It didn't take long for Jon Brockman to make his mark in Milwaukee, and that was two weeks before even beginning his first training camp with the Bucks.
Brockman and AJ Bombers teamed up to create the Brockness Burger, with Milwaukee's recently acquired power forward donating $10 to Special Olympics Wisconsin for every one of his signature burgers sold over the next week.
Despite moving to Milwaukee less than four weeks ago and still living out of a hotel, Brockman said he wanted to find a way to quickly become a part of the local community.
"The more stuff like this you do, it makes it more real and more fun," Brockman said. "I knew I wanted to get plugged into something and be a part of something here in Milwaukee. I just decided to give this a try."
Although Brockman said he kicked around a few different ideas of possible charities, Special Olympics seemed like a natural fit. After all, his mother was the director of special education in his hometown of Snohomish, Wash., before becoming the principal of an elementary school.
Throughout all four years of high school, Brockman also volunteered at a local after-school program that promoted athletics for disabled children.
During the launch party for the unveiling of his very own burger on Wednesday night, the 23-year-old sat at a booth talking with a few members of Andrew Bogut's 2009 creation, Squad 6.
For nearly 2 ½ hours, fans and burger enthusiasts approached Brockman to talk about the upcoming season and asked the Bucks' 6-foot-7 forward to sign autographs and take pictures.
"Any time you can get out and meet the people and see the people who are coming to the games, it makes it a little more special for that person when they do go to games and they see someone that they were able to hang out with at AJ Bombers or something like that," Brockman said.
"I think a lot of times some of the NBA players aren't thought of as normal guys. I'm just a normal guy. I like to come out and eat burgers."
Brockman recalled a time when in seventh grade he stood in line for three hours to get the autograph of then-Seattle Supersonics star Nate McMillan.
"That five seconds that I was standing there and got to shake his hand and say hello, it was huge," Brockman said. "That's what's rewarding as a player. To be able to meet little kids and meet people who are really interested and really enjoy what you're doing. You get to meet them on a different level."
A group who work for Special Olympics Wisconsin also thanked him for including their organization as part of this promotion.
The idea to create a special burger in Brockman's name was first hatched after a few of his 324,000-plus Twitter followers recommended which Milwaukee restaurants to try.
After seeing the social media haven that is AJ Bombers, all it took was a few tweets back-and-forth between Brockman and co-owner Joe Sorge to make it official.
While it was mostly up to fans what to include on the burger, Brockman did have one request.
"I just said it has to have peanut butter on it, because it's one of the things I love," he said.
In addition to peanut butter, the Brockness Burger also features two hamburger patties, two fried eggs, cheese and two pieces of bacon that are placed vertically on top of the bun.
"Those are the antlers," Brockman said.
With a line of people waiting outside to get in, Brockman finished eating the burger created in his name and was pleased with the successful debut of the week-long event.
"It's going to a good cause. It's kind of an experience," Brockman said. "You get to try something new that most people probably haven't ever tried and might not try ever again. It's fun.
"But I just had one (Brockness Burger). I've got a workout tomorrow and I don't want to be in too much of a food coma."
