ANN ARBOR >> Every home game at Michigan Stadium, Max Bredeson runs out of the tunnel with his teammates, jumps and touches the “Go Blue” banner at midfield, then transforms once he reaches the sideline. He removes his helmet, and with the players gathered around, launches into an impassioned speech, looking his teammates in their eyes as he speaks with fury to motivate.

The moment is captured each home game on the videoboard, and proud older brother Jack, 28 and a former Michigan pitcher, has the cellphone footage to prove it.

“It’s hard to remember sometimes,” fullback/tight end Max Bredeson said of those pregame moments, “but yeah, it’s just getting my guys going. It’s my role on the team, it’s my mindset. It’s a different personality I have now than what you see in that huddle. It’s just about getting my guys going and ready to roll.”

He is a ferocious blocker, the epitome of laying it all on the line. Former Michigan tight end Jake Butt, now a Big Ten Network college football analyst, recently gushed about Bredeson in a social media post in the most football-flattering way possible.

“Max Bredeson plays every play like it’s his last,” Butt wrote.

Offensive line coach Grant Newsome — who played on the line at Michigan with brother Ben Bredeson, now 26 and playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — endearingly refers to the youngest Bredeson as playing the game like “someone who’s got a couple of screws loose.”

Max smiled when he heard the comment from Newsome.

“I like it,” said the 6-foot- 2, 240-pound Bredeson, who’s in his fourth season.

“It’s who they need me to be. I’ll be whatever Michigan wants me to be in whatever moment it takes. That is the person I have to be, and I love being that guy.”

Who he is, is his own man. He’s the youngest of three.

His athletically gifted older brothers are 7 and 5 years older and have never been anything but lovingly adoring of their little brother. The Bredeson boys played hockey — their father built a rink in the backyard — football and baseball. Jack excelled at baseball and later was a member of Michigan’s 2019 national championship runner-up team. Ben excelled at football and is now an NFL offensive lineman. Max always tagged along to their practices but was never the annoying little brother.

“He’s really one of the most self-sufficient kids I’ve ever met,” said Jack, who works for the New York Mets as manager of player improvement initiatives. “Ben and I were just talking about how I’d be at a baseball game and Max is in the outfield just climbing trees by himself and doing unique little things to keep himself busy.”

“Looking back now,” Ben said, “when we’d be at practice, he would just go and run around a hockey rink by himself, and he never complained once.”

Growing up in their Hartland, Wisconsin, neighborhood, Jack said there were about two dozen kids their ages. Max was the lone kid who didn’t have anyone his age whom he could hang out with.

“Max was always required to play up with us,” Jack said.

“I will say, he never gave up. Never thought I’m out of this fight because they’re bigger than me, or anything like that. That’s something looking back on, it’s an impressive attitude. I think a lot of 8-year-olds would kind of just give up because we’re running around them, but he stuck his nose in there every time. He was never scared.”

With Jack and Ben at Michigan, Max learned to love the place. He was playing baseball and football in high school, but he was in Ann Arbor as often as possible to watch his brothers’ games and attend football camps. He gravitated toward then-Michigan baseball coach Erik Bakich and then-Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh.

“From being around it at such a young age, I think he had a really cool opportunity to see all Ben’s success and see the baseball team have a good run in 2019,” Jack said.

“He was in Omaha (for the College World Series) with us every single game. Seeing all that come to life as a kid I think probably, subconsciously, had an impact on him. But all the credit in the world to him for embracing that.”

Max was a dual-threat quarterback in high school. He was having a terrific senior year, with 822 yards passing, 711 yards rushing and 14 total touchdowns, when he suffered a season-ending leg injury.

Still, Max was determined to make it to Michigan to play football, following his brothers but creating his own path.

While Max dealt with injuries, Jack said he and Ben wondered if Michigan would be the right place for their little brother. Max had made up his mind, though, and told them Michigan was where he wanted to be and would be. He was going to follow through on his plan to be a Wolverine just as they were and joined the football teams as a walk-on.

“We started thinking, ‘Is Max actually going to be able to play at Michigan once he gets the offer and commits as a walk-on?’” Jack said.

“The next step was, is he actually going to play here and contribute, or is he just going to be in not that significant a role? “I still remember Max saying right after he committed, ‘I wonder if the coaches offered me knowing that I’m going to play here, because I am gonna play here.’ There was always that self-confidence but just seeing that step-by-step process grow, Max looks like a kid you’re never going to count out of the fight for anything. That’s a belief in himself to really go in there and make an impact.

It’s a very selfless role he’s in. I think his love for the University of Michigan and his teammates really allows him to excel in that fullback role, because there’s nobody that loves or has more pride for Michigan than Max, which is really awesome for us to see from afar.”

Max was voted a team captain this season by his teammates. Ben was a twotime captain in 2018-2019.

“That was the biggest honor of my life, and Max felt the same way,” Ben said.

“Being able to watch Max go from the little kid running around with us in the cul-desac to a high school quarterback, to a walk-on at Michigan, to becoming the team captain, it was a very full-circle moment when you got to watch him run out there for the coin toss. Having the team view him as one of their guys, one of their leaders to turn to when things are going wrong, it’s a huge honor. It makes me so proud of him that he’s respected in such a way and that he’s put in the work to earn it.”

There are countless examples of Max’s tough blocking and tone-setting moments this season. The most memorable was on fourth-and-1 against USC when he made a huge block and hole for Kalel Mullings’ 1-yard touchdown with 37 seconds left in a 27- 24 victory.

“The old-school football coaches love those type of guys,” Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said of Bredeson.

No one loves Max like his older brothers. They had their athletic careers at Michigan, but they’re in awe of their little brother, the self-made athlete who defied odds and has reached the pinnacle as a captain.

They love that people see the fiery side of Max and his motivational enthusiasm before games, but Jack and Ben want it understood that Max, away from football, is one of the funniest, most entertaining individuals they’ve ever been around.

“He’s a very caring brother,” Ben said. “He’s very caring to all the people in his life, and he’s just a really great kid. It’s been awesome being able to see him live out his dream and be able to contribute to this team. Watching him go on and win the national championship, win some Big Ten titles as a team, it’s been a dream come true for all of us. And watching Max grow up and become the player and the man he is, it’s very rewarding for us.”