BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Two enduring legends were born that October evening in 1998.
One was powerful and immediate.
The other was literally a shot in the dark and evolved with age.
More than two decades later, Drew Brees is an NFL icon and "Jump Around" is a tradition unlike any other. Their paths crossed on a historic, exhausting, unforgettable evening for Wisconsin football at Camp Randall Stadium.
Brees, then a sophomore quarterback at Purdue, rewrote parts of the NCAA record book during a 31-24 Big Ten Conference loss to the Badgers. He attempted 83 passes and completed 55 for 494 yards and two touchdowns during a three-hour, 37-minute marathon.
It was a moment of personal validation for Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, who spent the days leading up to duel all but predicting a breakout performance by Brees.
"I felt like Drew Brees' press agent all week and I think you can see why," Alvarez said. "He's as fine a quarterback as I've faced. He's fantastic."
Brees, the 1999 Heisman Trophy runner-up, finished his college career owning two NCAA, 13 Big Ten and 19 passing records at Purdue. Now a 13-time Pro Bowl selection with the New Orleans Saints, he holds NFL standards for career passing yards, completions and touchdown passes.
The Badgers prevailed in part because they intercepted Brees four times, including a 52-yard pick-six by redshirt freshman cornerback Jamar Fletcher that broke a 17-all tie and gave Wisconsin the lead for good late in the third quarter.
The game offered an in-depth look into the new pass-happy spread offense brought to Purdue — and the Big Ten — by second-year coach Joe Tiller. He quickly turned around a program that had five winning seasons in the previous 18 years. He was named Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1997, guided the Boilermakers to their first league title in 33 years in 2000 and earned their first Rose Bowl berth since 1967.
Purdue football head coach Joe Tiller and quarterback Drew Brees
Not long after Fletcher's game-changing interception, the third night game — and first victory — in Camp Randall history produced a cultural phenomenon.
The 1998 season marked the debut of a "student section race" on the stadium's video board, a marketing department creation between the third and fourth quarters whereby the letters of the student section — K, L, M, N, O and P — raced one another from one end zone to the other. The diversion was usually followed by music selected by Kevin Kluender, the assistant marketing director.
On this occasion, Kluender chose "Jump Around" from a collection of contemporary tunes compiled by staffers. The hip-hop selection by House of Pain, released in 1992, was an instantaneous success as fans did exactly what the song implored them to do.
Jump around.
It's become such a unique fixture that even opposing players, fans and media members get caught up in its rhythm and flow. There's nothing quite like sitting in the press box and feeling it shake, sway and squeak as a sellout crowd gets into it. There's nothing quite like seeing and hearing the tradition embraced at places like Lambeau Field in Green Bay and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. There's nothing quite like seeing it listed nationally among the best college game day traditions.
Jump around.
It helps that the Badgers tend to provide the right backdrop for such a celebration. They are 121-26 (.823) at Camp Randall since "Jump Around" made its debut.
Those in the crowd of 78,782 who stayed for the duration saw some amazing things, not the least of which was how Wisconsin's young cornerbacks held up. Fletcher and Mike Echols, were redshirt freshmen who would evolve into award-winning defenders.
Fletcher and Echols both had interceptions. The one by Echols was a diving effort in the red zone after the Boilermakers drove to the Wisconsin 10. Junior safety Bobby Myers also had a pick.
"They can pass for 1,000 yards," Echols said. "But as long as they don't get in the end zone, then we're doing our job.
"We've been trying to get some respect in the secondary because everyone thinks we're just so young and bound to give up big plays," Echols said. "But I think we played well as a group."
Mike Echols
Fletcher and Echols both earned first-team all-Big Ten honors before their careers were done. Fletcher won the Jim Thorpe Award as the best defensive back in the nation in 2000, then turned pro and was a first-round NFL draft pick of Miami. He shares the program record for most career interceptions with Jim Leonhard, currently the Wisconsin defensive coordinator, both at 21.
Fletcher had seven picks in each of his three seasons with the Badgers. He returned three for TDs as a freshman and two more as a sophomore. The one off Brees that October night in '98 helped define his flair for the dramatic.
"I just read the quarterback's eyes," he said. "They were throwing quick all game, so I decided I'd just sit back (in coverage) and eventually I'd get one."
Brees attacked using mainly a three-step drop, then zeroing in on quick out patterns run by Randall Lane (18 catches, 178 yards) and Chris Daniels (14 catches, 131 yards). Fletcher intercepted a throw intended for Lane. Echols stepped in front of a pass meant for Daniels.
"We knew they were going to throw the ball," Echols said of the Boilermakers. "But we didn't expect them to throw it that much.
"We figured they're going to catch some balls. As long as we make tackles after they catch them short, they're going to get impatient and try to do some things deep. I think it worked."
