The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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SEPTEMBER 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 23 isn't exactly a ho-hum personality. The Wolverines built something special over the last three seasons in particular, and many are back to preach it, teach it and pass it along. Bredeson is one of the most fired-up examples of them. They know how it got done. They're adamant about not letting it slip away. "It feels like the same program," Bredeson insisted. "The blueprint is there. Just keep building. Just keep get- ting it better and better. He had to hire new people, but … it all feels the same. The same energy. It's kind of hard to put a finger on what's different. "The standard will always be the standard. What we take pride in is that we only focus on what we can control right now. That's all I'm focused on — how good can our team be tomorrow?" As Fresno State-focused as he is, Bredeson won't ignore a question about the crew Michigan learned once again to beat, in order to climb to the top of the college football mountain. He knows Ohio State is out there and must be van- quished. "We take a lot of pride in it," he said. "We know how big that game is. It's the staple of the year. We take a lot of pride in that game, and we always will. It's great, and the group of guys that have gotten to be around it, it means a lot to them." He notes he doesn't remember details from games like some, but a point in the 2023 OSU-Michigan battle stayed with him. The Wolverines needed to take down the Buckeyes again, and they threw the first punch. "That first touchdown in Ann Arbor this year was pretty special," Bredeson reminisced. "You could feel the energy, like here we go. This is it. The Game. A special moment." Special moments can abound in 2024. With a new, bigger Big Ten, an expanded College Football Playoff, and the ever- present challenge of overcoming on any given Saturday, Bredeson can't wait to hit the field — then hit someone else. "I'm super excited," he said. "We love all the opportunities we get. We love be- ing on the big stage. A lot of big names, big brands in college football. I couldn't be more excited for all the opportuni- ties. "People will always be hunting us, but we never take that route. It's always that we are still hunting. We are always try- ing to find more. There may be a target on our back, but we welcome it. There will always be targets on their backs from us, too." ❑ Wistful Over A Legacy When Mike and Debra Bredeson sent their son Jack off to Michigan to play baseball in 2015, they couldn't have imagined they'd wind up with a trio of Wolverine brothers enjoying huge success in Ann Arbor. It's happened, putting the Bredesons among the more notable brother combinations in the history of Michigan athletics. Of course, no brothers' combo gets mentioned in Ann Arbor without taking note of the famed football trio of the Wisterts. Francis "Whitey" Wistert, Albert "Ox" Wistert and Alvin "Moose" Wistert all became All- Americans for the Wolverines, their careers spanning two decades, from the early 1930s to the late 1940s. They remain the unquestioned kings of Michigan football brother royalty. The Bredesons certainly don't need to apologize for anything, though, when they head home to Hartland, Wis. Each member of the trio se- cured a special distinction in Ann Arbor, and senior tight end/fullback Max Bredeson isn't finished yet. Jack Bredeson became the first to venture east, putting behind him his fandom of the home state Badgers in favor of maize and blue. He'd spent plenty of football Saturdays in early-morning lifting sessions with Ben, he told The Michigan Daily, but then it was time to Jump Around. "That's just what you did," Jack said. "You went to Badger football games, you grew up Badger fans. It was awesome." But the Badgers didn't have a varsity baseball team, and when that became the eldest Bredeson boy's top sport, everything changed. He came to Ann Arbor and eventually served as a pitcher on the 2019 team which finished as national runner-up. He also showed middle brother Ben around on his visit to Michigan. Ben Bredeson became a rock-solid offensive lineman for Harbaugh's early squads in Ann Arbor. He earned second-team All-America honors in 2019, and is building a career in the NFL, with the Baltimore Ravens, New York Giants and now Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Max Bredeson, of course, holds the team trump card — a 2023 na- tional championship. He's in his third year as a Michigan stalwart, having joined the Wolverines as a preferred walk-on after playing quarterback in high school. The youngest Bredeson brother earned the right to sing "The Victors" lustily following the national title game, sure in the knowl- edge that his fellow Wolverine brothers were singing along. — John Borton A young Max Bredeson was exposed to U-M football early when his older brother Ben, a future All-American and now an NFL offensive lineman, was being recruited by the Wolverines and then-head coach Jim Harbaugh. PHOTO COURTESY MAX BREDESON