 This is Jeff Brahm and you're listening to This is Purdue. Hi, I'm Kate Young and you're listening to This is Purdue, the official podcast for Purdue University. As a Purdue alum and Indiana native, I know firsthand about the family of students and professors who are in it together. Persistently pursuing and relentlessly rethinking. Who are the next game changers, difference makers, ceiling breakers, innovators? Who are these boiler makers? Join me as we feature students, faculty and alumni taking small steps toward their giant leaps and inspiring others to do the same. We're just truly blessed as a family to have these opportunities for myself and Jana and all the boys to participate in Purdue. I always thought it was important, no matter where the boys decided to go to school, they'd be fortunate enough to be on a team of some type. Baseball, football, basketball, whatever the case might be. Just when they go there, it gives them a sense of belonging and a group to belong to and form those friendships. And we're just fortunate that we were able to do it among the greatest universities in the country and to be 10 minutes from our house. Since we started this podcast in 2020, we've had many This is Purdue episodes that featured people who bleed black and gold. Purdue women's basketball head coach Katie Gerald mentioned in her episode that she wanted her players to be proud to wear Purdue on their chest, to be women who bleed black and gold. And of course, in our super fans episode back in November, we featured multiple boiler makers from all different backgrounds and different ages who absolutely love Purdue and bleed black and gold. This local West Lafayette family we're featuring today is no different. Their boiler maker spirit and sense of community thrives whether they're right on campus or across the country. If you're a Purdue athletics fan, you've probably heard the name Anthrop. Or maybe you've seen the God bless mama Anthrop tweets as Purdue football star wide receiver Jackson Anthrop scored a winning touchdown. John and Jana Anthrop both went to Purdue. As Jana told me growing up in the West Lafayette area, that was the thing you wanted to do. You wanted to be a boiler maker. John played both basketball and baseball here. Oh, and he played on Purdue's 1980 final four team. No big deal. This boiler maker couple had four sons who all attended Central Catholic and Lafayette and surprise all played sports. Well, more like they excelled in sports. Well, the oldest Anthrop brother Jade didn't attend Purdue. He was a college athlete as well. Jade played both basketball and baseball at St. Joseph's College in Runseleer, Indiana. Here's Drew Anthrop, their second oldest son on what it was like to grow up in Purdue's backyard. You know, growing up, both of them took us to football games, basketball games, volleyball games. You know, it's 10, 15 minutes away from our house. So we went over there for quite a few different events. They almost just felt natural, but it wasn't until you're entertaining playing college sports that you even think about, you know, all right, well, I might actually go to this school. But Purdue was always in the back of my like number one choice. Drew took after his dad and was a walk on later turned scholarship player on Purdue's basketball team before graduating in 2013. Danny Drew's younger brother was a wide receiver on Purdue's football team at Central Catholic High School. Danny won multiple football state championships and he became the first local player on scholarship for Purdue football since tight end Dustin Keller came out of Lafayette's Jefferson High School in 2004. Danny discusses why he chose to pursue football. Yeah, we played several sports growing up. One, my sophomore year in high school, I ran track as well as played baseball in basketball. Obviously, my family's big basketball family. I was not as gifted as the others in the sport of basketball. So I was the first of us to play football in high school. And that was kind of my path to be my own person. And I think we cracked the code a little bit. I explained to Jackson when he was going through the recruiting process. I was like, Hey, for baseball, there's like a dozen scholarships and for basketball, it's about the same. But for football, there's 75 scholarships. So your chances are a little bit better. Yeah. And that was kind of how I looked at it and just happened to get that opportunity and had a lot of good teammates growing up and had some success in high school. And it opened up the opportunity to be a boy maker. And then of course, there's Jackson, the youngest of the Anthrop brothers. He is finishing up his master's at Purdue and played on Purdue's football team as well. Jackson was a key contributor in several of the big Boilermaker wins in 2021 against top drink teams like Iowa and Michigan State. But did Jackson always know he wanted to go to Purdue along with his brothers? Yeah, I knew just from being in the family and hearing stories of my dad and my brothers. I always wanted to play at Purdue one way or the other, whether it was basketball, baseball or football. And to be honest with you, football was probably the least expected just because Danny was the only person that ever played football. Just because Danny did that, I wanted to do it. I thought it was kind of cool that as time went on, things kind of worked out and Danny did well while he was here. And then I did well while I was at Central Catholic. And over time, his coach was able to look at me a little bit more than maybe some other people. So I think it was kind of a blessing that Danny was there kind of when I was coming through. So it was almost kind of like right place, right time. And what was it like for you to kind of have Drew and Danny paved the way within Purdue Athletics? Were you always at the games or the coaches probably started to get to know you a little bit already? Yeah, I don't think there were too many games that I missed. If I did, it was probably because I had a game too, especially Danny. Danny's were play our game on Fridays, go to film the next morning and then just fly on over there. And I remember I would either be there a couple hours before, depending on whatever time it was, or I'd be running and right at kickoff, which the worst part was I'd have to show up late. So I'd have to park right next to the West Side High School. So I had to walk all the way there. It felt like it'd take 45 minutes. But with Drew, I went to a lot of him. His were a little bit more difficult just because so many people in the family were trying to get those seats and come watch him play. And he usually had to ask a couple of guys on the football team, there's more guys to ask for tickets to share for him. So it was always really, really fun to go to Drew's basketball games. And it was lucky if we caught one where I didn't have a basketball game as well. So was there any competition with four boys in the house? Four boys who were all incredible athletes? Here's Jana. Do we want to talk about that really? Yeah, this house is pretty competitive. It was never me, but that they are pretty competitive, no matter what we're playing ping pong or whatever. Yeah, I had a feeling. Here's Jackson on the family's competitive spirit. Oh, it was very competitive. I remember we'd always do Ds vs. Js. Danny and Drew vs. J and Jackson. It was hard early on because I was the youngest. So I couldn't really do as much as everybody else could. And I always wanted to win. I always wanted to win. It was always competitive because I know Danny would always be chirping if you lost. And Drew was pretty good. He was at the right age to where it was a good combo to have those two on the team. And Jay, there was quite the age gap. But whether it was in the baseball playing, Nerf baseball, or just playing basketball down there, or outside playing basketball, or in the yard playing waffle ball, it didn't matter. We were always going at it with one another. But I think that was one thing that kind of molded us into who we were in the circumstances. Whoever won, they had the bragging rights for the rest of the day, or at least until we played the next game. Your dad was a super successful athlete after you. But was there ever a moment where you guys were like, I don't think I want to play sports, or it was just like ingrained in you guys? I don't think that ever crossed our minds. Not one bit. Not only do these men excel in athletics, they also look alike. You can certainly tell their brothers. Here's Drew on the countless times people have mixed up three brothers. For me, it got to a point where Daniel, I'd be at his football game, and I'd be just walking by the stadium. Hey, Dan, great game. Like yell at me. And instead of being like, oh, no, I'm Drew. That's not me. I got to a point where it happened so often. I'd be like, hey, thanks. Just keep going. Because if it happened to me, it happened to him. It happened to Jackson. Now he's there. And that was something that happened every Saturday. From John to Drew to Danny to Jackson, the Anthrop athletes had to balance a rigorous schedule between practices, games, workouts, and of course, academics. How did you guys manage that workload and balance all of that? Sometimes it's changed. For these two, then when I went through it's still a busy schedule for me because I did baseball and basketball. So we'd have baseball practices. And then that just ran right into basketball practice and games. And then after that was over at spring baseball. So I could probably count on one hand a number of days that I didn't have to go to Mac, your baseball field during that time. So it teaches you a lot of time management and how to prioritize your time to get everything done. You're fortunate to get the use of tutors, time blocks with your schedule and things like that to make that all possible. You miss things. I think everybody in this room has to sacrifice something to have the opportunities that we all did. There are things that you're going to miss out that a lot of your buddies are doing. So you've got to be willing to pay the price to do what you want to do to be successful. So that's one of the things that I learned to try to pass that on to these guys as they were growing up. You know, I'm a retired teacher, but I was always big as they were growing up. You know, I got to get that homework done. So I'm hoping that might have helped when they moved on. They've done okay. It was tough early on. I remember showing up. I was in Cranard. And so I went to like my first accounting class and we covered everything. We covered an entire semester in the first week, you know, and so I was like, like, okay, this thing's rolling. And the first time, you know, we went to a small school. I graduated 49 people and I have a lecture in class of 50 with 300 students, you know, sitting there as the professor just going on. That was a big adjustment for me. And then always did fine. I think I was like academic all big 10 for all the years I was eligible for, but it took me a little while to realize that tutors were there to help you. And it didn't mean that you couldn't do it on your own or that you weren't smart enough. The resources that they provided to the players was great. Some tutors were phenomenal and they'd just been doing it for years and they would sit there and you'd give them your schedule about, I have class, I've got weights, I've got practice. I have to check into training tables after this and some food and then I can meet you at, you know, 7.15. You're like, okay. And then you get in there and, you know, they'll help you learn and just accomplish your tasks that you need to do day in and day out. Try to get ahead. Like that was the hardest part for me. Like basketball is a two semester sport. So like you're in big 10 play and you have finals. It's hard. And games during the week. Yeah, games all the time. So you'll be traveling and you, if you only have a class Tuesday, Thursday, but you got to travel and you're missing it, hopefully you make some friends that are in class that you can get some notes from. And it was difficult, especially some of those classes where you only have a couple of exams that are your real grades. But like I said, Purdue does a great job having resources available for student athletes. Here's Jackson on how he handled this balance. A lot of times you kind of credit that to your upbringing with your parents and you know how you're raised and as well as to the high school that you were to and the teachers that you had that helps a lot. So I give a lot of credit to Central Catholic. You know, they prepared me for this experience. And then when you get to Purdue, you're not just left alone to kind of figure it out. Sometimes you might be when you're trying to figure out a classroom. But other than that, there's resources there that if you need a tutor in a certain class, they can get you a tutor in a certain class. And it's great that we have those resources just because you might be going from weights to practice to film. And then you're like, okay, now I got to go to class. Okay, well, I didn't really understand what was going on just because the subject is a little different for me. And I've got a bunch of other things that I'm trying to worry about right now. So later on, you'll set up a tutor time and you'll go to that. I remember I'm in Stas and I was like, I don't know what's going on right now. And I had a very nice person come in and help me. I was like, wow, like I didn't think of it that way. You know, they actually broke it down. Jackson graduated in December with a sales degree from Purdue and he's currently finishing up his master's in technology, leadership and innovation, which relates to OLS, organizational leadership. Oh, and he also declared for the NFL draft back in January. So basically put your name in the draft. You know, the process kind of starts a little bit earlier, especially with people that are eligible to come out. I think it's during the summer, teams will come in and you take a wonder like test. They do that test and then they measure a high weight, whatever they want to measure, they're out here measuring. And then we get into the season. You go through that part of the year. And then when it's time, you know, if you go to a senior bowl, you could do that, you know, if you get that invite, then that's kind of when you see other people start to either say they're playing the bowl games or they're not playing the bowl game. So then that happens. And then right now, what's the years over? You know, you take like a week or so off depending on what your schedule looks like. And then you just basically go right into training. Jackson recently took part in Purdue's pro day at the end of March, working out for a few dozen NFL scouts. But he won't know if his NFL dreams will come true until later this summer. I asked Jackson what his relationship to Purdue football head coach Jeff Brom means to him, especially as he's trying to pave his pathway into the NFL. Coach Brom and myself, we have a very good relationship. Just coming in 2017 season. You know, I was just coming off my retro freshman year and we didn't know what we were going to be coming into with Coach Brom, all the guys on the team. The second he came in, everybody could tell that things were going to be different. You know, he was a players guy. You know, he wanted to win just as bad as anyone else, probably even more. And you could probably tell that from the sidelines sometimes. But just being able to see him and talk to him, he's always around the facility. If you have a question, you could talk to him about it. If you just want to talk about anything else, you can sit there and talk to him about it. I think that's one thing that kind of helps players have success at Purdue is they have a coach that can, you can trust them. He's always there for you. You can actually be a human around him. You don't have to act different whenever you see him in the hallway or something. But I think with Coach, just the mentality that he brought to Purdue football, you know, has carried us a long way. You know, we've had some bumps in the roads, that's for sure. But at the same time, I think after this year, you kind of saw everything kind of come full circle and everybody was playing at their best. And you know, that's the huge reason because of him. By the way, if you haven't checked out our This Is Purdue episode with Coach Brom, head over to purdue.edu slash podcast. This year, Purdue's football team took its first trip to a post-season bowl game since 2018. After an intense game, including overtime, the Boilermakers defeated Tennessee 48 to 45 on December 30 before a crowd of nearly 70,000 people at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. The game drew 5.6 million viewers on ESPN, making it the second most viewed non-New Year's game. And the final 15 minutes, which included overtime, drew 8.9 million viewers, according to ESPN. Jackson reflects on this victory. When we talked about success, you guys won the Music City Bowl. Millions of people tuned in. Tell us about that game. That was your last collegiate game too. So what was that experience like? Oh, that was so exciting. We really didn't know what we were going to get into. So we knew Tennessee was going to be a good team. We also knew that we were already starting the game off down to all Americans. And we're already hurting in certain position groups just from guys getting hurt throughout the year. So already having that and losing David and George, that was pretty tough. But I think the most proud that I ever was was just seeing how every single person made plays that day. It didn't matter if it was Payne, Brock, who was playing on pretty much one leg, Aiden, Xander and King, Garrett. Everyone was out there making plays. At one point in the game, even Dion Burks made a huge play in the Red Zone. And then just seeing it how no one gave up, even when it got a little sketchy. When it was 21-3, I was like, ah, I got you know, but we kept fighting and just kept making plays and stayed in it. At the end, we came out on top. And that was one thing that I was so proud of. Yeah. And you were kind of the underdogs. I mean, it was basically a home game for them, right? Oh, yeah. It was all orange in there. It was unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it. Do you have a favorite memory? You know, I'm sure that the Music City Bowl is up there. Any other favorite stories or memories from your time on the team? Yeah. I mean, I would say the Music City Bowl is way up there. Obviously, Ohio State with Tyler Trent and everything that went on with that game, you know, that was always memorable. Michigan State this year, that was a good one. Even at Iowa, I mean, I was not an easy place to win and we went there and shut them down pretty good and handled what we needed to do. And then I think one that kind of comes to mind is Indiana a few years ago. One of the balls got hit off Bryce and Hopkins in overtime and I was just right there, right place, right time and just kind of fell right into my hands. You know, that was something that was pretty cool at the moment, too. And you better believe John and Janna were there to cheer Jackson on during all of those memorable games. They have been supporting their son's at Purdue for more than a decade now. In fact, they try to make it to every game, home and away. It's great to go around to the different universities and schools and see their traditions and their tailgating strategies and all the things that they do and the stadiums and compare. Some schools are more fun to go to than others and the fans are more friendly. It's just a weekend trip. Those are our vacations over the years that we look at, you know, all the road games we're going to go to. And I know for football games for both Danny and Jackson, I think we've only missed two in the eight or nine years they've been playing and that was due to snow and distance. We look forward to it. Those are our little trips and it's exciting. Another fun memory, too, when they do the Purdue basketball alumni game and then everybody goes to painters and then the crowd dwindles a little bit and then everybody comes here. We're going to see how silly they all get. He has these opening day ceremonies, you know, fireworks and it's just total silliness, but all the people are such good friends and they're already talking about the next one. We like to have a good time. Both Danny and Drew are not playing professional sports now. Danny was sworn in as a patrol officer with the Lafayette Police Department in 2017. I asked him how Purdue prepared him for a life off the football field. Purdue prepared me for my career after sports and like one of the biggest things I learned at the university is, you know, if you walk down campus, if you walk from Kerry Quad all the way down to the fountain, you're going to see so many different people from every corner of the earth and being able to communicate with these people and experiencing different people's backgrounds and what motivates people. So like on a football team, you have 105 players give or take. I think they have more this year with the COVID rule, but I was a team captain my senior year and what motivates somebody like Jackson is going to be a different motivation than someone that's from a different corner of the earth and you have to understand that and keep that in mind when you're, you know, motivating people, you're leading people. And that's what I learned and that helps me in my occupation today because America is a beautiful place and there are so many different people. Okay, so remember how I said Danny and Drew didn't play professional sports? Well, actually Drew works in professional sports. For a little team called the Los Angeles Lakers, you may have heard of them. Drew, who is a 2020 NBA champion with the team and has the fancy ring to prove it, discusses life following his D1 basketball career. You know, like graduation day, the ball stops bouncing for everybody at some point. And for me, I just knew I wanted to stick in basketball some way. So I met with Coach Payne when I was done and he helped set up an interview with the Pacers front office scout. And that went well and I got to meet with assistant coaches and eventually Frank Bogle, who's the head coach and I was lucky enough. It's all timing and luck when it comes to sports and things. So it just happened to work out that I hadn't accepted another job anywhere else and they called me up and I'm like, hey, can you start on Monday? Sure. So I moved to Indy and I worked for the Pacers. I worked for St. John's when Chris Mullin took over that program. Then I also went to Orlando Magic when Frank Bogle that hired there spent a season in Memphis with the Grizzlies and a brief stint at Vanderbilt Men's basketball before I got the job with the Lakers. So I've been in LA for the past two seasons and that's where I'm at still. It's just one of those things that it's a combination of everything from my parents to Purdue to Coach Payne to, you know, just friends and mentors all along the way that help you at the end of the day. It's still basketball for me. And so it's still fun, but it's all about preparation and, you know, having solutions and, you know, being available and, you know, just work really hard and be a good person and things tend to work out for you. And what does this Purdue community mean to a family who has been so immersed in the Boilermaker athletics world for so many years? What does this Boilermaker family and community, you know, when it comes to basketball with Coach Payne or when it comes to football with Coach Brom, what does that mean to all of you guys? I'll go first on this one, but when Drew played basketball at Purdue, we got to be such good friends with the Hummels and the Burge and the Carrolls. And as a matter of fact, last weekend, we were all together at the Carrolls Lake House and you just have like a friendship forever. You know, so that's been really fun for me to make those friends. Yeah, just keep going on the basketball side of things. You know, I've been in a handful of my teammates' weddings or I've gone to them and attended them. You go through a lot of different struggles, playing, you know, wins, losses, tough practices, conditioning tests, weights, tutors, homework, study tables. There's so much that goes on that people don't know about or just don't care about. All they see is, all right, well, you know, as the game tonight at 7, it's on ESPN, they turn it on. You know, it's kind of hard to put themselves in those shoes, but, you know, when you're in the locker room every day and you're out there and you just build friendships with guys that, you know, and Coach Payne, it was awesome to me. And he recruited, luckily, some of my lifelong best friends, I'm grateful for that. You know, it's something we still keep in touch. We have group chats and texts back and forth every time there's a basketball game or a football game that, you know, everybody's watching it from somewhere if we can't be together. It's amazing to me because I'll go, you know, a year or two without speaking or seeing these guys and I'll run into them and we just pick right back up. But there's a lot of guys that keep in constant communication with. It's funny because I always say I play college football closer to home than I did going to high school. So just being able to be from West Lafayette, you know, went to high school in Lafayette and having your parents know everybody. Like if you did something, your parents would know by the end of the day. It didn't matter who you talk to. The amount of times that I've done something, I got home and my mom would be like, why don't you do this? And I was like, oh, yeah. How did you already find out about that? Yeah. Well, I played tennis with her. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But just being from this area, like it means so much, especially with Purdue athletics, just to have their support and just always wanting to grow up being a boymaker. Now, I was almost every game I always looked back and I'd be like, man, it's weird how I would either be in the parking lot or the golf course are on this hill playing football before we would go into games. And it was hours before we'd be there for like four hours or four, just you and your buddies growing up. You'd be out there throwing the ball back and forth. You'd hear, you know, Ross AIDS music and everything. And then if you're lucky enough to get a ticket, you ran on in. It's crazy to think that like now I was in that position and you see other kids doing that. And you're like, oh, maybe there'll be the next one that comes from the local area. But it just means so much. It's special. I think Kelly Kitchell might have sent out a tweet about local guys having the opportunity to play at Purdue. It just means that much more. I always talked about how, you know, you could go to playing Florida if you're from Indiana and you might lose and just be like, oh, you know, I played well, then go on about your day and the kid that's from Florida is mad. And that's kind of how it is here. You know, it just means more. Like when you lose, you feel like you let everybody in the community down. Like when you go to church, you're like, oh, sorry. So it's just kind of digs that little bend. It makes you go that much harder, you know, the next week. So it was definitely a dream come true and blessed to have the opportunity to do it. Yeah. And I've talked to a coach from, I talked to a coach painter, coach Gerald, the new women's coach. She's incredible. And they talk about how, what these fans and like the spoiler maker spirit means. What does that mean to you? As you said, like a hometown kid that all these people are coming to see you and know your name and are cheering for you. And even when you do lose, they come back the next week. It's unbelievable. You know, I mean, just like every fan base, you know, it can be ups and downs throughout the season. You know, you all have to be able to get mad on social media and then you'll have the people that just show up every single week at Ross aid. It's unbelievable how there were some games where it was either two degrees outside and windy or it was raining. And at some point you're almost like, I don't even want to be here. Not really, but at the same time you're like, God, it's just miserable out here. And they're all out there cheering for you. And there is nothing better than when Ross aid gets loud. You know, whether it's a big play or a touchdown or whatever it is. And everybody just like starts yelling. And that is one thing that I'll never forget on the Michigan State play. When I was cutting back, when I cut back, it was almost like my ears hurt with how loud the crowd got. And I was like, well, I better score this thing or everybody's doing that. So it's special just to be part of the game and know that your presence is felt by the home team and by the away team because you know, other teams feel it, you know, especially, you know, we feel when we go to other places, you know, especially at Iowa, you know, they always pride themselves on their fans showing up. And there are certain times where you can feel in your chest and it's wild. So and I know that other teams can definitely feel that when they come to Ross aid. Yeah, absolutely. I got to be on the field for the first time for the podcast. And I was like, this is amazing. This is a lot different for sure. The Anthrop family discusses that Purdue spirit that drew experiences thousands of miles away in LA and the lifelong relationships the family has created through Purdue athletics. I'm happy that it all worked out for all of us. I still remember something I said, my senior knife speech was that you can go anywhere in the country and walk into a mall and you can find like a Duke basketball t-shirt or a nerdy ball hat. But to me that there are no just like random fans of Purdue, like everybody has a personal connection to the university. And that's what makes it special is, you know, even for me in LA, I walk around with my, you know, my Purdue hat on and somebody will see it and they're like, hey, boiler up. When'd you graduate? Where'd you go? Okay. Do you know that they watch football games at this bar on this time? Like just instant connection with people. I don't see that with other places. So that's something that I thought was special and, you know, just always the continued support all of the programs have seen. I think that's something that's pretty unique. We're just truly blessed as a family to have these four of myself and Jana and all the boys to participate in Purdue. I always thought it was important no matter where the boys decided to go to school that they'd be fortunate to be on a team of some type, you know, baseball, football, basketball, whatever the case may be, just to, when they go there, it gives them a sense of belonging and a group to belong to and form those friendships. And we're just fortunate that we were able to do it at one of the greatest universities in the country and to be 10 minutes from our house. It's just amazing that it's all worked out the way it has. It's our favorite thing is to go to sporting events. There are a lot of highs and at the same time, there are a lot of lows that you almost didn't want to show your face sometimes, but I just want to say, I appreciate you and just know that I gave everything I had for Purdue and if someone asked me to do it all over again, I would. So I just want to say thank you and, you know, I hope that I was something to be proud of in the community and that people can know that, you know, Jackson McCartney cared and he wanted to win more than anybody. So, you know, I just want to say thank you for all the support over the years and I'll be back. I'll be around. That's for sure. What does it mean to you that the Anthrop legacy is ending for now? It's definitely a little weird. People always will talk about it, but you really don't understand until like there is none. During the 2022-2023 school year, there will not be a representative from the Anthrop family within the Purdue Athletic Department for the first time since the 2008 and 2009 school year. But Jackson says there could be future Anthrop Boilermakers coming soon. It's different, but, you know, my oldest brother, he's got a few kids of his own. They're a little bit little, so we'll see how they turn out and, you know, they're already playing sports and they're pretty good for their age, so I'm excited to see how they end up and where they end up wanting to go. But it is different, but it's a blessing that it happened. I love all the tweets about just your family and your mom and stuff. It's so funny. Yeah, mom does get a lot of love. Okay, Boilermakers, what do you think? I think we need some more Anthrop Athletes at Purdue ASAP. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow This is Purdue on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Thanks for listening to This is Purdue. For more information on this episode, visit our website at purdue.edu. There you can head over to your favorite podcast app to subscribe and leave us a review. And as always, Boiler Up!