The silence must be deafening at times for Max Bray.
It seems incongruous since the Aurora Christian junior is a second-year starter at quarterback. That puts Bray in the middle of the action every time he takes a snap.
But this season has been especially challenging.
One year ago this week, Max lost his father Frank P. Bray, 57, to a heart attack.
“He was always the loudest person out there in the stands,” Max said. “He was the only person I could hear. I couldn’t hear my coach, but I could hear my dad.
“He was hardcore, but he was a softy, too.”
Frank Bray loved his family, Aurora Christian and the Eagles’ football program.
He and his wife, Sheila, a couple from Ottawa, have raised six children and two grandchildren. Max is the youngest of three Bray boys to attend the school.
Mason was a lineman as a senior on 2012 Class 3A state championship team. Austin, who graduated in 2015, was a reserve that season and started the following two years before moving on to Eastern Michigan.
Max’s younger sister, Savannah, is a freshman.
“It’s been really tough on all of us,” Max said last Tuesday, speaking after practice. “My dad died the same day — Oct. 18 — that his dad died in 1989.
“He was my best friend and my hero. I would talk to him about everything, and we would spend a lot of time in the car together. I’d ride with him after practice to a lot of his appointments.”
Frank Bray’s other passion in sports was boxing, which he shared with Max and oldest brother Frankie, who did not attend Aurora Christian but excelled in Golden Gloves competition.
Frank, an alternate for the U.S. for the 1984 Olympics, boxed professionally for several years and moved to Florida before returning to Ottawa.
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“He trained with George Foreman, was friends with Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard and even lived with Hulk Hogan for a short time,” Max said. “I haven’t fought much, but I’ve been training in boxing since I was 5.
“It helps me connect with how my dad was. That was something we shared.”
Aurora Christian coach David Beebe has been mindful of what his quarterback has experienced.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Bray entered Friday’s final game of the regular season at Wheaton Academy having completed 59% of his passes (93 of 157) for 1,257 yards with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions.
He also had 79 carries for 336 yards rushing with six more TDs.
“He’s had a rough year,” Beebe said of Bray. “He’s been through every stage — anger, aloof, disbelief, separation from everybody and everything he loved. He was just fighting it.”
Beebe, in fact, had Bray sit out, briefly moving receiver Jalen Carter to quarterback.
“I was acting young and stupid,” Bray said. “The quarterback has to lead the team and I wasn’t really leading it, not making the right decisions.
“I also think he wanted to push me by doing that, and I think he did.”
Beebe was happy with Bray’s response, including being supportive of his replacement.
In a reserve role against Chicago Christian, Bray rallied the team when Carter struggled.
“He came in and, boom, boom, boom, touchdown,” Beebe said of Bray. “In the last six weeks, I feel like football has become his friend again.”
Bray, who barely remembers playing in a 54-7 loss to Lena-Winslow last season in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs, is hoping the Eagles (5-4) get a postseason rematch with Ottawa Marquette.
His hometown team prevailed 26-20 in the season opener.
“Those are all my buddies on that team,” Bray said. “They were hitting me extra hard.”
In the meantime?
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“I’m just kind of going with the flow,” he said.