For those watching the German Football League in 2016, there was one man defensive secondary coaches feared.
Quarterback Brandon Connette, of the Dresden Monarchs, threw for over 4,700 yards and 68 touchdowns in 2016. The former Duke Blue Devil chatted with American Football International about his season in Germany, teammates in Dresden, and what the future holds.
AFI: You led the GFL in TDs (68) and passing yards (4,747). This is an incredible stat line anywhere on the globe. What made this possible for you?
Brandon Connette: The freedom and flexibility that Coach (Robert) Cruse gave me with the offense was a big factor. Along with how talented and unselfish the group of receivers were, and we had a great group of offensive lineman that kept me standing upright!
Also, our RBs were extremely unselfish. Most running backs may have complained being in such a pass heavy offense, but Joe (Bergeron) really loved playing in the offense and embraced his role in it to the fullest. The biggest thing was that no one ever felt like they had to do too much in order for our offense to succeed. Everyone trusted our system and bought in.
AFI: Can you talk a little bit about your wide receiving corps? Sebastien Sagne, Hendrick Hinrichs, Micky Kyei, Mike Schallo were all among the leaders leaders in touchdowns and receptions. Was this an exceptional group?
BC: The receivers were all very talented and each had unique attributes. Sebastien was a fast deep threat, Hendrick was a goal line fade beast, Micky was a magician finding holes in the middle of defenses, and Mike was a great possession guy with surprising speed.
The fun thing for me with the offense was that when a defense tried double teaming one guy, it left everyone else with one-on-one matchups. It made it tough on defenses. They are all very unselfish as well. There were games where some guys would get a lot of looks and some would barely get any. Then it would flip the next game. They never got mad about how many catches they had. They made the most out of the opportunities they got.
AFI: What are you thoughts on the Dresden organization?
BC: It is a top notch organization with great coaches and great players. I really had a lot of genuine fun playing with this team this past year, it was a joy going to practice every single day!
AFI: What is next? What are you doing in 2017?
BC: Well i just got shoulder surgery a week ago, so rehabbing my shoulder and getting healthy. I still haven’t made a decision about whether or not I’m going to play football for another year.
AFI: Well, we hope you do! Get healthy and have a great off-season.