Stewart Makes Impression This Time Around

Branndon Stewart is a junior business major at Texas A&M; preparing to direct the Aggies in the Cotton Bowl, but he feels like an expert in media relations after his five-month odyssey as a freshman quarterback at Tennessee in 1994.

“I think I filled up a couple of papers,” he said.

Stewart was a prized quarterback recruit from tiny Stephenville, Texas, a rural dairy community. Joining him at Tennessee was Peyton Manning, an even more heralded quarterback prospect from New Orleans.

Controversy seemed inevitable. It happened almost immediately.

When fifth-year senior Jerry Colquitt was injured in Tennessee’s season opener against UCLA at the Rose Bowl, Stewart came in and threw five passes. Manning replaced him and made three handoffs. So began the Branndon-Peyton quarterback faceoff.

The two shared playing time the rest of the season. Stewart played in 11 of 12 games, passing for 424 yards and one touchdown.

He concluded he was destined to become Manning’s backup. And he was fed up with media questions.

“It was constant hounding, people wanting to know if Peyton and I got along,” he said. “It wasn’t something I wanted to experience in college. I didn’t want to deal with it--even for the rest of the year.”

He went home to Texas in December, went on a ski trip to Colorado and made the decision to leave Tennessee.

He transferred to Texas A&M;, a school that recruited him out of high school. It was home; it was an escape from Tennessee.

“In high school, they’re [reporters] just writing stories on your team and talking about individuals,” he said. “The situation Peyton and I were in, ‘Are you mad at Coach this week? You got this many stats, how come you didn’t get as much practice time?’ It was controversy, controversy, controversy.”

Stewart started all 12 games last season at Texas A&M;, passing for 1,905 yards and nine touchdowns. This season, he alternated with Randy McCown for the first seven games, then won the job by leading the Aggies to a comeback victory over Oklahoma State. He has passed for 1,429 yards and 10 touchdowns for the 9-3 Aggies going into their New Year’s Day matchup against UCLA.

“He’s a guy who doesn’t get rattled,” said Aggie offensive coordinator Steve Marshall, a former assistant at Tennessee and UCLA. “He’s seen the bad as well as the good.”

Stewart, 6 feet 1 and 214 pounds with good mobility, is still friends with Manning.

“We have our own inside jokes,” he said.

Stewart was a star in Stephenville, a community of 18,000 located 60 miles west of Fort Worth. He led Stephenville High to a 16-0 record in 1993, rushing for 1,516 yards and passing for 2,558.

“He was the hometown hero and still is,” said his father, Redge.

Except Stewart never learned to do something many people in Stephenville know how to do--milk a cow.

“I’ve never worked with a cow,” he said.

Thanks to his mother, Vickie, Stewart’s first name has been repeatedly misspelled over the years. She’s the one who added an extra “n” to Branndon when he was born 22 years ago.

“His mother wanted him to be different,” Redge said.

Said Branndon: “I don’t correct anyone anymore.”

At Texas A&M;, he doesn’t worry about passing statistics, either. He said his focus is “on having a good percentage, not having turnovers and putting my team in position to win.”

The Aggies are thrilled to have him.

“He’s done a great job running the club,” Marshall said.