Mr. Eric Brazelton is a P.E. teacher at Preuss. He attended Fallbrook High School, in North County San Diego. He played football all four years there, and did a little bit of track his senior year.

Mr. Brazleton feels that he “was fortunate enough to be introduced to organized sports fairly young; I remember loving P.E. and recess in elementary school. I played little league baseball for a few years as well as a couple years of soccer before I first played pop warner football in 7th Grade. I always loved physical activity as a kid and I feel very fortunate to still love being active.”

He feels like his love of sports and being active came from positive experiences in P.E. at school. He loved playing games and sports and competing.

This love of sports helped him find his way to becoming a P.E. teacher here at Preuss.

“I did a lot of reflection to identify the kinds of things I might enjoy as a career. I eliminated many career ideas over the years but the one that persisted and allowed me to share my passion for activity, health and fitness was to become a P.E. teacher. So after getting my bachelors degree in Anthropology at UC Berkeley, I attended Cal State Fullerton to earn my teaching credential in Physical Education. I feel very lucky to have made the right decision for myself.”

He played football until he was a junior in college but then he had to decide to put his classes first, he had to make sure to take a class to graduate rather than continue with football.

Mr. Brazleton says that he feels that life lessons are learned when you are pursuing a goal and for him this happened in sports.

He shared that he feels like any student can be an athlete “if they’re committed to working to improve their skills.”

Although he can not cheer on his favorite athlete right now he is inspired by Bo Jackson because he was great at both baseball and football.

Preuss is lucky to have him as our P.E. teacher.

Here are some of Mr. Brazelton’s answers to various questions.

1. Who is your favorite athlete?

I love this question because it brings me back to my childhood. I’d have to say Bo Jackson. I loved that he was such a well-rounded athlete and excelled at both professional baseball as well as football.

2. How did you never give up in sports?

I wouldn’t say I have never given up. I’ve certainly changed the kinds of sport activities I do many times over the years and I’m sure that will continue. I think that is an important mindset to have as we age. I enjoy the process.

3. How do you become strong for sports?

Pretty much all sports have accepted the benefits of resistance training and quality-based nutrition planning in one form or another and more are discovering the value of a well-rounded wellness routine.

4. When did you teach students to become athletes?

I made the transition from student to teacher in 2006 when I started working at The Preuss School. I think any student can be an athlete