Bryce Perkins, Part 1: Playing Football Was The Family Business

Frozen in time is a photograph hanging in the Perkins’ household in Queen Creek, Arizona.

It’s a picture that captured 10-year-old Bryce Perkins hurdling over a stunned would-be tackler on a kickoff return. Big brother, Paul Perkins, a star running back at UCLA and now in the backfield of the New York Giants, called the moment “poetry in motion.”

“That was one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever seen Bryce do through his elementary, high school and college careers,” Paul Perkins said after a Giants team meetings Wednesday night. “To see him completely hurdle over somebody who was pretty much standing up, man.”

Fast forward to this week as Bryce Perkins has battled heartache and near tragedy en route to finding a home on the other side of the country in Charlottesville, Va.

From Arizona State, where his career almost ended, to Arizona Western Community College where his career was revived, to the University of Virginia where he is slated to start at quarterback in the Cavaliers’ season-opener against Richmond on Saturday night, Perkins’ odyssey has been unique.

Part 1 of this 3-part series deals with Perkins growing up in a football family and how those early days helped shape his life.

Understand that Bryce’s and Paul’s father, Bruce Perkins, was a stellar running back at Arizona State in the late 1980s, and enjoyed a short career in the NFL. Bruce’s uncle, Don Perkins, was a star running back for the Dallas Cowboys and is included in that team’s “Ring of Honor,” for his exploits, including playing in the famous “Ice Bowl” against Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers.

Notice that Bryce comes from a family of running backs, so when we asked father, Bruce, if they were going to kick Bryce out of the family because he went against the norm, dad laughed: “No, he’s a keeper. We need somebody to hand the ball off to the rest of us.”

Must have been fun watching Bryce and older brother Paul grow up.

“Both boys were special,” Bruce said of his two sons. “They played football, ran track and played basketball. We knew early on that they were really athletic. Football was something they grew up with, seeing the pictures around the house. Bryce wasn’t even born when I was playing.”

Bryce gives Paul a lot of credit for always being an inspiration to his athletic career, although Paul modestly allows any praise for his kid brother’s attributes.

“To be honest, I feel like the older brother, but when we were younger it never felt that way because we were always together,” Paul said. “I looked at him as more of an equal. The impact may be magnified now that we’re older, but [Bryce] was always a special talent.”

The Virginia junior quarterback doesn’t quite see it that way.

“Paul’s a reason that I go all out,” Bryce said. “Seeing him every step of his life, he’s achieved something at this level (college football), so I know what I’ve got to do. I have to compete with what he did. It’s always competition and [Paul] keeps pushing me. He’s my biggest supporter, my biggest critic. Every time I hit the field, I play hard because he always tells me someone else is looking to be better than you.”

Most agree the two brothers are alike in personality and athleticism, and smarts to boot. They both work hard, like to have fun, and are self-described “goofballs.”

“Paul got the muscle, I got the height,” said Bryce, who measures in at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds. “We’re kind of different in our stature, but speed-wise, strength-wise we’re pretty similar.”

Paul called himself a “test dummy,” a “trial baby” to kind of show Bryce how to manuever through obstacles on and off the field, but tried to lead more by example rather than words.

The two disagree on who had the most influence over whom. They also disagree on who was the most effective during their Pop Warner days in Arizona.

Bryce said that when their dad would drive them home after their respective games, they would talk about how many touchdowns they each scored that day and had a running competition.

“Every week, Paul would beat me,” Bryce said. “I would go, ‘man, next week I got to beat him.’ It started at a very young age and the competition to push each other began.”

Paul takes exception to his brother’s claim. He remembers it quite differently.

“It was actually the opposite,” Paul said. “Bryce would have all the touchdowns. I think his average game he would have three or four touchdowns. He’s always been one of the best players and athletes on the field.”

Bruce coached both his sons in the Pop Warner leagues. Bryce was a wide receiver in seventh grade, but his dad noticed something when he called a halfback pass in a game, watched Bryce roll out right and fling the ball 40 yards right on the money as a seventh grader.

Still, that arm didn’t register on the father/coach until the next year when the team’s starting quarterback got hurt. Bruce remembered the throw and moved Bryce to QB, where he led the team to second place in Phoenix, then guided the Phoenix all-star team to the national championship over a team from New England.

“We were down to the 2-yard line and had a run called, but Bryce audibled to a quick slant, threw it perfectly … touchdown,” Bruce recalled.

Perkins brought Phoenix its first CYFL national title and played well under pressure.

“That’s been his whole deal,” Bruce said. “He won his elementary school’s first state championship, won the national title, led Chandler High School to our first state championship in 50 or 60 years, and was the first quarterback to beat rival Hamilton in 14 years.

“He’s got what it takes in terms of leadership, can make all the throws, and is calm under pressure.”

It’s no wonder that Arizona State would come knocking at the door as Perkins’ high school career came to a close, or than Virginia’s Bronco Mendenhall would see something special in Perkins a couple years later after the gunslinger had fallen off much of college football’s radar.

“My uncle pushed my dad, my dad pushed my brother, and my brother pushed me,” Bryce said proudly.

Paul said he didn’t have to push too hard.

“He’s honestly just an athlete,” older brother said. “He can play any sport that he puts his mind to. Obviously football is his main sport now. Growing up he played everything and was an outstanding basketball player all through high school.

“He’s tall, he’s big, he’s always been fast,” Paul continued. “He’s always been one of the fastest kids and one of the stronger kids in every class he’s been in. For me, it’s no surprise that he’s excelling at the college level.”

Paul Perkins was happy to see his baby brother land in Charlottesville, and plans on attending Saturday night’s season opener if his flight schedule works out. The Giants play a preseason game against the Patriots and get the weekend off.

“I’m going to try to be there start to finish,” Paul said. “I’m going to try to make it to every home game if I can.”

He’s just as excited to see his brother’s first major college football start as the rest of us.

“I think Bryce is going to be an electrifying player,” Paul Perkins said.

Wahoo Nation is banking on it.