Presented by BACON BOISE.
This Day In Sports…October 1, 2020:
Brett Rypien becomes the first former Boise State quarterback ever to win a start in the NFL when he helps lead the Denver Broncos past the New York Jets 37-28 at an empty MetLife Stadium (due to the COVID-19 pandemic). It was also Rypien’s first NFL start, and it produced his first two touchdown passes. The Thursday Night Football crew of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman raved about Rypien’s performance, coming as it did one week after being activated from the practice squad.
When Rypien was hot, he was hot. His first NFL touchdown pass covered 48 yards to Jerry Jeudy (also Jeudy’s first TD), and his second was a laser to Tim Patrick for seven yards. Rypien took a lot of shots, including three roughing-the-passer calls and a facemask. There was one dreadful stretch in the fourth quarter during which Rypien threw a pick-six—and then another interception on the following possession. But in the end, he righted the ship. For the game, he was 19-of-31 for 242 yards. One of Rypien’s biggest plays of the game, as it turns out was a block that sprung Melvin Gordon’s 43-yard touchdown run to put the game away.
Think about all the skilled players Boise State has sent to the NFL, especially offensive linemen and running backs, who have had tremendous success. The Broncos have never had a quarterback drafted into the NFL. Jim McMillan was selected in the 14th round (350th overall) in 1975, but that doesn’t count by today’s standards—the draft has been a seven-round affair since 1994. There were a record six Boise State players taken in the 2012 NFL Draft, and Kellen Moore, the winningest QB in college football history, was not one of them. And Rypien went undrafted in 2019.
Moore played in three NFL games, all at the end of the 2015 season. He started two, and the Cowboys lost both, including the last one that saw him throw for 435 yards and three touchdowns against two interceptions in a 34-23 loss to Washington. Kellen’s career totals: 779 yards, a 58.7% completion rate, four TDs and six picks. Rypien has started four games in his career and is 2-2 (he’d win a second start for Denver in 2022 against Arizona). He’s played in 11 NFL games total, throwing for 950 yards with a 58.3% completion rate, four touchdowns and nine interceptions.
With Baker Mayfield out due to a dislocated thumb, Tampa Bay signed Rypien to its practice squad this week. The Bucs are the 10th different team Rypien has played for in his eight-year NFL career, although he’s only appeared in regular season games with three of them (the L.A. Rams and Cincinnati Bengals in addition to Denver).
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
