For more than two decades, he held the Michigan records for most successful point after touchdown ("PAT") conversions in a career (107), season (52), and game (9).

His father, Frank Brieske, was a Michigan native of German descent who, at the time of the 1930 United States Census, was working as an oil agent at Harbor Beach.

As a sophomore, Brieske played for the 1942 Michigan Wolverines football team that was ranked No.8 in the final AP Poll.

One newspaper story noted that Brieske had earned the nickname "Old Monotony" because his reliability in converting PATs had turned Michigan's kicking game from excitement to routine.

At the time, Brieske told the reporter he wasn't satisfied with having a limited role as a placekicker: "Sure, this kicking is alright, but I'd like to take a crack at the real stuff.

In the first game of the 1942 season, Brieske kicked a field goal to secure a 9–0 victory over the Great Lakes Naval Station team.

[1][7] Brieske returned to the University of Michigan in time for summer football training in August 1946.

[13] He played for the 1946 Michigan Wolverines football team that finished the season ranked No.6 in the final Associated Press poll.

Brieske had converted 31 of 34 PAT attempts in the first five games of the 1947 season and was the leading scorer in the Big Ten Conference at the end of October.

[19] The fact that an extra point specialist led the conference in scoring drew national media attention.

That means Brieske, a third-string center, has booted all those tallies without ever officially being in a single football game.

"[15] Although ranked second in the Associated Press poll at the end of the regular season, the Wolverines defeated the USC Trojans by a score of 49–0 in the 1948 Rose Bowl game, and were selected as the nation's number-one team by a 226–119 margin over Notre Dame in an unprecedented post-bowl Associated Press poll.

[21] After the 1947 season, Brieske was selected to play in the College All-Star Game against the NFL champion Chicago Cardinals.

[29] Brieske played in several pre-season games for the Giants, but opted to return to Ann Arbor in September 1948 to complete his master's degree.

In late November 1968, he underwent surgery at the University of Michigan Hospital to remove lung growths.

[2][32] His funeral was held at St. Aidan's Roman Catholic Church in Livonia, and he was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield, Michigan.