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Junior quarterback Josh Brehm of Alma also helps with a fund that honors a teammate killed in a truck accident last November.Alma's program is more than football
Players such as Brehm go far beyond the field, applying what they learn to community building.
The Scots, defending champion in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, take the field before facing Aurora in their opener. Jim Cole has been their coach for 22 years.
Where in Michigan?
Which campus should Terry Foster be sure to visit as he seeks out unique traditions and special people at college football stadiums around Michigan?
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Ann Stump and her husband, Jim, prepare food for Alma's parents' tailgate following Saturday's 48-12 victory over Aurora (Ill.).
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ALMA, Mich. -- Junior Josh Brehm is wearing a gray T-shirt and white shorts, seeking shade and sipping fluids less than an hour after leading Alma College to a 48-12 season-opening victory over Aurora (Ill.).
It is a sun-drenched and muggy day outside the Hogan Physical Education Center as fans sit in lawn chairs talking about Saturday's game.
"Hey, who wants something to drink?" Brehm asks during a weekly parents tailgate that feeds up to 500 people after every game.
Brehm reaches into an ice chest and tosses three water bottles to friends and family members. Now his official stats read 15-of-30 passing for 169 yards and three touchdowns -- and three completed water bottles.
His sharing never ends. He is always trying to set up others.
Besides helping to start a fund for a fallen teammate, Brehm is involved with a student group, studies late, attends classes, helps companies learn to use their workout equipment and is the big man on campus as quarterback of the Scots, the defending Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association champions.
Brehm would be a novelty at any Division I school. At Alma, a Division III school, he is just one of the gang, because community work and outside interests are encouraged by the administration.
"Our mission statement is we prepare graduates who think critically, serve generously, lead purposefully and live responsibly as stewards of the world they bequeath to future generations," Alma president Dr. Saundra Tracy said as she watched the game from the bleachers.
How often do football programs lose players to academic pursuits or for the opportunity to study abroad?
"Football is the best example of it, but all of our programs are community builders," Tracy said. "There are so many opportunities to show the positives that the students have in the college community and the Alma community."
Brehm and his teammates are involved in their most important and emotional off-field challenge. On the afternoon of Nov. 24, a few days after Alma clinched its second MIAA title in three years, reserve lineman Joe Nelson, a lovable, hardworking player who had more injuries than game experience, hopped into his truck.
The roads from Alma to his home in Shepard were slick with ice, but it was a drive Nelson had made a hundred times. This time he lost control, flipped his truck and was killed instantly the day before Thanksgiving.
Brehm did not want Nelson's memory to disappear. He worked with the Student Athletic Advisory Committee and persuaded his dad, Steve, to front the money for 2,000 wristbands to spur the Joe Nelson Memorial Fund.
Scott said most in the administration wear the maroon wristbands. She also said she hopes the school will be able to raise $10,000 for a scholarship in Nelson's memory. It would be awarded to a student seeking a career in education and coaching, which Nelson had hoped to do.
"He was always there for moral support, and he had a great work ethic," Brehm said. "He just kept going and going and he loved the Alma program, and he gave everything he could."
The team has dedicated the season to Nelson.
"Right here," said senior running back Mat Lambourn, tapping a number 73 decal on the back of his helmet. "It was a hard experience for all of us to get through, but he is in all of our hearts. And I think it brought us all closer together."
Brehm began his career at Michigan Tech. But he left the school when the football program was shut down temporarily. He gave up a scholarship but has found much more at Alma.
"He is a great kid, a caring kid and a kid with a big heart," coach Jim Cole said. "He cares about his teammates more than a lot of kids, too, and they feed off of that. That is the type of leadership he shows."
Alma is a college of 1,200 students founded by Michigan Presbyterians in 1886. About 34 percent of the student body is involved in athletics, and they play for love of the game. There are no scholarships, and the annual tuition is around $30,000.
Players are not sequestered in hotels the way they are at Division I programs. They sleep in dorms and off-campus apartments and walk over to the physical education building for taping and rubdowns.
Friends and family members hug their heroes and slap them on their shoulders before they go inside to prepare. Cole leans against the building embracing his daughter, Jaycee, while fans wish him luck.
"My wife said this was supposed to be a steppingstone, and we've been here 22 years," Cole said. "The kids play only because they love it. If they leave early, it is only to chase other goals in academics. You don't have to worry about who is on scholarship and who is not on scholarship. It changes the atmosphere both in the meeting rooms and on the field. You give up the lights and a little money just to coach this."
You can reach Terry Foster at (313) 222-1494 or terry.foster@detnews.com.
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