While a lot of former Bulldog football players go on to great success at universities and colleges after graduation, two phenomenal athletes had special seasons this year and the Citizen-Tribune would like to highlight them and their accomplishments.

 

 

Senior Dawson Brown was a playmaker from the beginning of his Bethel career and leaves as the third leading tackler in Bethel football history with 250 career tackles. 

 

“Football is a great avenue for life because it’s difficult, and I’m extremely thankful for my coaches and teammates that pushed me to be better on and off the field in my four years at Bethel,” he said. 

 

After starting his first two seasons as an outside linebacker, gaining first team All-Conference recognition at the position as a sophomore, Brown switched to safety for his junior and senior years and was a two-time MIAC All-Conference selection there. He earned his second consecutive second team All-Region award from D3football.com this season.

 

Brown was also named to the 2018 CoSIDA Google Cloud Football Academic All-District Team as the Biokinetics major holds a 3.74 cumulative GPA.

 

In his senior year, Brown ranked second on the Royals with 50 tackles, just three behind team leader Drew Ragsdale with 53.

 

Brown's five picks led the Royals and he ranks second in the MIAC behind conference leader Sam Gerrety (six interceptions).

 

Brown was also one of two Royals named to the American Football Coaches Association’s (AFCA) 2018 First and Second Team NCAA DIII All-Americans. Brown (1st Team) and teammate Kyle Kilgore (2nd Team) are the 15th and 16th selections to the AFCA All-America teams for the Bethel Royals. 

 

The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and currently selects teams in all five of its divisions. What makes these teams so special is that they are the only ones chosen exclusively by the men who know the players the best — the coaches themselves.

 

Also in 2018, Brown was the Royals’ second leading tackler and 10th in the MIAC with 81 total tackles. In Bethel's first two games of the season, Brown recorded 13 tackles in each game while totaling nine tackles against both St. Thomas and North Central in the NCAA Playoffs. The Becker native led the MIAC in interceptions with six while ranking t-8th in the NCAA. He returned three of those interceptions for touchdowns, one of only three players in NCAA DIII to return three or more INT's for TD's.

 

Brown also ranked fifth in the MIAC with eight pass breakups to go along with a blocked kick and two and half tackles for loss. He was named the MIAC Defensive Player of the Week after week one when he led Bethel with 13 tackles and added two interceptions – one of which was returned for a touchdown – and a blocked kick in Bethel's 41-29 victory at Simpson.

 

 For his career Brown did a little bit of everything on the defensive side of the ball. In addition to the career total of 250 tackles he also had 17 tackles for loss, six sacks, two forced fumbles, 14 interceptions with five career pick sixes to go along with eight blocked kicks and a blocked punt returned for a touchdown.

 

“We had three straight 5-5 years here at Bethel so this year was a special one because we were able to make the playoffs and make it to the final eight teams,” said Dawson. “It was even better because we beat St. Thomas to get there, haha. We put a lot of time into getting better as a team so it was a great way to finish my college career.” 

 

Brown’s parents were Bethel grads, his father, Todd, played there in the days before Coach Johnson got things rolling, and Dawson had attended numerous Royals games as a fan. He arrived for fall practice in 2015 expecting what he had seen from the stands: fierce football and many victories.

 

“I loved my time at Bethel and the lessons and work ethic I developed here will continue after college,” said Dawson. “ Bethel has been an awesome place for me to grow not only on the football field but in my faith.”

 

 

Michael Veldman began his college career in a flux, first testing the waters of NDSU his freshman year before transferring to Gustavus later on. His first two seasons at Gustavus were ill-fated as he experienced significant injuries that knocked him out of games for the first time in his life. 

 

But Veldman didn’t let that get him down. He decided to train harder, do more research, change his diet and waited for his time to shine.

 

"It definitely was hard," Veldman said. "It was a new experience for me, getting injured in football. It's not something I expected, but it happened. There's nothing I could have done."

 

In 2016, Veldman  broke his wrist as he landed after a tackle. The following year, he broke his hand when he hit it on a helmet during the follow-through of a pass. Despite missing four games due to that wrist injury in 2017, Veldman earned MIAC All-Conference honorable mention after leading the team to a 4-2 record. He completed 143-of-227 passes for 1,931 yards, 18 touchdowns, and five interceptions.

 

In 2018, he returned and shone with brilliance.

 

Oct. 29 of this year, Veldman passed for 417 yards – the second most in his career – and accounted for five total touchdowns as Gustavus cruised to a 62-28 win at Carleton for the Gusties’ fourth consecutive victory. Veldman completed 22-of-32 passes with three touchdowns through the air, in addition to two scores on the ground. Six of his completions went for 20-plus yards. For his performance, Veldman was named MIAC Football Offensive Player of the Week. 

 

“It was nice to have a full year of health,” Veldman said. “It’s tough just hanging out on the sidelines and not being on the field.”

 

Nov.1, Veldman and volleyball setter Nora Holtan were named Gustavus Male and Female Student-Athletes of the Month, which is voted on by the Gustavus Sports Information Dept. and presented by Thrivent Financial.

 

Nov. 20,  the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) released its football postseason awards and Veldman was one of four Gustavus student-athletes named First Team All-Conference.

 

Veldman was the MIAC’s second best quarterback in 2018 with his numbers only trailing MIAC Player of the Year Jackson Erdmann. Veldman completed 195-of-335 passes (58.2 percent) for 2,615 yards (fifth most in program history), 19 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He averaged 261.5 yards per game with a 137.1 quarterback efficiency. 

 

At the conclusion of the season, Veldman was named the team’s MVP.

 

“My teammates kept me motivated and kept encouraging me,” Veldman said. “They are all great guys who care about me and I care about them.”

 

Veldman, with one season of eligibility remaining, has already proven himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the 102-season history of Gustavus football. He ranks second in career completion percentage (61.2), seventh in career passing yards (4,896), eighth in career touchdown passes (39), and eighth in career completions (365).

 

Veldman is studying business management.