Examining the Presley brothers' big week
BIXBY — Arthur Presley has seen his sons score so many touchdowns over the years, his reactions had begun to taper off.
The excitement was still there for every one of his boys' big plays, but the fire of his celebrations had cooled.
Yet last weekend was different.
It started on Thursday night, when the Presleys' second-oldest son, Braylin — a 5- foot- 9, 155- pound junior running back at Bixby High — ran wild in a showdown against Booker T. Washington of Tulsa in a game televised on ESPN.
Braylin had 412 all-purpose yards, with more than 200 rushing, over 100 receiving
and the rest on returns to kickstart a wild week for the Presley family.
The next day, Arthur and his wife, Tia, sat in Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas, expecting to see their oldest son, Brennan, play his typical limited role as a freshman at Oklahoma State.
But early in the game, Arthur noticed Brennan, a
5-8, 165-pound receiver, was on the field a little more than usual.
“They were running him back and forth in motion, and I was like, ` OK, you know, we'll see,'” Arthur said. “But I had no idea he was gonna be an influence in the game.”
In the third quarter, Brennan went in motion to his right, took a handoff from quarterback Spencer Sanders, ran through a tackle attempt and into the end zone for the only offensive
touchdown the Cowboys scored in a 20-18 victory.
“That's the reason that we signed him,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said. “We watched him do that in high school for years and have tremendous success and be a very productive football player when he had the ball in his hands. Hopefully, we've got more of that to come over the next few years."
It was Brennan's first college touchdown, and it came at a pivotal moment.
“It was cool seeing him do what he was able to do in high school,” Bixby coach Loren Montgomery said. “One of the big questions that everyone always has is what's the
learning curve gonna be when they step up to the college level? Are they gonna be able to take off and do what they did in high school?
“Brennan looked very similar to some of the things he did when he was here.”
The Presley brothers have always been doubted on some level because of their small stature. Yet they proved over and over again at Bixby, and now Brennan is showing at the college level, that their playmaking ability transcends their height and weight listings.
OSU bought in when Brennan was entering his senior season at Bixby, extending a scholarship offer. And now, they're on the Braylin bandwagon, too. The Cowboys offered him on Wednesday, joining the likes of Kansas and Memphis, though plenty of calls have been coming in since his ESPN performance last Friday from the likes of Georgia, Miami and others.
For those displays of excitement from the Presley family are showing a little stronger lately.
“They're getting us excited, because this is on a different stage,” Arthur said. “College is a bigger stage for Brennan, and going back to Braylin on ESPN, that was a bigger stage. So it's been really exciting.”