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Brock Purdy's college reunion: Why the 49ers' opening game against the Jets has the character of Iowa State

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The stakes are higher Monday night than when Brock Purdy and Breece Hall, two ultra-competitive roommates at Iowa State University, didn't speak for hours after college video game battles.

Purdy, the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, and Hall, the running back of the New York Jets, will play on opposing NFL teams for the first time in their careers. It will be a reminder of a formative era, the three years the two spent together as stars for the Cyclones in Ames, Iowa.

“He was like a brother to me, man,” Purdy said of Hall last week. “Like a little brother that took him under my wing. I just tried to push him and wanted him to be the best he could be. To see his mentality change, to see him try hard, man, that was pretty sweet. We pushed each other in everything we did.”

Literally everything.

“Me (Purdy) and I are actually overly competitive, so even in college, when we played Madden and stuff, we wouldn't talk to each other all day, no matter who won,” Hall told reporters in June. “So that's how it's going to be until after the game.”

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The competition extended to pop-a-shot, pickleball and basketball games in the driveway of Iowa State coach Matt Campbell's house, but it was perhaps most beneficial in the weight room, where Purdy and Hall pushed themselves to failure through core and leg exercises to see who could last the longest.

The results spoke for themselves. Purdy broke virtually every school passing record. Hall amassed nearly 4,000 rushing yards in just three seasons. The duo was instrumental in the most successful stretch in Iowa State's history, which culminated in a 34-17 victory over Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl to close out the 2020 season.

The dividends of that golden age are now visible in the NFL, as 12 Cyclones are on the league's active rosters, the most ever. Four of them – Purdy, Hall and defensive lineman Will McDonald IV and receiver Allen Lazard of the Jets – will play Monday night, making the NFL opener a must-see TV event in Ames.

“This is really special for us,” Campbell said in a phone interview last week. “This is the game that my own family brags about because they're so passionate about it. They follow the 49ers and the Jets like a religious person. It's been coming through our walls this week as the NFL season kicks off.”

The backstory goes back to Campbell's decision in 2019 to share the freshman dorm with sophomore Purdy, who had already been living with star linebacker Mike Rose.

“(Purdy and Rose) were a year older and becoming superstars on our team, and I could see Breece was going to be that too,” Campbell said. “And I thought Breece was really good for those guys. He has outstanding confidence. Like Brock and Mike, he's an incredible competitor – and he was able to bring a sense of calm to Brock. He's so calm, cool and collected right now.”

These are traits that Purdy used to great success early in his NFL career, and Campbell believes that living with Hall helped the quarterback hone those traits.

“On the other hand, I think Brock instilled in Breece, 'This is what excellence looks like in daily practice – this is how you become a professional in the way you approach the study of a game,'” Campbell said. “I feel like the two of them helped each other tremendously during their time here. They were two absolutely similar competitors.

“I think we accomplished exactly what I hoped we would achieve by having these guys as roommates. What they were able to do for our team was transformative, but how they changed each other's lives was truly special.”


Breece Hall and Brock Purdy were a dynamic duo on and off the field at Iowa State. (Tim Heitman / USA Today)

The Jets selected Hall in the second round of the 2022 draft, well ahead of Purdy, a 2023 MVP finalist who famously went last to the 49ers in that draft. Hall rushed for 994 yards and amassed 1,585 yards from scrimmage in 2023, his second season in the NFL. The return of Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers from his Achilles tendon tear last season will likely give Hall more room to play in 2024.

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Neither Purdy nor Hall overlapped with Lazard at Iowa State. The receiver played for the Cyclones from 2014-17, but he was part of a group that built a strong foundation for Purdy when he took over as freshman starting quarterback in 2018.

But McDonald didn't just overlap with Purdy and Hall in Ames. On his way to setting Iowa State's season and career sack records, the edge rusher – a first-round pick of the Jets in the 2023 draft – caused massive problems for the Cyclones' offense in practice.

“You could really spice up a practice just by putting the ball down and playing good against good,” Campbell said. “These guys loved to compete – third down, red zone, two-minute drills. And Will McDonald could shake up a practice like that.

“Here at Iowa State, Will McDonald would often ruin the two-minute drills, so I would have to intentionally put Will next to me (out of the game) during the two-minute drills just so we could execute the situation sometimes. He always said I never allowed him to rattle or attack Brock – and he was right for four years.”

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Purdy smiled as he remembered the times Campbell dragged McDonald off the field.

“In practice, Will was so fidgety and pliable,” Purdy said. “It was very hard for our offensive line to block him. When I went up against him in practice at Iowa State, I always thought, 'Man, this guy is a freak. It's hard to keep up with my progress.' We're at a different level now in the NFL, but he's still that fidgety, quick, explosive player, so I always have to be on guard for him when he's on the field.”

As NFL training camp and preseason wrapped up in the second half of August, Campbell's former players checked in with him as usual. The coach shared that McDonald – who had three sacks as a rookie but is expected to take on a bigger role in his second season – seemed especially excited about the chance to go after Purdy, the quarterback he was not allowed to touch during Iowa State's practices for four seasons.

“The only thing I told Will was, 'You better not hurt Brock – you can sack him, but you can't hurt him,'” Campbell said, laughing. “So he promised me that was how he would approach the game.”

Monday night's matchup is a high-profile one. Purdy led the 49ers offense, which returns all of its key players, to the No. 1 efficiency rankings in expected points per play (EPA) in 2023. The Jets defense, meanwhile, also returns key players from a unit that ranked No. 3 in EPA per play last season. There will also be another level of familiarity with Jets head coach Robert Saleh, who was previously the 49ers' defensive coordinator. Jets defensive linemen Javon Kinlaw, DJ Reed and Solomon Thomas all began their careers as 49ers draftees.

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But it's the Iowa State meet that will draw the attention of Ames, a city of about 60,000 people.

“That's the great thing about this place,” Campbell said. “It has a small-town feel and a high school feel. So when these great people and football players move on, you follow their every move. What a celebration for Iowa State football to see four guys who have had a profound impact on this program and have been cornerstones of our success.”

The Cyclones will be fresh off their dramatic win in their in-state rivalry against Iowa – the alma mater of 49ers tight end George Kittle, who lost his annual friendly bet against Purdy thanks to the result – when Monday Night Football rolls around.

Back in Ames, Campbell and his team will be busy watching game footage of their stunning victory.

“But I can promise you,” he said, “that every television in this facility will be on when the game is on.”

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(Top Photo: David K ​​Purdy/Getty Images)

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