Brewer was on course to be a preseason all-conference pick a year ago.
His 2009 season never came. His positive drug test at the bowl game banished him for a year because of the NCAA’s zero tolerance policy.
Brewer said the most difficult part of being suspended was the drive home to Denver to tell his family. His father said it was just as hard on him and his wife, Denise.
“It was tough to take. He had been told his whole life (not to do drugs),” Rick Sr. said. “I understand when you go to college, some things may happen. He grew a lot. He found out when you make a mistake, you have to face up to it.”
Come last fall, the enormity of his mistake finally sank in. He watched last year’s triumph by CSU over CU on television, unable to bring himself to sit in the stands in Boulder.
“That was the last game of the season I watched,” Brewer said. “It was bittersweet to go in a hostile environment and win the game (and not be there).”
While Brewer sat, an injury epidemic decimated CSU’s linebacking corps. Only Sisson was able to stay healthy all season, and he was rewarded with second-team all-MWC honors. Although Sisson will likely share a lot more tackles this year, he couldn’t be happier with the company he will keep at linebacker.
“People are going to pick their poison whether they run at me, Ricky, Alex (Williams) or whoever is in there,” Sisson said. “We’re going to bring it.”
No more running at raw, untested players.
“It’s going to be hard for any offense to scheme against our linebackers like they did last year,” Sisson said.
CSU defensive coordinator Larry Kerr is jubilant to have Brewer back, saying: “It’s been great for him personally. It’s really good for our football team. I enjoy having him back too. He’s a guy who wants to go out there and do it right.”
Brewer hasn’t blamed anyone but himself for his problems.
“He did what he needed to do to get back on the field,” Sisson said. “He proved to us he deserves to be out there. He’s a better man.”
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
Drug testing
A look at the drug testing policy of the NCAA and Colorado State:
NCAA: Tests randomly before postseason (bowl, tournament) events.
Punishment: A first offense results in a one-year suspension. Career ends if student-athlete has only one year of eligibility remaining.
CSU: Tests four times a year on a random basis.
Punishment: First positive test results in substance-abuse counseling, subject to additional random testing for remainder of student-athlete’s career. Second positive test results in student-athlete forfeiting 25 percent of scheduled games (i.e., three in football). A third positive test results in dismissal from team, no access to athletic department facilities and services.
