He's Notre Dame's golden boy, blessed with great instincts, pocket presence and a rocket for a right arm.
Let's not forget quarterback Brady Quinn's accuracy. He's lethal, piling up statistics against every team the sixth-ranked Fighting Irish have faced this season.
Brady Quinn hopes to pad his statistics even more tomorrow against Army at Notre Dame Stadium. It's nothing personal.
Brady Quinn — projected to be among the top picks in April's NFL draft — is battling Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith for the Heisman Trophy and wants to keep alive Notre Dame's national championship hopes.
That leaves only one thing left to say: Good luck, Army.
Fiery Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis has been in Brady Quinn's ear for two years and is really rubbing off on him.
Like his coach, Brady Quinn has become a perfectionist. He completed 14-of-19 passes for 207 yards with four touchdowns in limited time during a 39-17 win at Air Force last week.
Three of Brady Quinn's passes were dropped. Another was tipped by a linebacker. So, technically, Brady Quinn only missed one pass — on a post pattern to wide receiver Jeff Samardzija. And Brady Quinn pined after the game how he wanted that one back.
"I finally had to tell Brady to just let it go," Weis says.
Tough love
Some players wilt when Weis gets in their face and lets loose. Not Brady Quinn.
He's been programmed to take the heat by — of all people — his mom. Robin Quinn raised her boy tough.
Growing up in Dublin, Ohio, she pushed Brady in baseball and football. She even once threatened to stop attending his baseball games if he didn't pitch better. Brady said his mother hasn't laid off him since he arrived at Notre Dame.
"She will always be involved, whether it's football or anything off the field," Quinn says. "But isn't that what mom's are for?"
Asked who was tougher on him, Weis or his mother, Quinn says: "Coach (Weis) uses different language than my mom, but I'd still have to give the edge to her."
Man on fire
Brady Quinn, a senior, has been almost perfect during Notre Dame's seven-game winning streak. Check out the numbers: 2,019 yards, 23 touchdowns and just one interception. He has gone 223 consecutive passes without an interception (the NCAA Division I-A record is 271, held by Trent Dilfer for Fresno State in 1993).
For the season, Brady Quinn has completed 230-of-357 passes (64.4 percent) for 2,786 yards with 29 touchdowns and four interceptions. Smith is right with Brady Quinn with 2,191 yards, 26 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Quinn's arm is so accurate that he completes almost impossible passes. Take last week against Air Force. Brady Quinn hit tight end Marcus Freeman for a 23-yard touchdown with an Air Force defensive back in perfect position to make a play on the ball.
"I don't think I've seen a stronger arm and a quicker release than what he's got," Army coach Bobby Ross says.
How Quinn stacks up
Quinn, who finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting last season, is on pace for 3,622 yards and 38 touchdowns this season. Here is a comparison between Quinn and the last five quarterbacks to win the award, with yards, touchdowns, interceptions and completion percentage:
"I can't imagine any player in this country being more important to his team than Brady Quinn is to ours. Maybe that exists. I just can't imagine it. He's meant so much to our team, the coaching staff and our entire university. He'll be dearly missed." - Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis
"Looking at him, I didn't realize how big Brady Quinn (6-foot-4, 227 pounds) was. He's huge, he looked like a defensive lineman. He knows everything in that offense and makes all the right reads." — Air Force safety Bobby Giannini
"If you look at it stat-wise, Brady is probably the best quarterback to ever play at Notre Dame. I don't want to put any pressure on him, but that's what he's left." — Notre Dame safety Tom Zbikowski
