AMES, Iowa — "Are you guys ready?!"
That's what former Cyclone Brock Purdy asked over 650 kids, ages 6-14, to kick off his first ever youth football camp in Iowa on Saturday.
Purdy returned to a place he called home for four years. A place where he rewrote the Cyclone record books.
"Those are crucial years from high school to college in terms of understanding what you believe and what you want to do with life," the 2020 Fiesta Bowl MVP said. "And so I found that here."
Over the hundreds of campers, many were decked out in Purdy gear
"It just shows you know they followed me, and they still have my back, and for them to grow up and see me playing on the field, that could be them one day. I get like, choked up when I see it. It's special."
Purdy's parents, Shawn and Carrie, came along to the same place where they dropped off their son in 2018.
"I told Brock this morning once this was you," Shawn Purdy, Brock's father, said. "He does such a good job of, you know, giving his best to the kids, and they'll remember, remember this for a lifetime."
While Purdy was focused on the kids today, since the 49ers Super Bowl loss, he's been able to enjoy his first healthy offseason as a pro.
"It's just the playbook, continue to chip away at that, getting more familiar with it. It's like another language, like I always say, so you gotta always be in it. And then physically, just my mobility, and hopefully, like being able to translate that to being quicker and more elusive and things like that."
While Purdy is prepping for the 2024 NFL season, he praised the 2023 Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year Rocco Becht.
"He's smart. He knows where he's going with the ball. I feel like playing quarterback, it's about making the right decision over and over and over again. Obviously, arm strength, all that kind of stuff is cool, but if you can make the right decisions and be smart with the ball and let the defense play defense, you're going to win ball games doing that. Rocco does that."
As Purdy heads back to his new home, San Francisco, he takes time to appreciate a place he called home for four years.
"Everyone here has got the best heart. This is the best place in the country, man. And I'm just thankful to be back."