Alex Brink (born June 2, 1985) is a former professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

. After playing

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...

, Brink was drafted by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their home games at NR ...

in the seventh round of the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 2 ...

. In 2010, he joined the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fie ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...

. Brink has also played for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the CFL East Division, East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based i ...

and

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes ( French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Cana ...

Early years

A native of Eugene, Oregon, Alex Brink attended Sheldon High School, and becoming a letterman in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

. In football, as a senior, he led his team to the state championship, with a 31–24 win over Lake Oswego. During that season he passed for 3946 yards and 36

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s, while being named Oregon Player of the Year. He passed for over 3,500 yards in his junior season as well. His record as a high school starter was 35–3, with one state championship. In baseball, he was a standout player and threw a perfect game. He graduated from Sheldon High in 2003 with a 3.91 GPA.

College career

Brink finished his career as one of Washington State's all-time greats, holding the school career records in passing yards, touchdowns, attempts, completions and total offense. His senior year, he threw for 3,818 yards, the second highest single-season total in school's history. He is the only Cougar to have five 400-plus yard games and has five of the top 10 and three of the top four passing games in WSU history. Although the program was coming off three consecutive 10 win seasons when Brink inherited the team, he failed to lead the Cougars to a single winning season in four years as a starter. Brink finished his career as the third leading passer, in terms of yards, in

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Divisio ...

history, behind Carson Palmer and Derek Anderson and fifth leader in touchdowns. He is also only the sixth signal caller in conference history to throw for more than 10,000 yards and toss 70-or-more touchdowns. In his college career, Brink completed 58.4 percent of his passes for 10,913 yards. He threw 76 touchdowns but also 43

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

. Brink led the Cougars to four straight seasons without a

bowl A bowl is a typically round dish or container generally used for preparing, serving, or consuming food. The interior of a bowl is characteristically shaped like a spherical cap, with the edges and the bottom forming a seamless curve. This makes ...

berth. As a starter, Brink was 17–23 over four seasons. During a game against

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering ...

in the 2005 season Brink set a new school record with 531 passing yards. Ahead 30–16 at the break, the Cougars, however, lost that game due in part to defensive and

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

lapses and other mistakes, but also because Brink threw one touchdown against four interceptions. For much of the 2006 season, Brink led the Pac-10 in passing yards. He was named second-team All-Pac-10 for his efforts. The Cougars were at one point in the 2006 season ranked No. 25 in the nation with a 6–3 record, but lost their final three games to finish the year at 6-6. In 2006-2007 Pac-10 rankings, he led the league in total offense with 242.2 yards per game, was second in passing at 241.6 ypg, and fourth in passing efficiency. Brink finished his senior year as the 2007 Pac-10 leader in total offense and named second-team All-Pac-10. His final game as a Cougar resulted in a come-from-behind, 42–35 victory over rival University of Washington in the annual Apple Cup in which he threw for 399 yards and five touchdowns. He remains the only WSU quarterback ever to beat Washington three times.

Professional career

Houston Texans

Brink was drafted by the

in the seventh round (223rd overall) of the

. He signed a rookie contract with the team on June 27, 2008. He was later released on August 29 during final cuts. The Texans re-signed Brink to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on October 8 after

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

Derrick Roberson was released. He was re-signed to a future contract at the end of the year. The Texans waived Brink on June 24, only to re-sign him on August 17 after an injury to Rex Grossman. He was waived again on September 5.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Brink tried out for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...

in late April but shortly after he agreed to a contract with the

of the CFL for the 2010 season. In early August 2012, he was named the starting quarterback for Winnipeg, following an injury to

Buck Pierce Buck James Pierce (born November 15, 1981) is the offensive coordinator of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and a retired professional quarterback who played nine seasons for the BC Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. ...

. After a string of poor performances as the starter, he was replaced by

Joey Elliott Joseph Preston Elliott (born August 2, 1986) is a former American football quarterback. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, BC Lions and Ottawa Redblacks of the Ca ...

. Brink was released by the Blue Bombers on April 8, 2013. Brink spent three seasons with the Blue Bombers, starting 7 games over that time. He threw for 2,573 yards with 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Toronto Argonauts

On April 29, 2013, Brink signed with the

. He was released by the Argonauts on May 16, 2013.

Montreal Alouettes

On October 3, 2013, Brink signed with the Montreal Alouettes. He began the 2014 season as a back-up to Troy Smith, but after ineffective play by Smith, Brink took over as the team's starting quarterback in week 8. He started two games before he was replaced by Jonathan Crompton, who remained the starter until the conclusion of the season. On February 6, 2015, Brink was released after the team had signed John Skelton.

Statistics

References

External links

Montreal Alouettes bioCFL profileHouston Texans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brink, Alex 1985 births American football quarterbacks Houston Texans players Living people Sportspeople from Eugene, Oregon Players of American football from Oregon Washington State Cougars football players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Sheldon High School (Eugene, Oregon) alumni Canadian football quarterbacks Montreal Alouettes players