The third man

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior wide receiver Brad Brennan (13) runs up field past Oregon defenders Oct. 31 at Arizona Stadium. Brennan, a former walk-on, has risen to become the Wildcats' No. 3 wide receiver despite a lingering ankle injury that has bothered him all season.

Brennan walked on to the UA program after attending a year at Worcester (Mass.) Academy, where he played football, basketball and baseball.

He immediately was thrown into the role of a scout player for the Wildcats.

"It's tough walking on. You do more dirty work than you get credit for, but Coach (Dick) Tomey does a great job with the scouts," Brennan said. "It's still tough, though, because you think you are doing better than the kids on scholarship and you just have to wait for your chance. When you get the opportunity you have to make it count."

Two years later Brennan is on scholarship and making it count.

"I never really expected a whole lot, so when things get bad or I am not catching balls I just think to myself that I didn't think I would get this far, so I'm really patient with myself," he said.

In 1996, Brennan made the travel squad throughout the season and played spot duty. He caught one pass for 11 yards against Arizona State in the Sun Devils' blow-out 56-14 victory.

"When Coach (Dino) Babers told me I was traveling, I was like, wow. It was pretty exciting," Brennan said. "The whole night before my first game I couldn't sleep and it wasn't even game day. I was so nervous I couldn't believe it."

As for the catch against ASU, Brennan said that was a defining moment for him.

"The play got broken up and Keith (Smith) scrambled, threw the ball to me and I caught it. My sister was there and when I ran off the field at half-time I could see her crying," he said.

The fall of 1997 was a different story for Brennan as he received his scholarship and with now-senior Jeremy McDaniel listed as a medical redshirt, he won the third receiver position behind ex-Wildcat Rodney Williams and now-junior Dennis Northcutt.

"The players love to see those guys who walk-on get a scholarship because they know how hard and how much work they put in to get to that point," offensive coordinator Dino Babers said.

With McDaniel and Northcutt having career years, some people may look at Brennan as just a complement to the two of them, but Babers thinks differently.

"Brad is not a complement to anyone. He is a good receiver in his own right and could start for a lot of teams," he said.

Junior quarterback Keith Smith, who has seen Brennan develop since he was a scout player, says he loves to have him as an option to throw the ball to.

"It's great to have him, he is so sure-handed," Smith said. "He runs the tightest routes on the team. They are routes that people can't cover."

Last season Brennan caught 32 passes for 548 yards and six touchdowns, including a team-high six catches for 106 yards in the Wildcats' 28-20 loss at Ohio State.

He made the alert play of last season for the Wildcats as he caught a 29-yard touchdown pass after ASU jumped offsides but went back on the defensive side of the ball without touching any Wildcats.

"I think he has progressed and has become a vital part of our offense," Babers said. "Guys whether they are walk-ons or not will demonstrate traits on the field, and he demonstrated those traits and showed us he is a force to be reckoned with."

This season Brennan has been mired with an ankle injury he suffered at Stanford the second week of the season, but still has managed to catch 12 balls for 203 yards and two touchdowns. The latter of those touchdowns came last weekend at Cal, where he caught three passes for 52 yards in Arizona's 27-23 win.

Having a good game at Cal was extra special to Brennan because he hails from Redwood City, Calif., and was playing in front of his family, friends and old coaches.

It also gave him a chance to go back and prove the college coaches from that area, who didn't think he was good enough to play Division I football, wrong.

"I look at it as if I was a coach. Looking at me and my size, I wouldn't have given myself a chance, either," Brennan said. "Coaches have a responsibility and now I understand that. But I am still like, 'You didn't even give me a shot and if you did I could have done something for you just like I am doing here.'"

Babers does not care what those other teams think or used to think of Brennan. He is just happy to have him in Tucson.

"I don't know about those other teams, but I know we really need him. If they have a better receiver than Brad Brennan then I would like to see that guy," he said.

Brennan, whose sister will be graduating from ASU in December, gets another shot to have bragging rights in the family Nov. 27, against the Sun Devils in Arizona Stadium at 4:30 p.m.

"No matter what the records are, it is always going to be big," Brennan said. "The rivalry is just amazing and I wouldn't trade it for any game. It is just different than a normal game."

Dan Rosen can be reached via e-mail at Dan.Rosen@wildcat.arizona.edu.