2021 Mason/Brennan Preseason Hype! Awards: Post-Training Camp Edition

Former Washington Redskins 6th round draft pick Colt Brennan passed away at the way-too-young age of 37. Brennan was a star in college at the University of Hawaii and brought that hype with him to Washington in 2008. Brennan was a cult sensation during his brief time here, and was the inspiration for the annual Mason/Brennan Preseason Hype! Awards here at Hogs Haven.

This was started as a tongue-in-cheek tribute to players that fans push to the moon before they play a snap, or after one great performance in the preseason. But it also puts the focus on some of the unheralded players who fans hype up and have a fighter’s chance at making Washington’s roster. Colt Brennan was a great college player that lit up the preseason, but injuries and other issues saw him flame out in the NFL early. RIP Colt and thanks for the inspiration.

(*Editor’s note: The text from the below description is word-for-word for the original fanpost that started this award in 2013)

Every season, a new class of draft picks and undrafted free agents are signed during the preseason. The majority of these players will never be on the roster for a regular season game, but the few diamond in the rough late round/UDFA players who do bring hope to players and fans. That racetrack betting slip that you find on the floor that someone didn’t scout properly.

Redskins fans are very familiar with the hype that comes with the offseason, especially over the last two decades of dreary seasons. Between the overpriced free agent signings, and the overhyped preseason performances by rookies, we were the perennial offseason champions. Names like Marko Mitchell, Marcus Mason, Brandon Banks, and everyone’s favorite Colt Brennan became legendary in training camp and preseason, only to be relegated to the practice squad or the bowels of the depth chart, never to be heard from again. Last year’s preseason hero was Alfred Morris who rose up due to injury and necessity after being deemed a practice squad candidate by many, and we all know how that turned out.

Hype is a very real, and very exciting part of football in the preseason. We all read the daily training camp reports and get excited at the prospect of a late round pass rusher getting sack after sack on 3rd string offensive lineman, or a wide receiver catching everything thrown his way, or a running back who’s not injured.

The Mason/Brennan award has been given out unofficially by the fans for years to each preseason’s most hyped players, but now we’re going to make it official, and bring it to a vote. This week’s vote will cover the draft and training camp. Place your vote for who you feel has been the most hyped player up to this point, whether the hype is deserved or not. After each preseason game a new vote will be taken to see how the hype changes.

The Rules:

1. Player must have been drafted late or signed by the Redskins as an undrafted free agent. Players that have only been on other teams practice squads that are signed by the team are also eligible.

2. A player that has been on the team for several years is still eligible if most of that time has been spent on the practice squad, inactive, or with very limited productivity/time

The Nominees:

Torry McTyer, CB - Reserve/Futures signing(2021) - McTyer is the classic where the hell did he come from story that people love. He has been in the league for a few years, but hasn’t had a lot of playing time since getting signed by the Dolphins as an UDFA 4 years ago. McTyer has been making a LOT of plays in camp, and has been getting hyped pretty heavily as a guy that can claw his way onto the roster.

Camaron Cheeseman, LS - 6th round(2021) - The Cheese hype has died down a little bit after a few sketchy snaps at Friday Night Football at FedEx. But that doesn’t mean that we still don’t ever want to hear his name on gameday!

William Bradley-King, DE - 7th round (2021) - Late round hyphenated DEs get an automatic spot on this list. WBK has also been making some plays in camp.

Shaka Toney, DE/LB - 7th round (2021) - Will he ever get a look at LB? Who knows, but here’s some high quality hype to get you on board the Shaka train:

Dax Milne, WR - 7th round (2021) - The late round WR is mandatory here.

Jaret Patterson - UDFA (2021) - Old hype:

New hype:

James Smith-Williams, DE 7th round (2020) - JS-W is the new Ryan Kerrigan? I swear I misheard someone say that.

Sammis Reyes, TE FA (2021) - Not even a camp injury that caused him to miss time at training camp can derail this hype train. Temarrick Hemmingway wishes he got this hype level.

Steven Sims Jr., WR UDFA (2019) - Everyone loves a redemption story. Sims had a pretty bad season last year, but was injured(?). He’s been having a good camp and that’s all you need to get noticed here.