QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. – It’s 76 degrees under sunny skies as three teenage boys throw the football around and run routes at Desert Mountain Park. They’re doing so Saturday on the same field Brock Purdy launched his career, one that now finds him as the 49ers’ starting quarterback — and the NFL’s most efficient this season.
“I watch every Niners game now, because it’s so fun knowing someone from here is playing in the NFL. It’s crazy,” said Talen Frazier, 15, a freshman running back from Purdy’s alma mater, Perry High, in the neighboring town of Gilbert.
When it comes to Queen Creek – or the “QC” — Purdy is not literally putting it on the map. Business, or, at least housing, has been booming in this suburb 30 minutes southeast of Phoenix in the Sonoran Desert.
Visitors to Brock Purdy’s home town of Queen Creek, Ariz. are greeted with many signs of the growing town, but little indication that’s where the 49ers star quarterback grew up. (Cam Inman/Bay Area News Group)
Block after block, street signs direct traffic toward the five or six housing developments under construction. Nowhere under the “Town of Queen Creek” signage does it stake claim to being Purdy’s hometown.
“If he gets really, really good, they’ll probably put something on a wall, but only time will tell,” said Dayne Silver, an eighth-grade quarterback who was throwing passes in the park to Frazier and Perry High freshman receiver A’Koa Purdie.
Purdy is already really, really good, of course, and he will suit up as a pro for the first time in his home state Sunday, when the NFC-leading 49ers (10-3) visit the last-place Arizona Cardinals (3-10) at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, about 45 miles from his family’s modern, ranch-style home.
Teenage football players, left to right, Dayne Silver (14), A’Koa Purdie (15), and Talen Frazer (15) work out Saturday at Desert Mountain Park with visions of following the footsteps of Queen Creek native Brock Purdy, the 49ers starting quarterback. (Cam Inman/Bay Area News Group)
Queen Creek’s population jumped to 70,734 this year, from 59,516 in 2020, and 26,361 in 2010. There were just 4,316 people in its 2000 census, right after Purdy was born; he turns 24 on Dec. 27. A century ago, this region was known as “Rittenhouse,” supplying cotton, corn and potatoes at the base of the San Tan Mountains.
Now it’s supplied the NFL one of its most successful underdog stories, ever, all stemming from the 2022 draft’s 262nd and final pick. When Purdy took possession of the 49ers’ quarterback throne and charged them into last January’s NFL playoffs, the San Tan Youth Football League celebrated and posted social-media pictures of his initial days, which included a 2012 championsip with the Special Forces.
Saturday, the Special Forces were playing the Vikings for another championship, and up in the Queen Creek High press box were Jeremy Neville (“Coach Bear”) and his brother, Adam, who’ve led the STYFL for nearly 25 years. In between Saturday’s duties of working the scoreboard and public address system, they proudly reminisced about Purdy’s younger days.
Jeremy Neville coached the middle-school Bulldogs traveling team when Purdy won the championship for them. One game stood out as they canvassed the Valley and state: “We were in Maricopa, down 20-0, and we won 21-20,” Coach Bear recalled. “He is an amazing leader. He motivated and elevated everyone. He has the intangibles scouts don’t see. His heart and football IQ are priceless.”
Adam Neville then looked toward the north end zone, recalled Purdy winning a double-overtime championship game with a touchdown pass, and added: “He’s just the local boy everyone knows.”
The San Tan Youth Football League’s Adam Neville and his brother Jeremy “Coach Bear” Neville take a break during Saturday’s championship games at Queen Creek High to discuss Brock Purdy’s young playing days. (Cam Inman/Bay Area News Group)
Purdy is 17-4 as the 49ers’ starter, including last season’s NFC Championship Game loss at Philadelphia, where he infamously sustained a torn ligament in his throwing elbow.
“Hometown here: Brock Purdy’s amazing NFL rookie year ends with elbow injury,” headlined a story in the Queen Creek Times, which noted how he “sure gave his hometown fans an exciting run these past few weeks.”
Purdy is more than the pride of this Phoenix suburb. He is both the NFL’s ultimate underdog and its top-rated passer.
Two weeks ago, before the 49ers opened their 42-19 triumph in Philadelphia, referee Alex Kemp approached a mic’d-up Purdy and said: “Hey, proud of you. Stay healthy. And good luck.” As that critical, NFC win finished up in the same stadium Purdy sustained a torn elbow ligament 10 months earlier, 49ers general manager John Lynch approached Purdy on the sideline, also offering a now-customary: “Proud of you.”
Purdy spent the early part of this past offseason home while his elbow recovered from March 10 surgery, in which an InternalBrace procedure allowed for a rapid return to throwing in just under three months.
That arm, Purdy noted this past week, feels stronger than ever, and he’s throwing deep passes more efficiently than ever. He leads the NFL in passer rating (116.9), completion % (70.2), TD % (7.0), average yards per attempt (9.9), average YAC (6.83) and NFC quarterback Pro Bowl votes.
After completing 20-of-21 passes in a 35-16 home win over Arizona, Purdy can next tie Joe Montana’s NFL record on Sunday by completing at least 70% of his throws for an eighth straight game.
Queen Creek Vice Mayor Jeff Brown is a “huge fun” of Purdy’s and is in favor of the town bestowing a key to the city or declaring a Brock Purdy Day, though that will have to wait until season end, when Brown and others hope Purdy wins NFL MVP and a Super Bowl.
Purdy, this past week, fondly recalled some of his favorite hometown spots, such as:
The Olive Mill: Its outdoor tables and fire pits, amidst an olive grove, is a “pretty nice” spot to “wine and dine.” Their Kalamata Sandwich was on The Food Network’s “Best Things I Ever Ate” in 2015.
San Tan Flats: A Western looking, “country-bar scene” awaits, as does a hearty ribeye.
San Tan Café: Nothing fancy, but an “old, little country diner. Loved it.”
San Tan Mountain: It was “always fun” to hike a couple miles here, about a 10-minute drive from Casa Purdy.
“Other than that, I was growing up playing sports,” Purdy said.
Instead of playing for Queen Creek High, Purdy commuted about 15 miles west to Perry High in Gilbert, because, well, Perry is “as big as it gets,” in terms of playing football in the state’s top division, 6A.
“So I spent a lot of time in Gilbert, because a lot of my buddies were from there,” Purdy added.
Called up as a freshman to watch the varsity playoffs, he split time at quarterback his sophomore year. Then, before his junior year, he headed three hours away to a football camp amid the pines and cooler summer temperatures in the White Mountains. After staying there in close quarters, Purdy caught mononucleosis, dropped 20 pounds and missed the first three games his junior season. He still delivered Perry High to the state’s 6A semifinals.
“I came back and was killing it, but I was skinny and frail and all that,” Purdy recalled. “That’s why I think my recruiting was pretty slow.”
Purdy was like millions of other high school athletes – and students in general — seeking a scholarship. In making his pitch on a national recruiting website, Purdy’s personal statement includes his state player of the year accolades and goal to play at college football’s highest level.
“I am an ‘A’ student pursuing a college education and striving to play football at the highest level afforded me. I have the drive and passion to win any given game.
I am a rare athlete who leads with authority. My leadership and competitiveness has always separated me from other quarterbacks. My grades come first as evidenced by the fact that I have been honored as a Multi-Scholar Athlete of the Year both freshman and sophomore year.”
He was also the rare athlete who forged his own community service, hosting a “Shop With A Jock” event that brought together local athletes who paid for kids’ toys at a Chistmas shopping spree at a local Walmart.
His on-field talents allowed him to put on a scoring spree. As a senior, he set state records by passing for 4,405 yards and 57 touchdowns, on top of his 1,016 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.
“My senior year I went crazy. I looked bigger, stronger,” Purdy recalled. “That’s when like everyone in the state was upset, ‘How does this kid not have any offers? How have ASU and UofA not even offered the hometown kid.’ ”
His high school career ended 100 miles south in Tucson, at the University of Arizona’s stadium, where Purdy put on quite the grand finale. The Perry Pumas lost 49-42, but Purdy was so phenomenal and dangerous, Chandler did not want to give him a shot at a game-winning comeback drive and instead converted a fourth-and-9 play in the closing seconds.
He won the state’s Gatorade Football Player of the Year award – Perry High proudly displays that banner — and he was honored for it at an Arizona Cardinals game, where he also received a Cardinals jersey. College programs finally came courting him, including Alabama, Texas A&M and, his ultimate choice, Iowa State.
When Purdy won Fiesta Bowl MVP honors for leading the Cylones to victory on Jan. 2, 2021 at State Farm Stadium, only family members were allowed to watch in person, because of COVID protocol.
“That game was sweet,” Purdy recalled of Iowa State’s win over Oregon (and future 49ers teammate Deommodore Lenior). “The part that was weird, it was only family and friends. Playing in the Fiesta Bowl at home, and I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. The one time I get to come home, it’s during COVID.’ ”
The next day, the 49ers lost their season finale against the Seattle Seahawks on the same field, closing out a month-plus residency in Glendale under Santa Clara County’s health ordinance banning contact sports.
Even though he was right under the 49ers’ nose while practicing for the Fiesta Bowl – in the nearby town of Scottsdale – their paths did not officially cross until a year later, before they would select him with the 262nd and final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. Purdy didn’t visit the 49ers facility beforehand, and his communication was over Zoom with quarterbacks coach Brian Griese and assistant Klay Kubiak.
On April 30, 2022, the 49ers took a flier and drafted Purdy, whom they tipped off via a phone call with about three picks remaining in the draft, a call he privately took in a bedroom at his parents’ house. Once his name appeared on the television screen’s bottom scroll of the draft’s broadcast, a celebration commenced, with friends finally allowed to pour into the Purdy home to party.
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Just like that day, parents Shawn and Carrie Purdy will bring their tight-knit together Sunday to root on the middle child. Big sister, Whittney, is two years older, and she’s a teacher who played college softball at Southeastern in Florida. Younger brother, Chubba, just graduated Saturday from Nebraska, where he started the Cornhuskers’ final two games at quarterback.
The Purdys have come to many of his 49ers’ games, including his first career start Dec. 11, when Shawn wept with tears of joy and the Levi’s Stadium crowd chanted “Pur-dy! Pur-dy!” as the 49ers took down the Buccaneers, and Purdy became the first rookie to win a starting debut against Tom Brady.
The NFL world took notice. “Mr. Irrelevant” had burst onto the scene, a long way from Queen Creek, Arizona.
“He’s had a great impact, and we talk about how people from here can make it to the NFL,” Purdie, the 15-year-old receiver said during Saturday’s workout at the park.
Added Silver: “I just like his upbringing and underdog mindset.”
The underdog, however, now is in charge of the Super Bowl favorite.
