Puzzle Solved: McBride Brothers Returning for 2021
Toby, Trey excited for promise program holds
Mike Brohard
Christmas day had hit the relaxing point.
Around 10 p.m. that night, Toby McBride and his mom, Kate, were putting the final touches on a 500-piece beach puzzle they’d been working on during the holiday break. He and his brother, Trey, both Colorado State football players, were back home in Fort Morgan, where they could relax and be around family.
Be themselves.
Trey was watching them work, a movie on in the background, when Kate spoke up.
“It was funny. We were just working on the puzzle, and I think my mom had just had enough of it,” Toby said. “She kinda cut to the chase: Trey, what are you doing? Let’s talk about this.’ Trey and I were both kinda surprised. It was, I guess we’re talking about it.”
He’d been working on a puzzle all of his own, you see. He had plenty of help, a riddle of what seemed to be a million pieces, a kaleidoscope of colors and no edges to feel his way. It had been daunting. Here he was, a junior with all the talent to move on to the next level. He felt confident as a tight end he could play in the NFL right now. Heck, a bunch of people close to him were telling him the same. Guys who had played the position in the league. Guys who get paid to evaluate who is ready for what on a football field.
He talked to his coaches. He confided in his family. He talked to Dalton Risner and the guy from Fort Morgan who originally blazed the path, Joel Dreessen.
It was darn near unanimous that money and a good NFL career were ready for him.
So, should I stay or should I go? And Christmas night, his mom wanted to know, too.
But Trey had a major point to ponder first.
“The biggest question was: Was I ready? I feel like I’m ready, but not ready enough,” Trey said as he has made the decision to return to Colorado State one more season. “I need just a little more fundamental work, a few more things I can fine tune to make sure that when I decided to leave I can hit the ground running and go full speed.
“I think coach Steve Addazio and the staff do a really good job, really emphasizing fundamentals and what it takes to be great in technique and all the stuff they teach. Those are things that if I can really focus and learn and master, then that’s something I can take to the next level with me. The experience these guys have, and the people they’ve coached, I trust them.”
To make it even better for the program, it’s a package deal, as Toby will return for another season on the defensive line.
She kinda cut to the chase: Trey, what are you doing? Let’s talk about this.’ Trey and I were both kinda surprised. It was, I guess we’re talking about it.Toby McBride
Addazio, who visited with the family before he left town, just to go over all the information one more time, didn’t get the call until the next day, so one can imagine the joy he had over the belated Christmas present. It’s not just the fact they are great players, it’s they represent all he’s trying to build in Fort Collins.
They are local products with an extreme passion for the university and the program. They perform on the field, but it starts off the field. They are leaders with an impact which extends beyond their line of scrimmage.
“They stand for everything that everybody at CSU feels so great about, which is great pride in the university and a passion for it. They’re Colorado guys, and they come from a great family,” he said. “They really want to help get our program where they want it to be.
“They are great leaders, great role models, toughness – all the things we talk about. They are great representatives.”
Tight ends coach Cody Booth, a former NFL player himself, was perfectly aligned with what Trey was weighing. He only wishes he had been awake the first time Trey called to share the news – midnight Eastern, where Booth is visiting family. As it happened, Trey had to call him back the following morning. Booth said he would have slept better knowing his anchor was returning.
When he left Fort Collins to head home, Booth put the odds at about 30 percent Trey would be in his room again. So it was surprising, but only to a point. He’s learned what drives the player.
“I agree with him. I think he would make a football team right now,” Booth said. “But he’s got 100 goals, and I’m hard on him and he’s hard on himself. We both have high standards. I think he wants to come back, work on his fundamentals as a tight end and continue to get better and be the best tight end in the draft next year, win the Mackey Award, win the conference championship, be a leader and play with his brother one more year and represent the state.”
It also reiterated what he already knew about Trey, which is his maturity level is off the charts.
How many of us could push our ego to the side – the one telling is it is time to go get paid – and think, yeah, but I can be an even better player a year later. It wasn’t easy for Trey, either.
He knows he can catch the ball and run routes. He can run over people and pave a path in the run game. He’s really, really good.
In what amounts to less than three seasons, Trey has already put himself among the elite tight ends to ever play at CSU. He ranks second at the position in career yards per catch (13.2), third in touchdowns (nine), and his 74 receptions and 979 receiving yards both rank fifth.
This season, he led the Rams with 22 catches for 330 yards and four touchdowns, his 24 points also leading the team in scoring. The lack of action likely hurt him in all-conference voting, as he was second team All-Mountain West after being first team the year before. However, Pro Football Focus, which grades players on every snap of every game, saw fit to name him an All-American at the end of the season.
He wants to be great. And he told himself he’s not. Not yet. But he will be, eventually.
“I want to be a true, all-around tight end and do it all,” Trey said. “The way I look at it is, I enjoy Colorado State, I enjoy the coaching staff and really, I’ve only played two and a half years. There are things at Colorado State I want to do that I haven’t done yet. There are still some goals of mine that need to be accomplished here at Colorado State.
“It’s putting your ego aside and saying I want to lead this team to a conference championship.”
There was still a third option, too: He could decide to remain in college but play somewhere else. He stepped into the transfer portal earlier in 2020 when it looked like the Mountain West would not have a fall season. He had options to show he can handle the pressure of one of the Power 5 Conferences at that time.
But now, like then, he loves Colorado State, he loves the current coaching staff and this feels like home.
And, to top it off, Toby is back, too.
The older of the two, Toby still wanted to wait and see what Trey was going to do. He was 99 percent sure it wouldn’t affect what he was already thinking – that he was going to return – but he also knew his brother’s puzzle was no day at the beach.
“I definitely wanted to see what he was doing first. Playing on a team without a brother is something I really haven’t done my whole sports career,” Toby said. “I always had one brother there one way or another. When he decided to come back, it was a no-brainer. I probably, honestly would have come back. I feel so good about what the team is doing and how I’m doing, and Coach Addazio is telling me if I have a good year like I did this year, I have my own shot at the NFL. I have my own dreams and goals to work for.”
Addazio had told the entire team something which stuck with Toby. He said the message -- don’t wish time away – has reverberated differently throughout the entire team, but for him, the words hit home.
His entire career has been played in some degree of back pain, even as a true freshman when he appeared in every game and led the team in sacks. This season, the new staff cut his practice time way down, charging his batteries for game day. The payoff was huge for the Rams, as Toby could play entire games instead of being on a pitch count, and in just three games, he recorded 12 tackles, 3.5 for a loss with a forced fumble.
Oh, and it was fun. It might not have been a full season, but the joy he experienced felt like one.
“If I can come back and have this much fun doing what I’m doing, why not come back?” Toby asked. “They’ve managed me so much better. I wasn’t beat up as much, I could play full games. It feels like a completely different game when you’re playing it with no pain, compared to how I have been playing it.”
And for one more season, they will play together, and that makes them both extremely happy.
“He wants to play another year, and I’m happy he does,” Trey said. “We’re going to do this thing together. He’s someone I definitely look up to. It’s something he really loves doing, playing football, and I know he loves playing with me. We have one more year together, and hopefully a full, 13-game season instead of four. That will be a lot more special.”