“Playing in Michigan,” she said, “at Michigan Stadium, even though we lost that one, that was the moment where it hit for me, like, ‘Oh my God, we arrived. … That’s my kid down there playing,’”

Brosmer became a leader the minute he joined the Gophers during last year’s prep for the Quick Lane Bowl. After spring practice, he used NIL deals to help organize a trip of skill position players to join him at the lake home and in the Atlanta area for workouts and bonding. He didn’t forget about his linemen, sending them to a national camp. And during the season, he and his linemen have a weekly dinner at The Freehouse in Minneapolis where they observe one rule: No football talk.

“You can kind of get away from football and talk to each other as human beings and not football players,” Brosmer said.

Watching from afar during the week but up close on game days, Colin Brosmer has noticed the growth in his son in off-the-field duties, such as media interviews..

“He’s just real, he’s human,” Colin said of Max. “He’s not a robot. He actually engages [with the media]. That hasn’t surprised me, but I’m proud of him for that.”

Friday morning, the focus for Max Brosmer will be football and a chance to put another stamp on a season in which he’s injected the Gophers with a jolt of energy. His skills as a quarterback have helped the Gophers compete in every game, including last week’s down-to-the-wire loss to a Penn State team likely to be in the College Football Playoff. A win over Wisconsin would give him one more highlight in a year of making an immediate impact.