WEST LAFAYETTE – Rae Brevard will walk for Purdue football’s senior day ceremony, and if she cannot, her Boilermaker son has a backup plan.
“She might use her cane, or she might just brute force it,” defensive tackle Cole Brevard said. “And if she has trouble, I’ll just carry her.”
An accident three months ago limited Rae’s mobility and prevented her from attending Purdue’s games this season. She told her doctors she would do whatever it took to attend what could be her son’s final game at Ross-Ade Stadium.
The opponent provides extra motivation. Brevard left Carmel for Penn State as one of the state’s top prospects in 2020. Two years later, he returned home to find a better fit — for football, and for life — closer to friends and family at Purdue. Saturday, the No. 4 Nittany Lions’ playoff trajectory collides with the Boilermakers‘ season of frustration.
Brevard self-identifies as “a rare breed.” By which he means, he might be the biggest nerd to record a tackle for loss in the Big Ten this season.
He falls down research rabbit holes into outer space, or the Earth — and on a regular basis, the Star Wars universe. He pulled together an elaborate Jedi outfit for Halloween. He settled for only wearing the cloak. The rest of the costume did not conform to his 6-3, 333-pound frame.
While starting at nose guard he’s also learning Japanese — the latest foray into a constant endeavor to “build my brain.”
His mother helped instill that intellectual curiosity — and the mindset that drives him to excel on the field.
“She said, ‘You are that dude,’ so I’ve gotta live that way all the time,” Brevard said. “And every single time I saw her come back from like two or three jobs just to provide for me and my brother, the least I could do was to play my hardest out there.”
Cole Branford Brevard fell for football early.
Rae gave him the first name to honor both her grandmother’s middle name and Indiana’s own Cole Porter. The middle name honors jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis.
The first thing Brevard’s father, Brad, gave him was a small foam football. At age 5, he joined his first flag football league. At age 8, he began poring over a football encyclopedia his grandfather gave him.
When asked what he planned to do when he grew up, Brevard answered “play for the Colts.” When told he needed a backup plan, he had one: “Play for the Ravens.”
“All the conditioning drills and running around for a big guy wasn’t always fun,” Brevard said. “But being able to legally hit somebody was always fun. So I got attached to that.”
Football, though, did not completely consume Brevard’s life. He calls himself a “huge nerd” — and not because of his size.
That identity took shape early. When St. Thomas Aquinas’ history club was only open to fourth graders and up, a third-grade Brevard “fought tooth and nail” to join, his mother said. He drags her to the theater every time a new war movie comes out.
If giving his son that football at a young age helped shape his future, Brad provided another formative experience soon after. He took young Cole to see “Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones.” He’s been hooked on George Lucas’ clash between The Force and the dark side ever since. The family’s Friday’s pizza nights became sci-fi film festivals, with Brevard acting out Star Wars scenes with his dad and brother, Bradford.
In a 2018 IndyStar article, a Carmel teammate noted while most players listened to rock or rap on postgame bus rides, he heard classical music streaming through Brevard’s headphones. Rae suspects her son was listening to one of John Williams’ Star Wars scores.
“If I ever go to Disney World, the Star Wars exhibit’s the first place I go to,” Brevard said. “I do want some sort of man cave with a whole bunch of Star Wars stuff in it — my own lightsaber, or a stormtrooper outfit. Why not?”
Brevard’s brain may not always work like other Division I talents, but he fits right in physically. He developed into a four-star prospect ranked a smidge outside the national top 200. Offers from national powers piled up: Clemson, Florida State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon and Tennessee, among others.
Brevard chose Penn State, arriving a few weeks before football shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The coaching staff there twice named him the Developmental Squad Defensive Player of the Week during a redshirt year and a redshirt freshman season. However, he played only one game, and eventually did not see a future for himself in the program.
“The D line was pretty deep, and I felt like I had a better chance of fulfilling my dreams here,” Brevard said.
Brevard played in every game for Purdue after transferring in before the 2022 season. He became a full-time starter last season. He recorded two quarterback hurries in a win over Virginia Tech. He posted a season-high three tackles in a victory over Illinois.
When he asked his mom what she wanted for her birthday last Nov. 4 — the day the Boilermakers played Michigan — she said, “A sack.” He took down J.J. McCarthy that night for his first career sack.
Brevard’s 5.5 tackles for loss rank third on the team. His unique personality contributes to a locker room struggling through an eight-game losing streak and threatening the program’s third winless Big Ten season since 1946.
“He’s extremely intense,” defensive coordinator Kevin Kane said. “There’s not a harder critic on himself than Cole. But at the same time, he’s the gentle giant when he’s off the field. He’s a great person — a great human being.”
Rae Brevard could have used Luke Skywalker’s telekinetic powers back in August.
She wanted to begin riding a Vespa, the Italian scooter. Per Indiana law, she needed to obtain a Class B Motor Driven Cycle endorsement by attending two four-hour classes.
Only two hours into the first class, as she came to a stop, the motorcycle tipped over. She broke bones in her right elbow, right fibula and three in her right ankle. After missing no more than one game per season due to work throughout her son’s football life, Rae has yet to attend a Purdue game this season.
That will change Saturday, even as getting around remains a work in progress. She moved from a walker to a cane about a month ago, then replaced her walking boot with a shoe a couple of weeks later.
She recently told Brevard she would try to walk with him for the traditional senior day ceremony. He responded as Yoda once did to a young Jedi.
“He said, ‘There is no try. You will be at senior day,’” Rae said.
Brevard called a senior day matchup with Penn State “something special.” He will directly face off with Nittany Lions center Nick Dawkins, his former roommate. This will likely be his last game against his former team — but perhaps not his final one for the home team.
Brevard turned 23 last Wednesday. That 2020 season at Penn State does not count against his eligibility, due to the COVID-19 relief offered by the NCAA. Since he only played one game in 2021, he retains one year of eligibility.
He will see how the NFL’s College Advisory Committee assesses his prospect status after the season. If he plays college football in 2025, he says it will be at Purdue. He recently told IndyStar the disappointing results might also play a role. He doesn’t want his career to end on a negative note.
So Rae may still get to make a pain-free walk on the field next November. Her son said it will take more than broken bones to keep her away Saturday.
“She’s a strong woman — mentally and physically,” Brevard said. “She does have that ‘dawg’ in her.
“Even if she has one leg, like a peg leg… she’s gonna make it. She don’t want to miss her baby walk on senior (day).”
