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QB Brodie Croyle heads to Alabama following in his dad's footsteps. He wants to live up to his father off the field, too.
By BRUCE LOWITT
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 29, 2001
RAINBOW CITY, Ala. -- When Brodie Croyle rolled to his left about 10 minutes into his first game as a senior at little (and little-known) Westbrook Christian, he arguably was the nation's No. 1 high school quarterback.
The 6-foot-4, 200-pounder with a laser arm, exceptional accuracy, mobility and leadership qualities planted his left foot to change direction. He was swarmed and fell back awkwardly. The anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee was torn apart. It was Sept. 1. Three days later he had surgery.
Croyle's season was over.
Still, he remained the most coveted quarterback of countless colleges. In May, 24 coaches had come to court him. Even before the surgery, Alabama, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Tennessee, Kentucky, Stanford and others said they still wanted him.
"That night," Croyle said, "pretty much all my favorites called and said nothing had changed, that I didn't have anything to prove to them."
He had attended coach Bobby Bowden's Seminole Football Camp for years, particularly liked offensive coordinator Mark Richt and was close to committing to FSU. Then came reports Richt might become coach at Georgia.
The arrival at Alabama of former TCU coach Dennis Franchione piqued Croyle's interest. When Richt's departure from FSU became a certainty, Croyle committed to Alabama, his father's alma mater.
Croyle's knee has healed. He graduated in December. He will be at Alabama's spring practice.
"Ever since I was little," he said, "my dad would show me the national championship ring he won (in 1973) and tell me, "When you get older, I'll give this to you.' And I'd tell him, "One day I'm going to get my own.' "
Croyle became Westbrook Christian's starting quarterback as an eighth-grader. In his career he completed 524 of 997 passes for 9,323 yards and 105 touchdowns -- two of his numerous state records -- and 38 interceptions.
Westbrook Christian, 8-4 a year ago, was 3-7 in 2000. "It was real frustrating to come into the season with the expectations we had and, I expect, others had of us, and then not to be able to play," Croyle said. "It really hurt. But after that first weekend, I realized there was a plan for everything and this was just a detour."
He said he expects there will be "some pretty heavy expectations going in" at Alabama. "If you've got big expectations, you push harder to live up to them. I know I'm going to be low man on the totem pole, probably third string. But going into spring practice, hopefully I'll be able to knock off some of the rust and compete for the job in the fall."
Defensive end John Croyle and guard John Hannah were Alabama teammates with professional potential. When the NFL beckoned, Hannah wound up with the New England Patriots, receiving a $30,000 signing bonus. Croyle set his sights higher.
He had worked summers as a counselor at a children's ranch and, Croyle wrote four years ago in Bringing Out the Winner in Your Child ($19.95, Cumberland House Publishing), "I realized then that even though I was nothing special, I had a gift to help children."
He dreamed of creating a place where abandoned and physically and mentally abused children could find "a home, hope, and unconditional, no-strings-attached love." He found 120 acres with a farmhouse in the middle. A $50,000 down payment and it would be his. Hannah, about to begin a Hall of Fame career, gave Croyle his signing bonus to help buy it.
Big Oak Ranch, just outside Gadsden, Ala., opened in 1975 with five boys. Its name comes from the Bible, Isiah 61:3, ". . . so they will be called oaks of righteousness." In 1988 John Croyle opened Big Oak Girls' Ranch in Springville, 45 minutes away. In 1990, Westbrook, a bankrupt school midway between the ranches, was donated to Croyle. It reopened as Westwood Christian. It has 600 students, grades kindergarten through 12, including all 90 children at the ranches.
John Croyle has helped raise more than 1,400 children, two of them Brodie and his sister, Reagan, a 6-3 model and former Alabama basketball player. They lived with the ranch's children.
"It's pretty much made me who I am," Brodie said. "It's made me care for people a lot more."
That came early. Brodie was 6 when a man arrived at the ranch with his three boys. The man's girlfriend had told him to choose: her or them. He chose her.
John Croyle was bathing one of the boys when Brodie, carrying a bunch of underwear and G.I. Joe pajamas, appeared in the doorway. "You don't have any clothes," Brodie told the boy. "Take mine."
Twelve years later they remain best friends.
"You can't help but love these kids," Brodie said. "I see how they come here, and I've seen how they leave. I wouldn't trade it for anything."
John Croyle wouldn't allow Brodie to play organized football until seventh grade, and even then his mother, Tee, wasn't too keen on her son playing. She didn't want him to get hurt. John, Westbrook Christian's offensive line coach then and now, guaranteed his wife that their son wouldn't be hurt.
In ninth grade Brodie separated his left shoulder trying to break a fall.
"I thought he wasn't going to get hurt," Tee said to John.
"Well, I was talking about serious stuff," John said. "He doesn't even need his left arm."
Tony Osborne, Westbrook's football coach since 1995 and a ranch house parent for years before that, said it didn't take long to realize Brodie was special. "If I'd started coaching here when (Brodie) was a junior or senior, I might have asked myself if I was good enough to teach him, but I knew him when he was a snotty-nosed little kid. ... The first time I saw him throw a football in seventh grade, I knew he had potential."
Croyle was an eighth-grader when Osborne asked him what his goals were. No. 1, the boy said, was to be a good Christian. No. 2 was to be the best high school quarterback by the time he was a senior.
"Not to be cocky or anything," Brodie said. "That's just what I thought. My dad always taught me that if you set your goals high, you have a better chance of reaching them."