ONA -- At 6-foot-4, 270 pounds, it takes a lot to move Cabell Midland offensive lineman Andrew Brewer.
However, the Knights' senior said he was deeply moved by the reception he got from the more than 500 patrons on hand Wednesday to watch him sign a National Letter of Intent to play football for Purdue University.
"It feels really, really good," Brewer said. "I have a lot of people's support and a lot of people helped me get to the point I am now."
At about 1:32 p.m., Brewer signed on to become a Boilermaker while his family surrounded him and emotions poured out from the arena.
His mother, Julie, nearly broke down while trying to describe the feelings of the day and several family members choked up while showering praise on a young man who they say is just as great of a guy off the field as what he is an intimidating figure on it.
"With the character that he has and great leadership ability he has, he's untapped. He's only played football four years and he's only going to get better," Cabell Midland coach Chip McMillian said.
It is hard to fathom that four years ago, Brewer had no football experience.
His high school football career started at a tight end position for McMillian, but this season he moved to the offensive guard spot where he punished opponents.
The transition proved to be enough to not only impress the Purdue coaching staff, but earn Brewer a scholarship at a school that he had looked at for academic purposes all along. And while the last week has been stressful for most high school seniors looking at going to the next level, Brewer's decision was made long ago.
"It's been a long time coming, but I'm really excited about today going from being a Cabell Midland Knight to Purdue Boilermaker and going from high school to college," Brewer said.
Academics was the first attraction for Brewer, but he also noted the nature of the coaching staff and how everything seemed to mesh together as his reasons for sticking with Purdue.
That even rang true after his recruiter and position coach -- former Marshall and WVU assistant Bill Legg -- took an administrative position at Purdue. It was at the same time Purdue announced that former Eastern Kentucky head coach Danny Hope would take the reigns from retiring head coach Joe Tiller following the 2008 season.
Such turmoil in the coaching ranks has stirred the recruiting pot this offseason, but both Tiller and Hope visited their top-20 offensive line recruit and his family at their home in Ona to remedy all worries.
The end result was Brewer signing in black ink to play for the Black and Gold, a move that drew the applause of the large contingent at CMHS.
Now, Brewer can look forward to much more applause from a large crowd on Saturdays as he looks forward to being big time in the Big Ten.
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