Road to 1991 Perfection: Brunell Shared in the Glory, But Felt Left Out

The Husky quarterback went from Rose Bowl MVP to backup on the national championship team. It mattered.

This University of Washington football team won a national championship and reached the mountaintop.

To get there, the 1991 Huskies were overly successful, wickedly talented and maddeningly competitive.

Yet while running the table and completing a 12-0 season was unforgettable, the way it had to be done wasn't totally satisfying for everyone.

To know this group of UW players was to understand why. Everyone wanted to be an All-Pac-10 selection or an All-American but only so many of these guys were recipients. 

Everyone wanted to be the Rose Bowl Most Valuable Player. 

Mark Brunell wanted to do it twice.

He settled for once.

Brunell deserved better.

After leading the Huskies to a 10-2 season capped by a 46-34 victory over Iowa in Pasadena, Brunell tore up his knee during spring practice, had major surgery and returned as the backup quarterback to Billy Joe Hobert, who previously was his understudy. The lefthander was the wounded warrior now, forced to throttle back his emotions.

"I got to experience it, but not how I had dreamed of experiencing it," Brunell said of winning the national title. "In my mind, it was to be the quarterback that season. It didn't work out."

He was simply being honest. It was hard to be anything but the No. 1 guy at his position, especially if you've been there before. 

"As a backup, I got significant time during the national championship game," Brunell said, referring to the Rose Bowl against Michigan. "It was fun, I wouldn't trade it, but for anyone who isn't a starter, you're kind of one foot in and one foot out."

This is another in a series of vignettes about the UW's 1991 national championship team, supplementing the conversation for the current pandemic-influenced season. We're in the aftermath of the Huskies' 12-0 season capped by the Rose Bowl in this throwback replay.

Brunell went through this good-soldier situation all over again once he entered the NFL. He was part of the Super Bowl XLIV-winning New Orleans Saints in 2010, serving as the backup quarterback to Drew Brees. He wanted more.

"It was awesome, I loved it," Brunell said. "I would have loved to have been the starter, but I wasn't. It was a great experience and I wouldn't trade it, but when you're kind of in a supporting role, you don't feel like you're entirely a part of it or that you contributed to it."

Guys like him are loyal team players, expressionless as they make untold sacrifices for the good of the cause. But deep down inside it mattered to him. The ultimate glory was bittersweet.

"I hope I'm not sounding selfish or distant from that accomplishment," Brunell said. "It meant a lot. It was probably different for Billy Joe. It was probably different for the guys who had been starters throughout the year. Maybe that's just sports. At least that's how I felt to a certain degree."

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