Quarterback and wide receiver are well-known football positions, but freshman Colson Brunner hopes to put one particular position on the map: long snapper. 

Brunner, the long snapper for the CWU football team, received first-team All-Conference Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) honors last season. 

“People are realizing that ‘Hey, we’re a real position,’” Brunner said. “We’re not just some [offensive] lineman that throws the ball through our legs.” 

Brunner said he was surprised the GNAC had long snappers on the First Team to begin with. 

“I was shocked. Are you kidding me?” Brunner said. “I was excited and immediately screenshot it, sent it out to all of my family and everyone was excited and hyped up for me, but I was really surprised.”  

Brunner’s biggest line of support throughout the season came from his family.

“[I’m] a real family based guy, through and through. My mom went to all the camps with me, and my dad was the one who caught all of my snaps,” Brunner said. “I have my sister Shelby, she’s the same thing, she’s the one who keeps it 100% real with me.”

Brunner grew up in Cashmere, Washington working on a cherry and pear orchard. He started working out in the fields when he was eight years old. 

“I take really big pride in being from Cashmere because I know it’s a real blue collar community. It’s hard work. It’s closely knit,” Brunner said. “There’s so much support coming from Cashmere, and I feel that to this day and I’m gonna feel it for the rest of my playing career. So I take huge pride in being from there.” 

Brunner said he has a passion for the outdoors and most of his favorite activities stem from his childhood.  

“I love hunting and fishing,” Brunner said. “That is something I enjoy. So like Cashmere, if it’s hunting season, you’re hunting. If it’s in season, you’re going bass fishing. In the winter time, go up to Fish Lake and go ice fishing.”

With CWU moving conferences from the GNAC to the Lone Star Conference this upcoming season, Brunner has his eyes on much more than first team all-conference. 

“The goal is first team, that’s what my expectations are, to get first team again and retain that award,” he said. “Then the next step from there is to get more recognition and more awards that’s not just Lone Star, maybe an All-American.” 

Brunner said his expectations are high and so are the standards he sets for himself. 

“On the field, I’m a perfectionist. My job is to be perfect every time and if I get noticed, that’s a terrible thing,” Brunner said. “So if my snaps are not perfect, I don’t like it. I go through all of my film, even from practice and in games, and I’m like, ‘That snap was bad because I hit him left hip instead of right hip.’ It’s very minor details but it matters to me.”