TX College Football Star Becomes Firefighter

Peter Pan is now a firefighter, at least come Feb. 15, when he completes his final training for the Frisco Fire Department. His new pals down at the station may know him as Keegan Brewer, but college football fans in perpetuity will know him by his alter ego.

Who could forget the hero of 2018's most entertaining play?

North Texas fans won't. Chad Morris, either.

Here Brewer is, fielding a short pooch punt at the 10-yard line of Razorback Stadium and posing like a man waiting on a bus.

And there he goes, on a 90-yard flight of fantasy, fooling players, coaches, broadcasters and fans alike, yours truly included.

Marty Biagi, the Mean Green's special teams coach, called the trick play of a lifetime "Peter Pan," a variation on a term universally used by special teams players.

The title also reflected Biagi's hopes that Brewer would catch the ball and simply "fly away."

He did just that, to the delight of anyone who wonders why football can't always be this much fun.

Confession: Your intrepid reporter, sitting in the end zone, saw only half of the play live. Brewer was barely into his act before the lovely wife and I went back to watching our favorite Pom girl. Only when a parade of North Texas players suddenly loomed, with Brewer out front like Harold Hill, did I suspect we'd missed something in between.

The fact that it was only one of the Mean Green's touchdowns in a 44-17 romp over the Razorbacks didn't diminish its appeal. Biagi and Brewer became media sensations. Biagi laid it all out for Sports Illustrated. Talked about telling the officials before the game so no one would blow a whistle too soon. One official told them to go ahead, except they were going to get this 5-10, 180-pound kid killed. Biagi talked about making sure everyone on UNT's sideline knew it was coming so no one would wander on the field and screw it up. Biagi gave it all up, down to the blocking scheme, and why not? What were the chances he'd ever do it again?

For that matter, it was a miracle they pulled it off once. Only Brewer didn't see it that way. They'd practiced it too often to fail. Even fooled the scout team most of the time.

"It's kinda surreal, I guess," Brewer said. "But to me, in my mind, I guess I underplay it.

"We ran it perfectly. I scored. Good job."

And if that sounds like Brewer doesn't get it, or doesn't appreciate it, then you don't know Peter Pan.

A short history: Brewer played football at Lake Dallas, where his senior year he caught 106 passes for 1,636 yards and 24 touchdowns. Despite such impressive numbers, he didn't plan on playing football anymore. Figured he'd try to make a college fishing team. Then his high school quarterback told him he was going to try to walk on at Kansas, and he said why not? Played in all 12 games as a true freshman, too, catching 15 passes for 86 yards.

But that fall at KU, he said, "I got kinda burnt out. It wasn't what I thought it'd be." He contemplated a higher calling. A favorite uncle had been a firefighter. Brewer figured it might be a good fit.

So in December of 2015, he came back home and enrolled in fire courses at North Central Texas College. Finished the next May. Then he thought if he was going to get his degree, he might as well play football, too.

Once again, he walked on, this time at UNT. Sat out as a transfer. Came back last fall and scored maybe the most famous touchdown in college football last season.

His one and only.

Just a sophomore in terms of eligibility, he has two seasons left if he wants them. But he graduates in May, and it's time to go. A polite, reserved sort, he's not one to pontificate much, or at all, but it bothers him in times like these that so many people are so self-centered.

"Twenty years from now," he said, "I'd like to think that I've made a difference in someone's life other than my own."

Funny thing, he's not the Frisco Fire Department's first football player. One of his colleagues is Danny Watkins, a first-round pick by the Eagles out of Baylor in 2011.

The guys down at the station give Brewer a hard time about being famous. No telling what they'd do if he won an ESPY this summer.

"Outrageous Play of the Year" describes Peter Pan to a "T," doesn't it?

Turns out the starring character may have been underrated, at that. Heroes often are.

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