Sorensen makes SUU History in NFL Draft

Published: April 29, 2013 | Read Time: 2 minutes

Midway through the first half of Southern Utah University’s annual spring football game, its 2012 quarterback made SUU history when Brad Sorensen became the first Thunderbird to be drafted into the National Football League when the San Diego Chargers made him the 221^st selection in the 2013 draft.

“That’s great, it’s exciting,” SUU Coach Ed Lamb said. “The key is, he’s good, he’s got legitimate ability and he’s going to get a shot. He was going to get a shot whether he got drafted or not, I knew that.”

A 2012 and 2013 Payton Award finalist, Sorensen threw for 3,139 yards and 23 TDs in 2012 to give him three straight seasons with over 3,000 passing yards. He finished his career as the school’s all-time leading passer, holding all of the school’s career and single-season passing records as well as all of its career total yards records.

Sorensen finished his three-year career at SUU with 9,445 passing yards and 61 touchdowns. This past season he also set the single-season pass attempts record with 439, his 273 completions are second on the school's list (behind his own 288 in 2011) and his 3,139 passing yards are third (also behind his own 3,163 in 2010 and 3,143 in 2011). His 23 TD passes were the most during his career and they rank third on the SUU single-season list.

In 2012 Sorensen earned the FCS Elite Quarterback Award from College Football Performance Awards, was a second-team all-Big Sky honoree and received all-American recognition from the College Sports Journal. He also participated in the 2013 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.

This past season Sorensen completed 273 of 439 passes for 3,139 yards and 23 touchdowns while working with largely his third set of receivers in three years. He threw for over 300 yards five times, at Portland State (311), vs. Sacramento State (327), vs. Weber State (320), vs. Eastern Washington (392) and at North Dakota (363); had a pair of four-touchdown games, at Cal and at Portland State; and completed over 60 percent of his passes six times, at Cal (.689), at Portland State (.750), vs. Sacramento State (.625), vs. Weber State (.702), vs. Eastern Washington (.767) and at North Dakota (.655).

In 2011 he was named the Great West Conference's Offensive Player of the Year and he earned first-team all-GWC honors from both the coaches and media for the second straight season. In 2010 as a sophomore he completed 261 of 390 passes for a school-record 3,163 passing yards and 21 touchdowns.

---

Contact Information:

435-586-5400
Contact the Office of Marketing Communication