Isaiah Brown
SENIOR | TIGHT END | BROOKSVILLE
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B
rooksville is the birthplace of big No. 99 –
the late and great defensive tackle Jerome Brown, who died way too soon at age 27. His legacy lives on through the community center that bears his name – it’s located, of course, at 99 Brown Place in Brooksville. And Jerome Brown’s legacy will also live nearly three decades from the time he made the Pro Bowl on through his greatnephew, Hernando’s Isaiah Brown. Isaiah Brown wasn’t born until well after Jerome Brown died in a fiery car crash. Even so, Isaiah Brown is connected to his famous relative through football. In the summer before his junior year, Isaiah grew from 5-11, 185 lbs. to 6-2, 225 pounds. Good-bye wide receiver. Hello tight end. “He can catch anything, and his footwork is incredible,” Hernando coach Rob Kazmier said of Isaiah, who has a scholarship offer from Bowling Green. “He no longer has wide receiver speed. But he has receiver skills, and defensive backs have a hard time with him.” Jerome Brown, who was part of the Miami Hurricanes first national championship in 1983 before becoming a first-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1987, played tight end among other things at Hernando. He was incredibly athletic but kept growing so much that defensive tackle became his spot. Isaiah Brown also plays defensive tackle in addition to tight end, and it remains to be seen how much he grows and what position he ultimately plays in college. “People tell me I’m like Jerome Brown reincarnated,” Isaiah Brown said. “I never met him, but I’ve heard all the stories.”
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