Lulay signs with Saints

By TIM DUMAS Chronicle Sports Writer

A year ago, Travis Lulay and Drew Brees had little in common. Other than being quarterbacks, that is.

Much has changed since then.

Lulay and Brees are now not only teammates, but both have made good use of the same rehabilitation doctor.

Lulay, Montana State University’s former record-setting quarterback, signed a three-year contract with the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, a month after being released by the Seattle Seahawks and nine months after having surgery on his throwing shoulder.

Lulay attended a three-day mini-camp over the weekend in suburban Metarie, La., and was one of four players signed out of the 60 who took part. There are three other quarterbacks on the roster now that former Stanford quarterback T.C. Ostrander, who was signed as a free agent last month and also participated in the mini-camp, was waived the same day Lulay signed.

“I’m pretty stoked about it, actually,” Lulay said from New Orleans on Wednesday. “Last weekend was the first big test and the shoulder held up great.”

The Aumsville, Ore., native suffered the injury while playing with the Berlin Thunder of now-defunct NFL Europa last spring. He had surgery in August and has been rehabbing in Birmingham, Ala., and Bozeman ever since. In Birmingham, his physical therapist was Kevin Wilk, who worked with Brees, the Saints’ All-Pro starting quarterback, when Brees hurt his shoulder after the 2005 season.

Wilk is co-founder of Champion Sports Medicine and is the rehabilitation consultant for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Brees came back from his injury to throw for a league-high 4,418 yards in 2006.

“His shoulder was worse than mine and he was ready to go in eight months,” Lulay, who also rehabbed at Great Northern Physical Therapy in Bozeman, said. “That alone was good confidence for me.”

Lulay was cleared to play on April 1 and was released by the Seahawks the next day to clear roster space. He had lined up a tryout with the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League for this coming weekend before the Saints called.

“When the NFL comes calling, you’re not going to pass that up,” Lulay, 24, said. “I’m just trying to take advantage of every opportunity I get.”

Brees’ backup is 16-year NFL veteran Mark Brunell. Tyler Palkow, who was on the Saints’ practice squad last season, is also on the roster.

Lulay says he will attend another mini-camp at the end of this month before he participates in the team’s July training camp at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss. He is one of two former Big Sky Conference players on the roster, along with former Portland State fullback Sobomehin Olaniyi.

After setting MSU career records for passing yards (10,746) and completions (889), Lulay was signed as a free agent by the Seahawks in 2006. He participated in the team’s training camp later that summer, but was cut before the season started.

Seattle signed Lulay again in 2007 and assigned him to NFL Europa, where he earned the starting job with the Thunder and was named a captain.

Now, he is wearing a gold helmet once again.

“I’m just in learning mode right now,” said Lulay, who finished his career second in Big Sky history with 12,190 total yards. “I’m just trying to catch up with the new offense.”

Tim Dumas is at tdumas@dailychronicle.com and 582-2651.

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