If you try to look up where Blake Brandel was born, you’ll find conflicting information online. His college team claims he was born in Pendleton, Oregon, while ESPN will tell you he was born in Milwaukie. It’d be a weird claim to make that the Minnesota Vikings guard was born in Pendleton (unless you were on their tourist board). Isn’t it? That almost makes it seem likelier, though completely without evidence. And even leaving aside the fact he seems to have moved to Portland later on. There’s just something more romantic to the idea that our stars come from humble beginnings.

You’ve probably never heard of Pendleton, and that’s fair enough. It only had 17,107 people in 2020, and it’s unlikely they’ve had a boom in the intervening years. Apparently, it used to historically produce wool blankets for Native Americans (no, not the smallpox blankets, this was in the 19th Century). Even though we’re not sure where he came from, we do know a bit about his family.

Who are Blake Brandel’s parents?

Right out of the gate, we have to tell you, that we have limited information on Brandel’s parents. Neither of them seems to be active on social media, and information is a little thin on the ground. But we do know that Blake’s love for football isn’t a one-off in the family. Blake’s dad, Scott Brandel, used to play a bit of college football back in the day. He was even part of the 1989 Lewis and Clark Pioneers team that was inducted into their hall of fame. The team won the Northwest Conference Regular Season Championship that year.

As little as we know about Blake’s father, his mother Tanya is even less publicly visible. But it does seem likely she worked with the Oregon Department of Human Services at some point. She was involved in an event for Christmas 2011 where foster kids were thrown a massive party with age-appropriate presents and themed activities. And at the end of the day, a pizza lunch to finish things on the right note.

Blake also has a sister named Haley we don’t know very much about. We do know he has a son of his own now though. Brandel married his college sweetheart, Natalie Stone Brandel, in 2021, and in May this year, the young couple welcomed Beau Robert Brandel into the world. Given what his dad and grandad got up to, have we got another future football star on our hands? We’re kidding, but hey, who knows?

Why did they think he wouldn’t succeed in football?

Blake Brandel’s definitively made it big in football. He’s been with the Minnesota Vikings since 2021, but he’s finally got to the point he’s starting all their games. They’re paying him the big bucks, why wouldn’t they want to squeeze as much game time from him as possible? He’s just signed a 3-year extension for $9.5 million with a $2 million signing bonus, after all. Though his parents must be happy for him, they couldn’t have expected he’d reach these heights.

He’d abandoned football at one point, before his freshman year of high school. He’d opted for basketball instead (why not? He’s 6 ft 63⁄8 in tall). But come junior year again and he’d changed his mind. His mother, Tanya, recalls the moment Brandel made up his mind, “He said, ‘Guys, I’m not going to play basketball anymore. We thought he was going to be a college basketball player. We didn’t think he’d ever have enough to play football. We were looking at each other thinking, he’s never going to make it in college football. Guess we were wrong.”

Indeed, they couldn’t have been more wrong. And with the Minnesota Vikings’ fantastic performance this year, who knows what heights Brandel has left to scale? Could he have a Super Bowl ring in the future? Only time will tell.