The Max Bredeson Experience

StickierBuns wrote:

My man!https://x.com/alec_lewis/status/2089696946516639822?s=46&t=ohFAAgt56m6anXyDpx1btQ

EAGAN, Minn. — His shaggy hair spills out over a headband. He yells. He beats his chest. He smacks his helmet with both hands as if he has entered another dimension.

Talk to the people who know Max Bredeson best, and they will confirm that he has.

These sequences, captured by the cameras, show a man consumed by a lifelong passion. His outpouring of emotion is an expression of love. These crazed scenes, which often occurred in the pregame cauldron of the “Big House” in Ann Arbor, Mich., offer a window into a path forged by beautiful irrationality.

“I don’t know where that comes from,” his father, Mike, said recently. “I think it’s just the pent-up … it’s not frustration, but it’s … desire.”

The Minnesota Vikings recognized the meaning behind these bursts of intensity. Their scouting evaluation, comprehensive enough to unearth the aptitude beneath that bushy head of hair, compelled the team to select Bredeson in the fifth round of the 2026 draft.

Drafting a former Michigan walk-on fullback/tight end made for a cool enough story. But the tale is even more poignant now, because as part of the team’s offensive transformation, fueled by the hiring of former Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith, the Vikings are handing Bredeson a hefty role.

Teammates rave about how quickly he has taken to coach Kevin O’Connell’s complex offense. Bredeson is already lining up with the first team. His responsibilities require him to line up in several spots. His assignments can even change depending on how defenders move after the snap.

“I think the most impressive part has been watching a young guy pay such attention to the details,” tight end T.J. Hockenson said. “He doesn’t just understand his job, but he understands where he fits within the scheme.”

To retain the element of surprise, the Vikings have concealed the full extent of their offensive plans. But there are still some breadcrumbs to gather.

For example, no NFL player with at least 300 snaps in 2025 motioned before the snap more than former Dolphins fullback Alec Ingold. Smith arrived in Minnesota with a charge to incorporate many of Miami’s creative tenets into the Vikings’ run game. Ingold’s status as a run-blocking fixer in that system would lead most observers to predict that Bredeson, the Vikings’ only true fullback, could occupy a similar role.

If that happens, it will signal the team’s rare level of trust in a rookie. It will also spotlight a journey worth celebrating.

“He’s what’s right about college football,” former Michigan co-offensive coordinator Steve Casula said.

It’s much more than that. Bredeson is what’s right about parenting and sibling pride and pursuing goals. His football career represents what can happen when unabashed conviction meets curiosity. Bredeson believed when others were understandably skeptical. He was willing to seek answers and commit himself to the point of exhaustion.

His family did not allow skeptics to deter him from pursuing his dream. Instead, his parents pushed. His brothers listened. All of them, successful in their chosen fields, matched his fearless chase with an incredible level of support.

“It all stems from our parents,” Bredeson’s oldest brother, Jack, said. “They gave us every opportunity, but losing was never OK.”

Bredeson’s mother, Deb, summed up their parenting approach this way: “Awards for showing up, the trophies and the juice boxes and the snack mix — yeah, we didn’t do that.”

Competitiveness courses through all of their veins. The father, Mike, played center at Illinois State, but that only scratches the surface. Deb owned a black Labrador retriever named Five Star General Patton. It became so well-trained that Deb began traveling the country for dog competitions. In 2003, Patton won the National Retriever Championship.

The boys watched their mother rise at 3 a.m. to deliver newspapers, a job to cover the dog-training expenses. They, too, found their own obsessions. Jack starred as a baseball player at Arrowhead High (Hartland, Wisc.). Their second son, Ben, became one of the best high school offensive tackles in the country.

As the youngest, Max tricycled his way to nearby basketball courts and local fields to compete with his older siblings. Football captured his heart.

Jack accepted a scholarship to Michigan, where he was a pitcher before earning a job in the New York Mets’ front office. Ben followed Jack’s trail to Michigan, but as a football player. The Baltimore Ravens drafted him in the fourth round in 2020, and he now plays left guard for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Their accomplishments fueled Max’s desire to wear the maize and blue.

“I had a tough conversation with him when he was in eighth grade,” Deb said. “I said, ‘Max, Michigan is the boys’ path. It doesn’t have to be your path. You can do anything. You can go anywhere. We will be super proud of you.’ He looked at me like I was insane.”

Max interjected: “Mom, you don’t understand. I have to be a Michigan man.”

But injuries derailed Max’s career as a high school quarterback. He responded to Michigan’s generous preferred walk-on offer with gratitude and daily effort. He peppered coaches with questions. He embraced every day of practice. He treated punt coverage duty like it would affect the future of humanity.

Max’s consistency kept him so prominently in his coaches’ minds that when former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh approached his own father about supplementing the Wolverines’ offense with a fullback, Jack Harbaugh suggested Max as a fit.

“As parents, before that, we had planned to have a tough conversation with him,” Mike said. “He had been buried on the depth chart. And it was his second year with out-of-state tuition: $78,000. That was going to be a tough talk.”

Fortunately, the endangered position gave Max an identity. He swapped his bland No. 82 for a more menacing No. 44. He gained almost 60 pounds. These developments coincided with his growing voice in the locker room, where he was respected enough to yell, beat his chest and smack his helmet without repercussions.

Max joined Ben as a two-time Michigan captain. He carved out a niche.

“If I had to coach one more football practice for the rest of my life and pick somebody to go coach,” Casula said, “it’d be him.”

Vikings staffers might not be ready to go that far with their praise. But their respect for Bredeson is apparent in the number of snaps he gets in training camp.

Attend one of the team’s joint practices this week with the Baltimore Ravens. Keeping your eye on Bredeson is as hard as tracking a ball beneath shuffling cups. He starts there. Then he moves there. Then he returns to the starting point.

There is no hesitation, no mistake, no uncertainty. Max knows where he’s supposed to be. And he’ll get there. He always has.

I knew this was a homerun pick when we got him. He is an intelligent, lunch pail guy that has great athleticism for his size and isn't afraid to get dirty. For a 5th round pick that could be an integral part of your offense it was a savvy pick. The entire draft exudes athleticism.

Kmerry82 wrote:

I knew this was a homerun pick when we got him. He is an intelligent, lunch pail guy that has great athleticism for his size and isn't afraid to get dirty. For a 5th round pick that could be an integral part of your offense it was a savvy pick. The entire draft exudes athleticism.

I knew it as well, but I'm sure everyone thought I was being a Michigan homer. They wanted him because they have a plan for him. Already practicing and playing with the starters. Versatile. As a blocker, he's sticky with players bigger than him and overpowering to players his size or smaller. Already got that catch on film, I laughed when it happened....he'll catch more.