The standout player has spent his entire life surrounded by football, but at the NFL scouting combine, he made one thing clear: he’s not just the regular son of a formal NFL star; he’s his own man. With every drill, every interview, and every measured response, he sent a message to all 32 teams: he’s ready to carve out his own legacy. The former Washington Huskies linebacker showcased his instincts, athleticism, and leadership, proving that his NFL dreams aren’t built on family ties but rather on years of relentless hard work.
When Washington inside linebacker, Mark Bruener entered a meeting with Pittsburgh Steelers personnel at the East-West Shrine Bowl last month, he required few introductions.
Among those at the table that day in Arlington, Texas, was Carson’s father, Mark Bruener, a Steelers scout.
“I made a joke when he stood up,” Carson Bruener recalled this week at the NFL scouting combine “I was like ‘back wall’ and he was like ‘I got you, I got you.’”
Actually, Mark Bruener — a college scout for the Steelers since 2014 — had already started to head away from the table and to the back of the room the minute Carson entered the room.
“He knew he was going to leave no matter what and kind of walked into the back wall, because he doesn’t want to be the hovering parent and just kind of eavesdrop and listen in,” Carson said. “He knows everything about me already — we talk every single day. So it was something where he wanted me to get that true experience that every other player is getting, which is not having your dad kind of sitting right there.“
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