Mike Brown was simply destined for greatness from the minute he emerged on the scene as a high school athlete at St. Peter’s Prep almost a decade ago.
He was a sensational football player, the first-ever Marauder product to start every game and first four-time Hudson Reporter All-Area honoree. Brown was a scintillating running back, collecting more than 3,300 yards and scoring 60 touchdowns in his career, but his future was as a shut-down cover cornerback, the best that head coach Rich Hansen ever coached and produced.
Brown was also a fantastic baseball player, a speed demon outfielder who put all of his tools together to have an All-Area season his senior season. He also dabbled in track and field in the winter months and proved to be a successful sprinter.
In fact, in the summer of 2005, Brown was selected as The Hudson Reporter Male Athlete of the Year, the first-ever honoree from St. Peter’s. Before he graduated from Grand and Warren, Brown had signed a national letter of intent to play football at the University of Virginia.
Brown had the sports world on a silver platter. He was well on his way to achieve the greatness that was bestowed upon him when he was still a freshman at Prep.
But Brown’s life began to unravel during his junior year at Virginia, after he suffered a serious knee injury that required reconstructive surgery.
In March of 2008, Brown found himself in a load of trouble with the law.
Brown, who already had a prior altercation in 2006 on campus that resulted in a guilty plea for misdemeanor trespassing for his connection in a fight at a UVA fraternity house and sentenced to 50 hours of community service, got arrested again, this time for much more serious charges.
Brown was charged with grand larceny, possession of stolen property with intent to sell, altering serial numbers on stolen property, and possession of marijuana.
The arrest report stated that Brown was in possession of music and video recording equipment that had been stolen from a parked car on the University of Virginia campus a month earlier. The stolen items had a value of almost $4,000. The owner of the electronic equipment saw his stolen goods listed for sale on eBay.
The items were found in Brown’s apartment after Charlottesville police received a search warrant. Brown was hit with felony theft charges, because he allegedly tried to sell the stolen goods over state lines via the Internet.
If Brown was found guilty of the charges, he faced serious fines and as much as five years in prison.
Because of the pending charges, Brown was removed from the Virginia football program by then-head coach Al Groh, but Brown was able to remain in school on scholarship.
“It wasn’t that he [Groh] didn’t want me back,” Brown said in a recent interview. “We had a few kids who got into trouble and he just thought that I’d have a better opportunity elsewhere.”
In the recent interview, Brown was asked what caused the problems he got into.
“I tore my ACL and I was out of football,” Brown said. “I had the idle thing going. It was devil’s time. I wasn’t focused on football. I made a dumb decision. The only thing I can think, looking back, was that I wasn’t playing football and I had a lot of idle time to get involved in other things.”
Brown said that he was oblivious that the goods he tried to sell on eBay were stolen.
“I was good with computers and electronic stuff, so I thought I could make some money on the side,” Brown said. “I didn’t know until the police came and informed me. I knew I was in trouble. What could I do? I had nowhere to stand.”
Immediately, the story caught on like wildfire. There were stories in the media, on the Internet, in newspapers like the Hudson Reporter, that showed Brown’s police mug shot, complete with his flowing dreadlocks. It was front page news all across the country.
“At the time, I knew exactly what had happened,” Brown said. “I knew how the story was coming out. I knew my family and friends supported me. I knew that it would all work out.”
But Brown also knew that his public image was severely tarnished.
“I definitely knew my image was tainted, especially at home,” Brown said. “I felt so bad, because I knew a lot of people were disappointed in me. But I couldn’t tell my story to each and every person who thought badly of me. I felt pretty confident that it would all come out. I was never really concerned.”
Brown felt good about his chances in the court of law.
“The University of Virginia has a strict honor code and they decided to allow me to stay in school, so that was a good sign,” Brown said. “I also had a good attorney [Larry Woodward, who also represented Michael Vick in his dog fighting charges]. I was always upbeat and composed. I was just on the outside looking in, football-wise. I accepted what was going to happen. I took it for what it was worth.”
Added Brown, “But as long as there is the Internet and people Googling my name, there’s always going to be a cloud of judgment against me. That’s the world we live in. I just wanted the people at home to realize I’m the same guy. I just was guilty of bad judgment.”
In October of 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property. The other charges were subsequently dropped. He did not have to go to prison, just pay a fine and do more community service.
“I felt exonerated,” Brown said. “I accepted it.”
After rehabilitating the injured knee, Brown wanted to get a chance to play football again. But unfortunately, it was not going to take place at Virginia.
“Virginia gave me a list of schools that I could transfer to and play,” said Brown, who was able to graduate from Virginia in 2009 with a degree in anthropology. “I was accepted at Delaware and James Madison University.”
But Brown then received some assistance from former Bayonne High School coach Rick Rodriguez, who recommended California University in western Pennsylvania, a school just 15 miles away from Pittsburgh that had sent several players to professional football.
After all, pro football was always Brown’s goal. He was looking for the opportunity to rekindle those hopes and dreams.
Brown had two years of eligibility remaining, so he headed to California University to attend graduate school and revive his stagnant football career.
“My knee was fine, but I was two years removed from football,” Brown said. “But it was amazing for me to go back and play football again. I always knew I’d play again. I always trusted myself.”
Brown said that things went well for the last two years, playing in 25 games over those two seasons and leading California to the NCAA Division II playoffs twice, losing to Northwest Missouri State in the national title game two years ago. Brown was the team’s defensive captain. He worked towards his masters degree in secondary education and is now just nine credits shy of that degree.
The 23-year-old Brown is now ready to take on the next chapter of his life, namely trying to become the pro football player he was so certainly destined to become five years ago.
Living in lower Manhattan now, Brown has been training regularly at Infinity Sports, a combination rehabilitation/training facility in the city. He will head back to California University this week to compete in an NFL Pro Day at the school, where scouts can monitor his progress. His big chance comes April 9 at another workout in Los Angeles, where more players and scouts will attend.
Brown also had spent some time working with friend Darrell Green, the Hall of Fame cornerback from the Washington Redskins.
“He’s always taken me under his wing and vouches for my career,” Brown said of the seven-time Pro Bowl honoree. “He’s a good friend.”
Brown knows that a pro football career is a long shot. He won’t be drafted in the upcoming draft. He’ll need a free agent contract, an invitation to training camp at best.
“I’m not going away until someone gives me a look, a chance,” said Brown, who has made a complete transformation, shedding the dreadlocks he donned for years. “All I need is a chance.”
Brown realizes that his past indiscretions have cost him dearly. He was picked to play in the 2005 Governor’s Bowl with the best New Jersey football players. All the other defensive backs picked to play in that game, namely Jason McCourty (Titans), twin brother Devin McCourty (Patriots), Kyle Wilson (Jets) and Malcolm Jenkins (Saints) are all currently playing in the NFL.
“They all got big contracts and are doing well in the NFL,” Brown said. “That hurts me a little.”
Brown doesn’t have to look far to find some inspiration. His St. Peter’s Prep, Virginia teammate and good friend Rashawn Jackson was not drafted out of Virginia, but found himself a spot on the Carolina Panthers’ roster last season.
“I’m very inspired by Rashawn,” Brown said. “I speak to Rashawn about two or three times a week. I also have good friends in the NFL like Chris Long [Rams] and Eugene Monroe [Jaguars] who are giving me confidence that I can do this. It’s not going to be a big surprise. If I can play, I can play.”
Brown said that he’s learned a lot from what has happened to him.
“I learned that I can never make the same mistakes again,” Brown said. “If I had a chance to do it all over again, it never would have taken place. But I did and I have to live with it. It’s made me tougher. It’s made me smarter. It could have been worse. It wasn’t totally devastating to me, but it did hurt me.”
That’s why Brown reached out to a local reporter who wrote about him so many times over the years, including an article when the arrest took place in 2008. He wanted to make sure to update local readers about his life and how he’s made major strides to get past the troubles of the past.
“It made me feel bad that it became such a big story,” Brown said. “But I’m really still the same Mike Brown. When you stumble a little, you have to get up. In the long run, I’m still going to be me.”
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.
His blog can be read at www.jimhaguesports.blogspot.com.