It’s remarkable, really.

Until Drew Brees led the New Orleans Saints to this weekend’s Super Bowl, not a single Texas schoolboy signal caller had ever earned a start under center in the world’s biggest football game.
What in the name of Slingin’ Sammy is going on in the National Football League?

The passion and pageantry that defines Texas high school football has been documented for generations. A 1961 article in Time magazine gave the nation a glimpse into Pflugerville’s gridiron dynasty (“Friday is football day, and placid Pflugerville twangs with tension. Toddlers practice cross-body blocks under the goal posts while the high-schoolers pummel their opponents on the field.”), and H.G. Bissinger started a stir – not to mention a brand name that includes a film and television series – with his 1990 book “Friday Night Lights.”

Yet, all that obsession never landed the sport’s most glorified position in the sport’s most glamorous game.

Until now, of course. As every Chap fan worth his or her weight in seat options knows, Brees captained the 1996 Westlake team to a perfect season that included a 55-15 win over Abilene Cooper in the Class 5A Division II title game.

Thirteen years later, he has guided the Saints to their first Super Bowl – and strengthened Texas’ claim as the nation’s premier gridiron hotbed. Although Sammy Baugh came out of Sweetwater to lead the Washington Redskins to a pair of NFL titles in the World War II era, Texas football fans can now point to the Super Bowl as an example that the state has finally shed its reputation as a land of fullback dives and clouds of dust.

Certain states have long proven their status as cradle of quarterbacks.

Pennsylvania – specifically, the rugged and rusting steel towns that spur forth from Pittsburgh in the western portions of the state – holds claim as quarterback country. Eight quarterbacks that have played in a Super Bowl hail from Pennsylvania, including seven that were born and played high school ball within 100 miles of Pittsburgh. That Steeltown group includes the mythical (Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly) and the mediocre (Jeff Hostetler, Kerry Collins).

California has had seven native sons play quarterback in a Super Bowl. Include four more that moved to the Golden State by high school, and the most populous state in the Union has produced the most Super Bowl signal callers. However, the quarterbacks from Cali have proven pedestrian compared to their brethren from Pennsylvania. Nondescripts such as Daryle Lamonica, Vince Ferragamo, Tony Eason and Trent Dilfer have all made just one Super Bowl appearance. However, the triumvirate of Tom Brady, Troy Aikman and Jim Plunkett more than make up for that mediocrity with a combined eight Super Bowl titles.

Only one other state has produced more than three Super Bowl quarterbacks, and little Louisiana has done it without California’s population or Pennsylvania’s heritage. Seven quarterbacks have emerged from the parishes, including four-time Super Bowl winner Terry Bradshaw and a host of one-timers such as Stan Humphries, Doug Williams, Jake Delhomme and David Woodley.

Oh yeah, and Louisiana produced Eli and Peyton Manning, who have each already claimed a Super Bowl ring.

Peyton Manning will go for his second title Sunday against Brees, who will attempt to drive another nail into Texas’ reputation as a running back state.

Texas spent decades earning such status. Legendary Longhorn coach and Westlake resident Darrell Royal famously said, “three things can happen when you pass the ball, and two of ’em are bad.”

And for generations, Texas high school coaches took that advice as gospel. They called sweeps for legendary halfbacks such as Kenneth Hall or Eric Dickerson, and they hammered off tackle with Earl Campbell or Cedric Benson.

But a curious thing began happening in the last generation. Coaches dusted off the back pages of forgotten playbooks and rediscovered the forward pass, including former Westlake coach Ron Schroeder. He nurtured a string of college quarterbacks such as Brees, who’s tossed plenty of touchdowns during plenty of wins for Purdue University, the San Diego Chargers and, now, the Saints.

Brees joined that early wave of Texas quarterbacks more adept at throwing the ball downfield than pitching it out on an option.

And time has only added depth to that growing pool of talent at the quarterback position. High school football in Texas has undergone a seismic shift in the past decade. Spread formations are commonplace, and 7-on-7 summer football has spread like cedar trees.

The prep coaches’ embrace of the passing game translates to recruiting, too: This past season alone, 22 of the 120 starting quarterbacks at bowl subdivision schools are from Texas.

Brees may be the first Texan to start in a Super Bowl, but he will certainly have plenty of company soon.

Super Bowl quarterbacks, by state of birth:

8: Pennsylvania (Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Jeff Hostetler, Jim Kelly, Rich Gannon, Kerry Collins.)

7: California (Daryle Lamonica, Vince Ferragamo, Jim Plunkett, Tony Eason, Troy Aikman***, Tom Brady, Trent Dilfer.)

7: Louisiana (Terry Bradshaw, Stan Humphries, Jake Delhomme, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Doug Williams, David Woodley.)

3: Ohio (Len Dawson, Roger Staubach, Ben Roethlisberger); New Jersey (Joe Theismann, Jim McMahon*, Neil O’Donnell); Washington (John Elway*, Drew Bledsoe, Chris Chandler).

2: Mississippi (Brett Favre, Steve McNair); New York (Ron Jaworski, Boomer Esiason); Alabama (Bart Starr, Kenny Stabler); Indiana (Bob Griese, Rex Grossman); Michigan (Earl Morrall, Craig Morton); Illinois (Ken Anderson, Donovan McNabb).

1: Kansas (Billy Kilmer); Virginia (Fran Tarkenton**); Kentucky (Phil Simms); Utah (Steve Young); Georgia (Brad Johnson); Colorado (Matt Hasselbeck****); New Mexico (Joe Kapp*); Iowa (Kurt Warner); Texas (Drew Brees).

By foreign country
1: Canada (Mark Rypien)

*Played high school in California
** Played high school in Georgia
*** Played high school in Oklahoma
**** Played high school in Massachusetts

Editor’s note: New England Patriots quarterback Steve Grogan, who came off the bench in the Patriots’ loss to the Chicago Bears in the 1986 Super Bowl, was born in San Antonio and played high school football in Kansas.