Childhood & Early Life
Rypien was born on July 9, 1996, in Spokane, Washington, U.S., to Julie and Tim Rypien
Tim’s hometown is Calgary, a city in the Canadian province of Alberta, and he played baseball at the minor league.
While growing up, Rypien played football and baseball equally well.
He graduated from ‘Shadle Park High School’ in Spokane. Throughout his 4 years in high school, he played in the quarterback position.
By the time he finished high school, he set new high-school records for the state of Washington. He scored 13,044 career passing yards and 1,006 pass completions. He also made records for passing yards in a single season (4,552) and touchdowns (50). Additionally, he made single-game records for passing yards (613) and pass completions (44).
With a 4.0 GPA, he graduated high school early. Both ‘Scout’ and ‘Rivals’ rated him as a four-star high-school graduate.
He was the ‘Washington 3A All-State’ player thrice. In 2014, he was named the ‘Washington State Player of the Year.’
In April 2014, he gave a verbal commitment to the ‘Boise State University,’ a public research university in Boise. Five months later, in September, he signed the admission papers. He joined the institute in January 2015.
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College Career
Rypien joined the university early so that he could participate in the spring practices of the ‘Boise State Broncos Football’ program.
In 2015, he became the first true freshman quarterback since 1993 to represent ‘Boise State’ in a game.
In his first three starts for ‘Boise State,’ Rypien averaged more than 300 yards in each game and scored a total of 8 touchdowns.
In his sixth start, he bested the previous ‘Boise State’ record for most passing yards in a game by clocking 469 yards. In the next contest, he beat the record by passing for 506 yards.
In recognition of his performances in 2015, he was named the ‘First-Team All-Conference Quarterback’ by the ‘Mountain West Conference.’ He was the first freshman to earn this title after 17 years of establishing the conference. He also received the title of ‘Freshman of the Year’ at the conference.
His efforts in the record-breaking win against the ‘Northern Illinois Huskies’ earned him the ‘Most Valuable Player’ tag.
In 2016, his name was on the watch list of three different awards: the ‘Davey O’Brien Award,’ awarded to the best quarterback of the college; the ‘Maxwell Award,’ given to the college’s best footballer of the year; and the ‘Walter Camp Award,’ awarded to the player of the year in college football.
Before the 2016 season began, his teammates chose him as one of their four captains. He became the first sophomore in more than a decade’s history of ‘Boise State’ to be named captain.
He led the ‘Broncos’ to a 5–0 start in the 2016 season. In a game against ‘New Mexico,’ he threw for 391 yards and scored 5 touchdowns. Such phenomenal performances led the ‘Mountain West Conference’ to name him the ‘Offensive Player of the Week.’
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Rypien’s team ended the season with a record of 10–3. His efforts earned him the ‘First-Team All-Conference Honors.’
In 2017, apart from being added to the watch list of the three awards of the previous season, he was also named to the list of the ‘Wuerffel Trophy,’ which is awarded to the college football player who exhibits commendable community service and displays significant academic and athletic accomplishments.
He was appointed as one of the three captains by his teammates before the year 2017 started.
In the second contest of the season, against ‘Washington State,’ he was injured and had to leave the game before the end of the first quarter. He could not participate in the next match, against ‘New Mexico.’ However, the team finished the season with a record of 11–3.
At the end of the 2016 season, Rypien received the ‘Second-Team All-Conference Honors.’
In 2018, other than the four awards for which he was already on the watch list, he was added to two more: the ‘Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award’ (awarded to the nation’s most outstanding senior or fourth-year quarterback) and the ‘Manning Award’ (earned by the nation’s topmost collegiate quarterback).
Before the start of the 2018 season, he represented ‘Boise State’s offensive side at the ‘Mountain West Football Media Days.’ At the event, he was named the preseason conference offensive player of the year and was chosen to the conference’s preseason all-conference team. He was also nominated as the captain.
He had an impressive start to the season, as he recorded a total of 12 touchdowns with no interceptions through the first four contests. He was named the ‘Offensive Player of the Week’ for his performance in the game against the ‘University of Connecticut.’ In the game, he recorded 21 passes for 362 yards and 4 touchdowns, with no interceptions.
The team ended the season 10–3 but lost the ‘Mountain West Championship’ to ‘Fresno State.’
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After the season, he was named the ‘MW Player of the Year’ and also earned the ‘First-Team All-Conference Quarterback’ at the conference.
As he finished his college career, he was the ‘FBS’ leader, with a record of passing yards (13,581) among the current players. He was also the all-time leader in passing yards (13,581), completions (1,036), and 300-yard passing performances (21) in the conference. His records are the second-best in the history of ‘Boise State.’
Professional Career
No teams signed up Rypien in the ‘2019 NFL Draft.’ He thus signed a contract with the ‘Denver Broncos’ as an undrafted free agent. He was offered a fixed pay of $146,000, along with $10,000 as a signing bonus.
His agent, Kyle Justin McCarthy, a former football safety, stated that Rypien had received offers from a lot of franchises.
The ‘Broncos’ declared the agreement with Rypien on May 2, 2019.
On August 31, 2019, he was waived. He was signed to the practice squad the next day. Two months later, on November 1, 2019, he was added to the active roster as a backup quarterback.
The team waived Rypien on November 30, 2019, and after 2 days, on December 2, 2019, he was re-signed to the practice squad.
On New Year’s Eve 2020, he signed a reserve/future contract with the ‘Broncos.’
Family & Personal Life
Rypien is the nephew of former ‘NFL’ quarterback Mark Robert Rypien.
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Former ‘Legends Football League’ quarterback Angela Sue Rypien is his cousin.
The late Canadian professional ice hockey forward Richard Joseph Rypien, also known as Rick Rypien, was his cousin-once-removed.
His maternal uncle, football coach Chris Tormey, is currently an assistant to the ‘Canadian Football League’ team ‘BC Lions.’
In the middle of the 2016 college football season, both his grandmothers passed away.
Facts About Brett Rypien
Brett Rypien comes from a family with a strong football background, his uncle, Mark Rypien, was a two-time Super Bowl champion and MVP.
Despite being a talented quarterback, Brett Rypien is also known for his skills in playing the guitar and has a passion for music.
Rypien is a dedicated philanthropist and actively participates in community service initiatives, showing his commitment to giving back.
Brett Rypien has a unique pre-game ritual of listening to a specific playlist of songs that help him focus and get into the right mindset before hitting the field.
In addition to his football skills, Rypien is known for his sense of humor and is often seen joking around with teammates, bringing a light-hearted atmosphere to the team.
