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The University of Mississippi Athletics
SPOTLIGHT: For Brown Football Is Family Affair
9/29/2010 | Football
Sept. 29, 2010
By Morgan Adams
Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations
Football in the south is more than just a game or an event. It is more than just a group of guys gathering on a field to throw around a leather ball. Football is about family, opportunities, and pride. Teammates and coaches become like family members that you admire and aspire to be like. You meet individuals that will impact you and stay in your life forever. Football offers many players opportunities that they would have otherwise never been exposed to. A team contains players from all walks of life; football makes them equal. Players take pride in the game and work hard to be the best. Football teaches lessons that are not lectured on in the classroom.
These aspects of football are what brought Johnny Brown to the University of Mississippi.
The Charleston, Miss., native did not travel hundreds of miles to attend college and play football like most athletes, he simply drove 45 minutes down the road. He felt like Ole Miss was the place he was supposed to be because everyone acted like a family. Brown also knew that his own family wouldn't be able to watch him play or attend many games if he left the state of Mississippi. Brown said that he came from a small town and a simple family that he did not want to leave out of his college career.
Ole Miss and Brown have both benefited from his decision to stay close to home. Brown has proven his worth on the football field and helped lead Ole Miss to two consecutive Cotton Bowl wins.
He hit the ground running his freshman year and saw action in all 12 games. During the 2008 season, he saw action in all 13 games and tallied 28 tackles. In 2009 the safety finished second on the team in tackles with 81.
When asked why he chose football over any other sport, Brown simply replied, "It's the only sport where your job is to hit people." It is safe to say that Brown is doing his job well.
Brown's ability to get the job done is one of the reasons his teammates voted him a captain this year.
Brown joins the likes of Kentrell Lockett, Jonathan Cornell, Jerrell Powe and Lionel Breaux as leaders for this year's team.
"It's not easy being a leader. You can't just assume the young guys are getting everything in practice, you have to be there to make sure that they get it," Brown said. "I feel more pressure this year being a captain. I have to be one of the ones to pick up the morale when it gets down. I can't just stand around and do nothing."
Brown attributes a lot of what he has learned about playing the position of safety and being a leader to former Ole Miss safety, Kendrick Lewis. Lewis and Brown played side by side until Lewis graduated and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs.
"Kendrick taught me how to break down the game and look at the big picture instead of just my position. He taught me to look at the whole defense so that I knew where my help was and how I needed to help out," Brown said. "It inspires me to know that I played with Kendrick and now he is in the NFL. It gives me hope that I can do it too."
Even though Brown has dreams of playing professional football one day, he is still focused on getting his degree in criminal justice.
Brown is a small town boy in love with the big game of football. With determination and the skills that Brown possesses, he won't be living in a small town much longer. He will call the bright lights of a stadium in an even bigger city home.
