Inside The Huskies

Another Bruener Joins UW Spring Football Roster

Carson's younger brother, Braydon, gives the Huskies a walk-on linebacker.

Dan Raley

In this story:

The University of Washington football team has added another Bruener to the roster, Braydon, a walk-on linebacker who comes to the Huskies as a transfer from Oregon State.

He's the son of Mark Bruener, the former UW and NFL standout tight end, and a younger brother for Carson, currently a junior linebacker with the Huskies. 

Everyone was in the football facilities on Wednesday when spring practice resumed following the quarter break, with the brothers in uniform and on the field and Mark, a Pittsburgh Steelers scout, on hand for Pro Day activities. 

The youngest of these Brueners weighs in on the slight slight, carrying a 6-foot, 190-pound frame, which is two inches shorter and 33 pounds lighter than Carson. 

For that matter, Mark, a first-round draft pick who spent 14 NFL seasons with the Steelers and Houston Texans, carried a 6-foot-4, 253-pound frame as a pro player.

Braydon Bruener (17) was singled out for his scout-team play at the Las Vegas Bowl in December.
Braydon Bruener (17) was singled out for his scout-team play leading up to the Las Vegas Bowl / Oregon State

Braydon Bruener walked on at Oregon State last year, didn't appear in a game, but he was singled out with five other players by coach Jonathan Smith for their scout-team work in preparing the Beavers for their 30-3 victory over Florida in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Prior to that, young Bruener was a two-year captain at suburban Redmond High, where he played safety, running back and wide receiver. He had 51 tackles, 4 sacks and 9 tackles for loss in his last full season as a junior.

He'll wear No. 51 for the Huskies, a jersey with plenty of family connotations to it. All-Pac-12 offensive guard Jaxson Kirkland had it for the past six UW seasons after his father Dean Kirkland, an All-Pac-10 guard in 1990, also wore it.

In the Bruener family, Carson answers to No. 42 while Mark was No. 81 and 85 in his time (1991-94) at the UW.  

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley3

Have a question, direct message me on Facebook or Twitter.

Published
Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

Home/Football