{"id":2457698,"date":"2020-04-26T16:55:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-26T22:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/football-career-sets-roadmap-for-former-rifle-standout-brooks-pressler\/"},"modified":"2020-04-26T16:55:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-26T22:55:00","slug":"football-career-sets-roadmap-for-former-rifle-standout-brooks-pressler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/football-career-sets-roadmap-for-former-rifle-standout-brooks-pressler\/","title":{"rendered":"Football career sets roadmap for former Rifle standout Brooks Pressler"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"664\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireFOOTBALL-atd-042720-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireFOOTBALL-atd-042720-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireFOOTBALL-atd-042720-1-300x195.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireFOOTBALL-atd-042720-1-768x498.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption><strong>Former Rifle standout Brooks Pressler plays football for Colorado Mesa University. Photo courtesy of Paul Cloud\/paulcloud.zenfolio.com.<\/strong><br \/><em>Paul Cloud\/courtesy photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">Football shaped former Rifle High School standout Brooks Pressler.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Amid nearly 15 years of injuries, setbacks and saying goodbye to teammates, he pushed through \u2014 setting himself up with a foundation of perseverance moving forward into non-athletic life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The injuries he sustained as a pre-collegiate athlete are well-known. A high ankle sprain was the culprit behind diluting much of Pressler\u2019s final attempt at a state title.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Once he entered Colorado Mesa University, courtesy of a scholarship, the drive began anew for a championship.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI looked up to so many guys that were older than me. Once I was finally a college football player, I wanted to be a role model for those younger than me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Life had other plans, however. Pressler suffered a torn ACL in his second season, followed by a fractured foot and hand in his third and fourth seasons, respectively. Ailments limited him to six games in his career as a hybrid safety\/linebacker at CMU.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Still, he was able to be part of three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championships before graduating this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI really think my career would\u2019ve gone better if the injuries weren\u2019t in the way,\u201d Pressler said. \u201cUnfortunately, there\u2019s nothing you can do about that. I think the only thing that kept me going was (my mindset of) sticking with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">All the while, playing or inactive, Pressler made sure to keep a focus on his main goal: success in school.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Following his final year as a Maverick, Pressler was named to the National Football Foundation\u2019s Hampshire Honor Society. His 3.75 grade-point average as a senior was merely a portion of his 3.4 college GPA. Six of his teammates were also named to the list of athletes who finished the year with at least a 3.2 GPA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI believe that football was secondary, and school is what allowed me to play football,\u201d Pressler said. \u201cIf there was no school, there was no football. What you\u2019re taking out of school is what\u2019s going to provide you with tools to be successful in life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The whole process saw Pressler\u2019s parents take a passenger role. After coaching him for many years, Rod Pressler, his father, allowed him to transfer high schools, going from Coal Ridge to Rifle for his senior season in 2014-15.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Brooks was in charge of every decision from battling through rehab and surgeries to picking a college destination.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThere were times, with the ups and downs, where I felt guilty,\u201d Rod said. \u201cI go, \u2018Why did I even introduce them to sports?\u2019 Those things run through your mind. But then your kid comes back and tells you that they were some of the best experiences he ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Following graduation, Pressler has found multiple new passions and challenges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Alongside helping his dad with drywall, he also picked up hours as a substitute teacher at his alma mater in Rifle before school went digital because of the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Yet his final destination still isn\u2019t known. What\u2019s certain is the challenges he\u2019s experienced so far have Brooks on a path for success \u2014 something which his father realized standing on the field during senior day in Grand Junction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYou\u2019re just so proud as a parent,\u201d Rod said. \u201c(It\u2019s great) to be recognized for seeing this through, and these are not just athletic achievements, but these are academic achievements. It goes a long way for a parent. These are things that are just going to make him stronger and build his future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:lzahlmann@postindependent.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lzahlmann@postindependent.com<\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/football-career-sets-roadmap-for-former-rifle-standout-brooks-pressler\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Rifle standout Brooks Pressler plays football for Colorado Mesa University. Photo courtesy of Paul Cloud\/paulcloud.zenfolio.com.Paul Cloud\/courtesy photo Football shaped former Rifle High School standout Brooks Pressler. Amid nearly 15 years of injuries, setbacks and saying goodbye to teammates, he pushed through \u2014 setting himself up with a foundation of perseverance moving forward into non-athletic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2457698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-17 22:58:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2457698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457698\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2457698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2457698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2457698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}