On the cusp of a potentially massive new contract, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is still acutely aware of where he has been.
The 262nd and final overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, Purdy entered the pros as the third-string quarterback. But he rose up the depth chart and led the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance.
“For me, it was always, once I get a shot and an opportunity, I want to prove to myself—God’s gifted me with these talents,” Purdy said.
“I want to show Him that, ‘All right, I am good enough in Your eyes.’ And if it wasn’t football, football didn’t turn out good, it’s all good. I’m going to go on another route ... and not try to compare myself to other people, other people’s situations. It was more of, ‘Hey I’m going to be right where I’m at and make the most of what God’s blessed me with and that’s all I can do.’ And I'll be at peace with that.”
After winning the starting quarterback spot as a sophomore at Perry High School in Arizona, Purdy led the team to two state championship appearances as a junior in 2016 and a senior in 2017. He won Gatorade Player of the Year for Arizona for 2018 and was the Arizona Republic’s high school player of the year. Despite his accolades and success, he was listed as just a three-star recruit. In the interview, Purdy said he barely received an offer from Iowa State late in the recruiting season.
Purdy entered Iowa State as the third-string quarterback but won the starting job early in his freshman year. He went 6–2 as a freshman in 2018, throwing for 2,250 yards and 16 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He started all 13 games as a sophomore in 2019 going 7–6 while throwing for 3,982 yards, which led the Big 12 conference; and 27 touchdowns, which broke the school record for TD passes in a season with nine interceptions.
He passed for 2,750 yards and 19 TDs with nine picks as a junior in 2020 but led the team to a 9–3 record and a win in the Fiesta Bowl. He went 7–6 again as a senior in 2021 but threw for 3,188 yards and 19 touchdowns with eight interceptions.
Despite his success, Purdy was selected by the 49ers with the final pick in the 2022 Draft, becoming that year’s “Mr. Irrelevant.”
“The first thing was, I got an opportunity,” Purdy said. “That was first and foremost. I was praying for an opportunity. I didn’t really care about how I got there, how I got to a team, how the draft went down, it was, ‘What am I going to do when I get the opportunity.’ And so when they called, I was like, ‘Man, I got an opportunity now. Let’s roll.’”
Purdy said that 2021 3rd overall pick Trey Lance was “the guy” going into training camp. But he believed he would get playing time anyway, though he did not know when.
Purdy did get playing time; he filled in for an injured Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 13 and became the full-time starter, leading the team to the NFC Championship, before suffering a ligament tear in the elbow of his throwing arm, only allowing him to hand the ball off to his running backs in a 31–7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
After his recovery, he became the full-time starter in 2023 and led the 49ers to an appearance in Super Bowl LVIII, throwing for 4,280 yards and 31 TDs with 11 interceptions along the way.
Purdy’s continued success has made him a candidate for a massive contract. According to Spotrac, his market value sits at $59.7 million annually; if he signs a market-value contract, it would make him the second-highest paid player in the entire NFL.
“My whole story has been just being overlooked, not good enough,” Purdy said. “For me, deep down inside, I’m like, ‘I know I can play and compete at this level ... I’m like, ’Just wait ’til I get an opportunity to compete' ... I’ve thought that [at] every level: high school, college, NFL.”
