By Clif’ Warren

In Stillwater it’s a typical summer day with temperatures that will swell to over a hundred with dry winds. The Oklahoma State Pokes started running laps at 5 a.m. for their two a day twice a week outdoor conditioning sessions in preparation for the 2011 football season and this intense heat that is sure to spill over into early September. Among the players is last year’s 27-year-old quarterback Brandon Weeden, the guy who led the Pokes in their 11 wins, placing OSU among the top 25 national college teams according to the coaches’ polls.

Weeden appears to view practices and conditioning as permanent coequals, but he is careful to allow for laid back times when he is free to head to the lake, play golf, and have private time with his wife, Melanie. This is his senior year, his last chance to improve his mark on college football and edge forward.

Those next moves must mesh with those of OSU’s new offensive coordinator, Todd Monken, who replaced former offensive guiding star, Dana Holgorsen, so a lot of change is abroad.

True to our interview agreement, Brandon telephones me here in Edmond at 10 a.m. on the dot. I ask what motivates him daily.

“Ever since I was a young kid back in Edmond I’ve had two chief dreams: to play ball for a professional baseball team and to be on a professional football team. Some people still recall what a hard driving, ambitious kid I was.

“When I was chosen as a pitcher by the New York Yankees as their first choice during the second round of the Major League Baseball Draft of 2002 straight out of Edmond Santa Fe, I felt I was well on my way to achieving my first dream. It seemed a no brainer at the time.  Of course, you know the rest of the story.”

He meant that I obviously knew about the trade to Los Angeles in 2003 along with two other players and the subsequent one to the Kansas City Royals, all because of his testy pitching arm.

One of those who keenly recalled the ambitious, hard driving kid with the dreams was Weeden’s former baseball coach at Santa Fe High School, whom I contacted earlier for pictures and advice. “You have to remember, Brandon Weeden was a triple threat at Santa Fe, playing baseball, football and basketball,” Coach Lonny Cobble pointed out to me.

“Like so many outstanding athletes, Brandon started playing ball young. I actually began watching Brandon in Little League baseball games along with his brother Ty, another all round super athlete. It runs in the family. The third Weeden boy, Cameron, found his passion in debate.

I asked Coach Cobble to tell me about the Brandon Weeden he knew a little over a decade ago.

“As a freshman Brandon was not large, about 5’8’’. Then he hit a growth spurt and was soon up to 5’10 and heavier, and he was always competing in sports year round, usually rivaling his brother Ty. As you know, all that was very important because a lot hinges on a kid’s staying in good physical condition.

“By the time Brandon was a junior he was his present height, 6’4, and close to 200. Not only did his pitching get faster, but also harder. Soon he was also merging into a 6A Football Program as quarterback of the Wolves. At the time I thought Brandon could accomplish any goal in sports.

“I still believe Brandon will eventually get an NFL bid.”

Weeden agrees whole-heartedly with Coach Cobble, his early mentor and friend, about kids starting sports early: “Ty and I never sat at home in front of a TV playing computer games like other kids. We were always out of doors—if not playing seasonal sports, we were trying roller derby, or some other athletic competition.”

“Parents should not push kids in specific directions, though, but allow them lots of choices.  And downtime is downtime. Kids who are pushed hard burn out fast. They need to be allowed lots of choices.”

“My dad always says, ‘Everybody needs a second sport.’” Brandon’s dad is Ronny Weeden, and his mom is Shari, old time Edmond residents. Hay from the acreages owned by Brandon’s granddad fed many a fine horse.”

“Dad’s advice saved the day when I saw baseball coming to a screeching halt in 2005. I knew football was the other path to take.”

“Disappointed, yes, about an opportunity of a lifetime lost. And I hated being told no, so I settled with myself that this would be a downtime. I would stay focused. I reminded myself that I was a complete athlete and continued to work on my golf game, the sport I took up during the off-season of professional baseball.”

“During the second season of professional baseball I was fortunate to meet Melanie Meuser, a UCO graduate, and our relationship began to grow.”

Brandon and Melanie celebrated their second wedding anniversary this summer. She now works in the area of human resources in Stillwater.

When I turned to the question of Brandon’s choice of OSU in 2007 and the prospects for 2011, he responded with eagerness.

“First of all, I’ve always been a fan of Stillwater and the Pokes. I didn’t want to go far from home again either. Luckily, Coach Gundy believed in me and recruited me.”

But, the Weeden career at OSU was slow to grow at first. Although Brandon was red-shirted in 2007, he only saw action in the Pokes’ battle with Missouri State in 2008. Three games came Weeden’s way in 2009 when Zac Robinson was injured. And 2010 rewarded him as starting quarterback, but a severely injured thumb plagued his passing performance throughout the first two weeks of the season, only to have Weeden recover and throw six touchdowns the third week.

That third game was the one that pushed Oklahoma State into the top 25 category for the first time in 2010. Every team coming at OSU this season will have a new respect for the Pokes and be on the lookout for the Weeden to Justin Blackmon pass.

Maybe that’s why Weeden is trying to stay as level as possible—a rest when the semester ended: During the break a chance to help out at a football camp at Santa Fe, then off to the OSU golf camp with the Cowboy golf team.

But he tells me, it’s all about football now: “I’m lifting a couple of days a week, working on flexibility, not as heavy on the shoulders, always aware of the maintaining the arm, and passing with accuracy to several new receivers, keeping the ball tight on the target,” his husky voice emphatic.

Meanwhile, Weeden works Facebook, Twitter, even teleconferencing, like a charm. The Weeden2Blackmon page for fans on Facebook, set up OSU’s PR group, is putty in Weeden’s hands.

In the not to distant future this Edmond guy may have that second dream in his pocket. When he does, look out world.

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