Mizzou Commit Temple Tops His Brother

Despite his well-known last name, Rockhurst (Mo.) running back Drew Temple has not received as much buzz as one might think. Still, Temple –-MU’s recent recruit and younger brother of Mizzou star running back Tony Temple -– is no slouch. This was apparent when the elder Temple visited Rockhurst recently and went head-to-head with his little brother in some friendly sibling competition.

Drew beat Tony in a 40-yard dash and, for good measure, out-lifted him in the power clean.

“He’s pretty mad about that. I’m surprised myself. I couldn’t believe it. He was making excuses, but I beat him,” said Drew, a 5-foot-10, 193-pound rising senior who has run the 40 in less than 4.4 seconds.

One thing Tony wasn’t upset about, though, was his brother’s recent decision to follow in his footsteps at Missouri, even though the leading returning rusher in the Big 12 never leaned too hard on his brother to become a Tiger.

“He never put any pressure on me at all,” Drew said, “but he’s really happy that I committed,” Drew Temple said.

And Tony wasn’t the only one.

Mizzou assistant coach Andy Hill “was just happy. He was real excited and was screaming, saying he’s glad I decided to become a Tiger,” Drew Temple said.

Despite his immense potential as a game-breaking back, Drew has been somewhat overlooked because of an Achilles injury that cost him most of last season. Boston College, Tennessee, Iowa, Kansas and Kansas State were recruiting him, but it turned out t hey had no shot.

“Every time I go [to Columbia] I feel like I’m at home,” Drew said. “I’m really glad that I decided to do it, so now I can go into my senior season and concentrate on everything.”

Kansas City powerhouse Rockhurst posted a disappointing 6-3 record last year, but returns a loaded team that could be as good as any highly respected head coach Tony Severino has had in years.

“We’re going to do some amazing things this year,” Drew said.

And now that his commitment is out of the way, MU fans can focus on his brother doing the same thing on the college level, and Drew hopefully following in his footsteps.

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