Few Gophers football players are in the same echelon as Antoine Winfield Jr.
But head coach P.J. Fleck puts current receiver Le’Meke Brockington alongside the former All-American safety and current NFL All-Pro with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
How can that be? It’s all about their sunny dispositions.
Flashback to 2017 and ’18: it was the portion of Winfield’s career at Minnesota that was injury plagued with back-to-back season-ending ailments. The double whammy didn’t keep him down.
“I’d be the first one out on the (practice) field and I’d see him,” Fleck recalled to the Pioneer Press this week. “He’d look at me and smile. He was done for the year, and he’d be (like), ‘It’s alright coach, it’s football.’ He’d smile at you, and you’re like, ‘This doesn’t make sense.’ Most people are crying. Most people are upset. They don’t want to talk. They’re mad. Antoine had that type of positive outlook on life, and that’s why he’s having success.
“Le’Meke got that very similar quality.”
Brockington is almost always smiling, even when talking about the broken leg he suffered midway through the 2023 season.
“Football happens,” he said with a grin Wednesday.
The fifth-year senior from Moultrie, Ga., had a career day in Minnesota’s 27-14 loss to California on Sept. 13, with eight catches and 106 receiving yards. That his outstanding performance came in defeat only temporarily wiped the smile off his face during the postgame news conference in Berkeley, Calif.
Minnesota Gophers wide receiver Le’Meke Brockington (0) scores a touchdown against the Northwestern State Demons in the first quarter of a NCAA football game at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
Here are five things to know about Brockington:
Not out long
Brockington fractured his leg in the fifth game of the 2023 season against Louisiana and was projected to be out for the rest of the year. But he recovered in time to return for the regular-season finale at Wisconsin and the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit.
“We still talk about it to this day,” Brockington said this week. “It’s crazy. … I was ruled out for a whole year. The next thing you know, I’m coming back.”
Significant injuries can be harrowing experiences filled with self-doubt.
“The biggest thing when you do get hurt is there’s a fear of: ‘What’s next? Will I be included? Will I play again one day?’” Fleck said. “It immediately runs through your mind, right? This false evidence appearing real.
“He has a great way of processing his own fear and turning it into really positive energy.”
‘Freak’
The 6-foot-195 pounder, who also was on the basketball and track and field teams at Coulquitt County High School, made The Athletic’s “Freaks List” this summer.
Brockington squatted 664 pounds, breaking his own record from last year by 50 pounds, and posted a vertical jump of 42 inches. Those gaudy numbers came on top of fast agility times.
“He’s paid a big price to have the success that he’s having,” Fleck said.
Dirty work
Brockington has 44 career receptions for 694 yards and three touchdowns, none bigger than a 45-yard TD from current Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis to beat Wisconsin 23-16 in Madison in 2022.
Brockington, who also has a rushing score this season, is key on countless, often-overlooked plays, too.
“If you really study our tape, you will know that Le’Meke is extremely valuable to what we do schematically,” offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh said. “The things he does in the run game. He might not always be getting the ball because he might be the point of attack with a block.”
Bigger role?
Brockington came up huge in the Cal game, especially on third-down conversions vs. man coverage. He had a career-high 12 targets, but he’s not expected to be this year’s version of Daniel Jackson.
“We have a core nucleus of wideouts that can all do a lot of different things,” Fleck said. “And I think as we keep moving forward, maybe one day (Brockington) has record-setting day, and maybe one game, he’ll catch two balls and somebody else catches that.
“That’s where I think this is headed as we keep going and we only have two real games of data. I think there’s so many (receivers) still trying to figure out who they are.”
But Harbaugh knew Brockington would have an opportunity to have a big game versus Cal during that week of practice and before.
“It showed up throughout the week, but it built to that throughout the summer, throughout training camp and practices leading up to it,” Harbaugh said. “It’s been really impressive to see his work ethic that he has and I’m excited to see him play (Rutgers) Saturday.”
All in the family
Le’Meke’s cousin, Zy’kerious Brockington, played defensive line at Memphis for three years and Akron last season. They were high school teammates in Georgia.
“He’s a great influence in my life,” Brockington said. “He helps me push the best I can be just because … he knows he didn’t make it as far as he wanted. But he knows that I have the potential and to keep on living the legacy of (our) family.”
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