Much to his dismay as well as that of his teammates and coaches, Brendan Brehmer’s senior football season at Chadron State College was really short. Early in the second quarter of the season-opener at Angelo State in Texas on Sept. 1, he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, ending both his season and career on the gridiron.
It was the second time he suffered that injury during his collegiate career.
“I was really depressed for several days after it happened,” said Brehmer, a 2017 graduate of Alliance High School and a starting safety for the Eagles the past two years and again this fall. “I was really looking forward to this season. I had high expectations for myself and the team. Since then, I’ve kind of accepted the injury and know it’s something that can happen in about any sport or even other activities.
“At least, it wasn’t an injury that will cripple me for life,” Brehmer added. “I’ll have the surgery in a week or so, be on crutches and rehabilitate for a while, then will go to the practices and try to help encourage and work with the guys in the secondary.”
Even though he missed most of the 2019 season because of the first torn ACL, Brehmer was the team’s most experienced defensive back and a team leader. He was one of the three players Head Coach Jay Long asked to accompany him to a pre-season Eagles Booster Club gathering on Aug. 29 where CSC coaches previewed their team’s prospects.
When it was his turn to speak, Brehmer told how he was excited about the season. He felt cheated since he had missed most of 2019 schedule because of his first knee injury and the fact that the Eagles played only four games in 2020, when COVID disrupted all sports from high school through college. He wanted to make up for lost time this fall.
“It was a jolt when we lost Brendan,” CSC Defensive Coordinator Clint Sasse said. “He’s an Eagle through and through. He was tough, smart and a very physical player. He gave us everything he had every play.”
This was to be Brehmer’s sixth year at Chadron State. Like most true freshmen, he redshirted in the fall of 2017 and also got an extra year when the NCAA ruled 2020 didn’t count as a year of eligibility.
Brehmer’s latest injury was freakish. He was on the punt coverage special team, had sprinted downfield, was trying to help tackle the Angelo State punt returner, was wrapping him up, but collided with a teammate who was also seeking to make the tackle and all three fell awkwardly to the turf.
“My knee hurt, not really bad,” he recalls, “but I had trouble getting up. After they helped me off the field, I put a brace on my leg, tried to run a little and went back out onto the field for the next series. I played a couple of downs, tried to cut once and could tell something wasn’t right. My knee was pretty unstable. By the time I went back to the sidelines, I figured I was done for.”
Further examination by the Chadron State trainers made them suspicious that Brehmer had a torn ACL. Following the bus ride back to Chadron, the injury was confirmed. Surgery will probably occur next week.
Brehmer has a long love affair with Chadron State football. He and his mother, Melanie, lived in Chadron when he was a kindergartner through the seventh grade. He attended the playoff game in 2007, when Chadron State scored 36 points in the fourth quarter to tie Abilene Christian 56-56 and then beat the Texas team 76-73 in triple overtime.
“I was 9 at the time and was at that game.” he recalls. “I was among those who stormed onto the field afterwards to celebrate.”
He also recalls the other “Danny Woodhead-Joe McLain” years when the Eagles dominated the RMAC and were national contenders. He and his mother moved to Alliance after he had completed the seventh grade in Chadron.
He became a three-sport standout for the Bulldogs, earning all-Western Conference honors in football as both a junior and a senior, led the Panhandle 11-man players with five interceptions as a junior, and was a first-team Class B all-state choice that fall. In addition, he was a starter on the basketball team and qualified for the state track meet three times in the 300 hurdles and on relay teams.
While he visited a couple of other colleges during his senior year at Alliance High, he said Chadron State had been his top choice all along.
Like nearly all true freshmen, he redshirted in the fall of 2017. The next year he saw considerable action at safety while backing up veterans Tyree Fryar and Zech James. That season he also was a “dog soldier,” someone who is a member of at least four special teams. He was credited with 14 unassisted and four assisted tackles and also recovered a blocked punt.
In addition, he led the defensive backs in tackles against New Mexico Highlands and received the “hammer award” vs. Western Colorado. It goes to the player voted by the team members as the standout on the special teams for that game. While carrying a huge sledge hammer, the recipient gets to lead the team onto the field for the next game.
His 2019 season was frustrating. He had been designated a starter, but pulled the hamstring in his right leg just prior to the season opener and missed the first three games. He finally got to start in the fourth game against Colorado Mesa, took part in four tackles and broke up two passes before suffering the ACL injury near the end of the game.
“It was really the only game I played in that year,” Brehmer remembers. “Of course, I was disappointed and down in the dumps kind of like I have been after this injury. But I worked hard while rehabilitating and getting ready for the 2020 season, when we got to play only four games. I started all of them and played most of the time in all four.”
The 2020 team stats show that he was involved in 17 tackles, 11 of them unassisted, made two tackles for lost yardage and broke up a pass.
The 2021 season was an excellent one for Brehmer. He played nearly full-time in all 11 games, had no significant injuries, made 32 solo tackles and 22 assisted stops, had 4 ½ tackles for negative yards, forced two fumbles, broke up a pass and blocked a punt against Angelo State when the Rams visited Chadron.
Despite his latest setback, he has plenty to look forward to. He will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in range management in December. He became interested in that subject while working several summers on the ranch belonging to his maternal grandparents, Gary and LaVerna Paul of Gordon. His mother and step-father, Scott Sterkel, a Lingle, Wyo., native and a starting defensive back for the Eagles in the early 2000s, also reside on the ranch. Someday, he hopes to live there, too.
In addition, Brendan has a romantic interest that promises to have bright future. For nearly three years he has dated Karli Noble, a Cheyenne South High School graduate who was an excellent defensive specialist and libero for the CSC volleyball team. During her final three seasons on the team, she played in all but one of the Eagles’ 253 sets.
Her achievements also include being recognized by the National Strength and Conditioning Association as an All-American weight lifter in 2021. She and former CSC football standout Cole Thurness were the first CSC athletes to receive the honor.
“She’s my first real girlfriend and she’ll also be the last,” Brehmer said with a gleam in his eye.