By Greg Bates
Correspondent
DE PERE – There have been quite a few unsung heroes on this year’s De Pere football team.
Luke Brosig could be classified as one of those players.
The senior outside linebacker is third on the team in tackles with 47 and has a team-leading three sacks.
Brosig, a second-year starter, said he loves playing defense.
“It goes back to the aggressiveness and being able to be wild out there,” Brosig said. “Offense is scripted. Being a linebacker, you can run around and create havoc.”
Brosig and his two fellow starting linebackers, Caleb Rinard and Michael Alexander, have been good at creating havoc.
“We make lots of plays for each other, but the guy who makes the play might not get the tackle,” Brosig said. “We work like a fist and work together. We all play selfless and make lots of good plays.”
De Pere, which has gone a combined 15-1 during the last two seasons, is 8-1 this season, won the Fox River Classic Conference-North championship and earned a No. 1 seed in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 2 playoffs.
“It’s lots of fun going to practice every day,” Brosig said. “Lots of other teams can’t say that. They might dread practice, but everyone (on our team) enjoys coming to practice and getting better. We haven’t lost in our new stadium yet, so that’s even more fun.”
Along with football, Brosig plays baseball at De Pere.
He started last season, getting time at pitcher, second base and shortstop.
Which is his favorite sport?
“It’s hard,” Brosig said. “I run in seasons – when it’s baseball season, I like baseball more, but when it’s football season, I like football more.”
Brosig said both sports have taught him valuable lessons he transfers from one sport to the other.
That’s especially true in baseball, where a hitter is going to fail at the plate more often than collect a hit.
“When you fail in baseball, you have to come back from it,” Brosig, who is a big Wisconsin athletics backer, said. “Like in football, if we give up a big touchdown or a big play, you have to come back. If you don’t, you’re going to lose. They’re both interchangeable. Especially in life, you’re going to fail, but you’ve got to come back from that.”
When the pandemic wiped out Brosig’s sophomore baseball season, he put his free time to good use, volunteering a couple of times a month at Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin in Appleton.
He and a couple of friends helped box up food that is distributed to those in need.
“It was mostly during the COVID-19 pandemic because I didn’t have sports going on, but I hope to pick that back up in the winter,” Brosig said.
Along with being an accomplished athlete, Brosig is a solid student.
His grade-point average is hovering around 3.0.
“You can be as good as you want in athletics, but the only way you’re going to make it to the next level is your academics,” Brosig said. “It’s important both of them work hand in hand.”
Brosig has yet to decide on his plans after high school, but he wants to play a college sport.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to play college football or baseball,” he said. “I’ve got to weigh the options and see if an opportunity fits me and my family.”
Brosig hasn’t received any college offers yet, but he’s had some football scouts approach him after some recent games.
He said playing Division III would be a good level.
“I’m a little undersized for a linebacker,” Brosig, who weighs 190 pounds, said. “There’s competitive football at Division III in the state with Oshkosh and Whitewater.”
Brosig estimates he’s 75% certain he’ll compete in a college sport.
“Lots of people are telling me, ‘You have to try and pursue college because you’d be a good player,’” Brosig said. “Hearing that makes it an easier decision to continue to play.”
Brosig has been looking into sports management programs at colleges.
He said he loves sports and would enjoy being around them as a profession.
He also sees coaching football in his future.
Outside of playing sports, Brosig said he loves hanging out with friends.
“We play flag football,” he said. “We do anything outside and enjoy that. I like fishing and playing video games as well.”
Brosig said he also enjoys spending time with his parents, Rob and Sue, and his 21-year-old sister, Sarah.
“I enjoy family time, especially in season,” he said. “My family always comes to my games. I can’t hang out with them as much in season, but I enjoy hanging out with them every chance I can. In the offseason, for sure, I hang out with them all the time.”
Brosig said he looks forward to family activities.
“In winter, which is my season off, my mom, we always go tubing,” he said. “We go to some tubing hills. Then my dad, in the winter, we go hunting.”
Sports editor’s note: To read a recent Nicolet National Bank Senior Spotlight on Pulaski’s Will Steeno, CLICK HERE.