Ben Brahmer's emergence as a leader for Iowa State football shows promise for the future

AMES — Ben Brahmer has contributed to Iowa State’s offense from the moment he arrived on campus.

That was evident by his stat line from the very first game of his college career: One reception for 36 yards and a touchdown.

Brahmer reeled in the pass from Rocco Becht, ran it the rest of the way into the end zone and pointed to the sky as he made his way back to his teammates to celebrate.

About 15 rows away in the stands, Brahmer’s mother, grandfather, his sister and her fiancé celebrated too, watching a kid who had played high school football less than a year ago find the end zone in his first college game. His sister captured the whole moment on video.

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Away from the family, in another part of Jack Trice Stadium, Brahmer’s father, Mark, celebrated too. For the first time in at least four years, Mark — who coached Ben at Pierce High School in Nebraska — got to celebrate.

“When you coach your own son, I always felt I had to be harder on him,” Mark told the Des Moines Register. “I couldn’t be a cheerleader because I wanted him to be fully accepted by his teammates. When he would score in high school, I had to stay pretty even keel.”

In that game against Northern Iowa, though, Mark was able to stand up, celebrate and show more emotion than he ever had in four years sharing a sideline with Ben.

Little did he — and maybe even Iowa State’s staff — know then that Brahmer would become a large piece of the Cyclones’ offense as a true freshman.

Brahmer’s rise to the top three of the tight end rotation

The freshman tight end has 17 receptions for 236 yards and two touchdowns through Iowa State’s first eight games.

Brahmer didn’t score any touchdowns against Baylor, but it was his most prolific game, with a career-high 69 yards and a career-long 48-yard reception.

At 6-foot-7, 240 pounds — 25 pounds heavier than his high school weight listed on recruiting sites — Brahmer is built for success as a college tight end. He had a lot of success at the high school level, as well, finishing his career with two state titles and two runner-up finishes.

Even in high school, Brahmer played deep into November for a program with high expectations.

But as much as it may seem like Brahmer came in ready to play the college game, it took months of hard work to get the true freshman to a place where he could score a touchdown in the season opener.

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Part of that is because of timing. Brahmer joined Iowa State when the Cyclones were young at the tight end position. He’s learned from veterans like Easton Dean, but there was room for Brahmer to work his way into the rotation.

Brahmer also has the benefit of learning from Taylor Mouser, the Cyclones’ tight ends coach. That is who Mark assigns credit to when asked about how he’s seen Ben develop between leaving high school and now.

“(Coach) Mouser’s not only a tremendous man but he’s also a good football coach for a younger guy who’s been in the business only maybe 10 or 11 years,” Mark said. “I’d say he’s as good as any tight ends coach in the nation, or right up there.”

Mark knows his son is in good hands and it’s clear, to him, that Ben has developed under Mouser’s leadership, in addition to coaching from offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase and head coach Matt Campbell.

But when he sent his son off to Iowa State, Mark also challenged Ben to lead by example, even as a freshman.

And, according to Becht and Scheelhaase, Brahmer has done just that.

Brahmer emerges as an unlikely, but promising, leader

“Ben, by nature, is kind of a quiet guy,” Mark said.

But ask Iowa State’s quarterback, and Becht says differently about Brahmer.

Becht, like all of his teammates, took the non-conference loss to Ohio hard. Out of the loss, though, some leaders emerged. When asked if there was a player who came forward and was vocal after that loss, Becht, without hesitation, said Brahmer’s name.

“He loves football, he loves the game, he really wanted (the win) bad,” Becht said. “I don’t think he took his helmet off for 20 minutes after the game. He’s become a leader on this team as a young kid.”

Brahmer’s ability to step into a leadership role as a freshman is unsurprising to his father, and it made sense to Scheelhaase. The Cyclones offensive coordinator saw an early maturity in Brahmer that can be rare for a first-year college player.

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Scheelhaase said that Brahmer’s maturity is a credit to the way he was coached in the past and that it’s similar to how they operate at Iowa State.

“He’s got an ability to see how things are supposed to be done,” Scheelhaase said. “That’s all he knows. He only knows the right way because that’s how his mom and dad raised him. That’s how his dad coached him.”

But above the character and maturity that Brahmer came to Iowa State with, Scheelhaase points to how the freshman tight end leads by example when explaining why teammates listen to him.

The Cyclones coordinator described Brahmer as a guy who has “put in everything that he could to be the best player that be could be so (Iowa State) could be the best team it could be.”

There is no magic formula to how Brahmer became a vocal leader as a freshman.

Ask his teammates, ask his coaches, ask his father and the answer will be the same: That’s just who Ben Brahmer is.

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Nothing shows that more than how Brahmer performs in practice. Scheelhaase described how Brahmer, a backup on special teams, ran through a drill, giving it his all at 9 a.m. on a Tuesday. He’s different because of how he works.

While Brahmer was the individual who Becht spotlighted for his leadership, his ability to step into that role as a freshman is a sign of things to come for this young Iowa State team.

And he isn’t the only freshman who could be a leader early in their Cyclones career.

“The other young guys who I do feel like have (the) leadership capacity to them, it’s because of how they work, it’s because of how they prepare,” Scheelhaase said.

“It’s because Ben Brahmer is here at the same time every day, does the same things. It’s because those guys take care of their academics, they work hard in the weight room, they practice hard every day.”

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State football freshman tight end Ben Brahmer emerges as a leader