Bredesons have a long Metro family football tree

CEDAR RAPIDS - He made Bob Brooks do a double take, though he probably wasn't the only one.The longtime radio broadcaster was at a football game last year at Kingston Stadium, when he spotted Vern Bredeson in the stands. On the Washington side, wearing a Washington sweat shirt, no less.Bredeson was the last head football coach at Wilson High School in 1956 and then was an assistant for 26 years at Cedar Rapids Jefferson. He coached baseball at the school for 20 years and won a state championship.Let's just say the Wash-Jeff rivalry in the 1960s and 70s was a strong one in every sport. Especially football.“He always hated Washington,” Bredeson's son, Jon, said with a laugh. “So to get him to wear the red jersey, that Wash hat, was pretty cool.”“I had my Washington shirt on, and Bob couldn't believe that,” Vern said. “I told him that blood was thicker than water.”Vern was representing the red and blue because his grandson plays for Washington. Mitch Bredeson is a senior running back and the leading returning rusher in the Mississippi Valley Conference.The Warriors open the season tonight against Cedar Rapids Kennedy at Kingston Stadium. You bet grandpa will be in the house.“I just always want to make him proud,” Mitch Bredeson said. “That's the big thing, I guess.”There was a time when Jon Bredeson didn't think his father would be around to watch Mitch play. Mitch was 4 months old when Vern had quintuple-bypass heart surgery.But he survived, and looks and acts good today, especially for a soon-to-be 88-year-old man.“My hopes of seeing my father see his grandson play high school football looked pretty slim,” Jon said. “But 18 years later, here we are. Part two of a dream come true.”Part one came in the early 1980s when Vern got to see Jon and older brother Jeff play prep football. Even then it was complicated because Jon and Jeff played for Kennedy.That's where all six of Vern and Joan Bredeson's children (four girls and two boys) went to high school.“You kind of had to keep secrets,” Jon said. “You can't tell him everything. I remember the week of the Jefferson game in 1982, I was going to switch from running back to wide receiver. Normally, that's something you want to tell your dad, but I couldn't tell him. I had to keep that a secret.”“That was a surprise,” Vern said.Vern later got an opportunity to coach Jon as an assistant at Coe College. He can just sit back, relax and watch his grandson now.“Athletics have always been a big part of our family,” Mitch said. “We're an athletic family.”“I can watch my grandson play more games than I could my sons because I was always coaching,” Vern said. “When I watched them, they were playing against us. ... You loved to watch what they were doing, but, yet, you didn't want them to do too well. It's great to watch Mitch. I'm glad I lived long enough to see it. He's a talented back.”