Kansas Pregame, Volume 9
Page 42
Lookin’ Sharp Colton Beebe
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By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN For Kansas Pregame
Chris Brindle gets excited when talking about the future of Piper High School football. There are four players with the last name of Beebe coming up through the Pirates system the next nine years. But Brindle isn’t letting himself think past 2014, when Colton Beebe — the oldest of four sons of former college athletes Tom and Tamara Beebe — and 14 of his classmates hope to lead the Pirates to uncharted territory. Colton Beebe is a 6-foot-2, 252-pound physical specimen who plays fullback on offense and lines up at middle linebacker on defense. “For our level, he’s a great inside linebacker,” Brindle said. “He can really stuff the middle.” Beebe also is the team’s punter, where he averages about 38 yards per boot. He already has started 35 football games during his high school career. “I try not to start a freshman,” Brindle said. “But he scored a touchdown in his first game and made a couple good plays on defense. We started him the next game, and he’s been starting ever since.” Beebe has nearly 1,200 career rushing yards and 528 receiving yards to go along with with 362 tackles, including 159 his junior year, and three interceptions, five forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. Those statistics, along with a lot of other intangibles, has Brindle looking forward to watching Beebe play on Saturdays the next few years, and maybe even on Sundays down the road. “He’s a great young man, a great player, a great program guy,” Brindle said. “He never misses a weight workout. He’s going to have a lot of options.” He already has.
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Several Division I schools have shown interest in Beebe, and he already has received offers from two of them — the Air Force Academy and the University of Minnesota. Other programs Beebe also is interested in, and vice versa, are the University of Iowa, Stanford and Kansas State, and he also has attended camps at the University of Arkansas and the Rivals.com recruiting camp in Chicago. “And he hasn’t even gotten to play his senior year,” Brindle said of the attention given to his star athlete. “Your senior year should be your best year.” That’s what Beebe, Brindle and Pirate fans are hoping for. Piper has advanced to the Class 4A state playoffs every year of Beebe’s career there, making it all the way to the semifinals his sophomore season. And that large senior class has high expectations this year. “Being our senior year, we want to get farther than we’ve ever been,” said Beebe, whose Pirates will be playing in Class 4A, Division I for the first time after 4A was split into two divisions in the offseason. College programs are projecting Beebe to play either fullback or tight end on offense or defensive end, where Brindle says “his best assets are hitting people.” The oldest Beebe sibling is a multi-sport athlete, also starting for both the Pirate basketball and baseball teams since his freshman year as well as participating in throwing events in track in the spring. Brindle said Beebe is one of those talented athletes who not only participates, but also excels, in all his sports. “He’s got great hands, has a 4.1 GPA, so he’s smart, watches film on his own; he’s just one of those rare talents,” said the veteran coach, who has been watching high school athletes develop for nearly 30 years. “I’ll tell you what,” Brindle added. “I’d hate to have to play against him. I’m glad he’s on our team.” Brindle could be saying that throughout 2022-23, when the youngest Beebe will be a senior at Piper. Middle bothers Collin and Cooper will be a junior and eighth-grader, respectively, this fall. By the time Camden, now a fourth-grader, is in high school, the Beebes might be watching their oldest brother play in the Photo by Julie Kuhlmann NFL. JulieKuhlmannPhotography.com “He’s already as big as some NFL players,” Brindle said, mentioning former Kansas City Chiefs player Christian Okoye, who played running back at 6-1, 260 pounds from 1987-92. “Colton is 6-2, 252…imagine when he gets to college.” Right now, Beebe is hoping to enjoy his senior year of high school and enjoy all four sports while figuring out where he wants to continue his education and his athletic career. He plans to major in engineering in college. First up for Beebe is the 2014 football season, where he and his classmates already have a goal set. “This year,” he said, “we want to get to the state championship game.” Brindle thinks this year’s team will bring a lot of excitement to Piper, one of four school districts in Wyandotte County in Kansas City, Kan. “There are so many entertainment options here; we have a lot to compete against,” he said. “But we’re kind of on a roll, have won six playoff games the past three years. We’re excited.”
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