Camden Catholic High School quarterback Joe Brennan now can relax and enjoy his senior season.
Monday, the senior-to-be verbally committed to play football at the University of Wisconsin in 2010, which takes a load off his shoulders.
"Now, I can just focus on the season and try to win a state championship; I'm excited,"
Brennan said.
Brennan, 17, visited Madison, Wis., campus in late May and liked what he saw. He narrowed more than 13 offers down to one. Miami and Stanford were among the finalists for his services.
"When you have a player of that caliber with that many offers, it could wear on him,"
Camden Catholic head football coach Rick Brown said. "He felt very comfortable when he went out there on the unofficial visit. He felt very comfortable with the coaches and the players, and he's real excited about the opportunity to play in the Big Ten."
Brennan said he visited Wisconsin, Miami (Fla.) and Stanford. Wisconsin won out over Miami in the end. Rutgers and Pitt also were after him.
"I just figured out that Wisconsin was the place for me,"
said the 6-foot-4, 195-pound Brennan, who led the Irish to a 9-2 record in 2008, connecting on 147 of 255 passes for 2,438 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also rushed for 300 yards and a score.
"The things I was looking for was the character of the coaches and the character of the kids on the team and their attitude. Do they want to succeed and accomplish the things I want to accomplish? I want to win a national championship."
"Wisconsin, to me, it's a great team. They have a great offensive line. They just never had a quarterback to put them over the top, and I feel I can do that, become a leader and lead the team to a national championship."
Brennan also felt very comfortable with offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Paul Chryst and said head coach Bret Bielema seemed like "a great guy."
Wisconsin, which went 7-6 overall and 3-5 in the Big Ten last season, has some history with South Jersey players.
Former Overbrook High School star running back Ron Dayne, who played for three NFL teams, had a stellar career at Wisconsin and won the Heisman Trophy in 1999.
Standout ex-Delran linebacker Alex Lewis, who recently was released by the Detroit Lions after five seasons, also had a solid career for the Badgers.
Former Woodbury standout Chris Pressley played fullback for the Badgers through last season and is currently with the Cincinnati Bengals.
"They recruit a lot from New Jersey. I did realize that,"
Brennan said.
Said Camden Catholic coach Brown, "The entire Big Ten does a good job recruiting South Jersey. They come in and get a lot of really top-flight kids."
