QB Magazine Athlete Feature

Bryson Kreiter is in first grade. He has been playing quarterback for three years, which means he started at three, which means he has been doing this for roughly half his life.

And when asked about the hardest thing he has faced on a football field, he gave an answer that would not be out of place coming from a high school junior.

“Having an inexperienced O-line,” the Class of 2038 quarterback said — “which helped me process things faster, and how to move out of the pocket and process.”

Read that again knowing he is six. He got hit more than he wanted to, and instead of filing it under bad luck, he decided it taught him to speed up his reads and move his feet. That is the correct lesson. Plenty of quarterbacks take years to land on it.

The Fun Part

Ask him what he enjoys most about football and the answer comes in two pieces, one expected and one not.

“Playing with my teammates,” he said — and then, without prompting, “working on my footwork and mechanics, getting better every day.”

The second half is the surprising one. Most six-year-olds enjoy the games. Bryson lists the practice as part of the fun, which is a small thing that tends to predict large things.

He trains weekly with QB Era, and was selected for and attended QB Universe. Asked what a quarterback actually needs, he rattles off a list that sounds like it came off a whiteboard: mindset, drive, work ethic, ball placement, and footwork.

Two of those are attitude. Two are technique. One is just showing up. Not bad for first grade.

Caleb

His favorite quarterback is a Chicago-area answer with a Chicago-area kid’s reasoning — and the order of it is worth noticing.

“Caleb Williams,” Bryson said. “Outstanding teammate, accountable, and makes insane throws from all angles.”

Teammate first. Accountable second. The highlight-reel throws come in third, almost as an afterthought.

Dad, Coach Borse, Coach Jonny

The people he credits are the ones who show up: his dad, Coach Borse, and Coach Jonny.

“They are always preaching how to work hard and continuing to get better at the position,” he said.

That message has clearly landed, because it comes back out of him in nearly every answer he gives. His goals for the year are simply to get a little better every day and to have an awesome first season in tackle football — which is coming up, and which will be a significant step up from what he has played so far.

Asked for his most memorable football moment, he did not pick a touchdown or a win.

“So many great moments with my teammates!”

Bryson Kreiter has an entire football life in front of him, and no idea yet where it goes. What he has right now is a weekly training habit, three coaches who tell him the truth, and a genuine enjoyment of the boring parts. For six, that is about as good a foundation as exists.

A Note on Memberships

Bryson is six years old, and his first tackle season is still ahead of him. Nothing about his football future is being decided anytime soon — and it shouldn’t be.

What a QB Magazine membership does at this age is simply keep the record. A profile and an athlete graphic give his family a place where each season gets saved as it happens, so that years from now there’s an actual account of how it started rather than a handful of phone photos. It’s a keepsake first and everything else much, much later.

Explore membership options at quarterbackmagazine.com/memberships.

Instagram: @brysonmissiles