The last two years, his job was Justin Blackmon. Guarding a first-round, top-5 NFL draft pick is bound to make
photo / Brody Schmidt / www.Ostatephoto.com
you a better defensive back. The great ones do more than just refuse to back down. They seek out the challenge. Prior to the Texas A&M game last season, Brown dropped by Jones’ office to talk about A&M wide-out Jeff Fuller. “Everyone knew last year the A&M game was a big game for us,” says Jones. “We felt as a staff that winning that game could give us a lot of momentum and give our players a lot of confidence to finish out the season. They had a lot of good players. One of them in particular was Fuller. “Brodrick came into my office Tuesday before practice, and said, ‘Coach, do you want to win this game?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I want to win this game.’ He said, ‘We need to stop Fuller.’ I said, ‘No kidding.’ He said, ‘Well, if you want to win, then you
Brodrick Brown
The economics major from Houston will enter his senior season with 28 straight starts. He finished 2012 with nine tackles
in the Fiesta Bowl, and was a second-
team All-American, first-team AllBig 12 (coaches and AP), a Thorpe Award semifinalist and a Lott IMPACT Trophy semifinalist. He had five interceptions and 15 pass breakups. Unlike some of his teammates, he has always played cornerback. On the field, he must be accounted for. “Quarterbacks watch films just like we do,” says Brown. “They watch what I like to do. They’ll still throw my way. I have to be on my toes so they don’t dump one over my head. I always have to be ready. I don’t know that I’ve ever gotten into any quarterback’s head, but I’m pretty sure they are aware of me out there.” The one knock anyone could make on Brown is his height. For a corner, he’s short.
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“He’s only about 5’8”, 5’9” with high heels on,” says Jones. “I think his entire life, all he’s heard is that he’s too small, so he uses that. He plays with a chip on his shoulder to prove everybody wrong. He’s from Westville High School in Houston. That’s a good school, always has college scouts in and out. A lot of people passed on him. He goes out every week to prove those who said he was too small wrong. He has a lot of fight and a lot of toughness. He loves to compete. He doesn’t care who you are, or how big you are. That’s what you want in a player.” When Brown was a redshirt freshman, he played on the scout team, and in every practice, he lined up on Dez Bryant. Jones says Dez would call him out. “Dez would say, ‘You’re too short. You’re just a rookie,’” says Jones. “Brodrick would get right up in Dez’s face. Some days, Dez would get him, and some days, Brodrick would get Dez. He was just a freshman right out of high school, but even then,
he wouldn’t back down.”
SEPTEMBER 2012
put me on him.’ “I said, ‘He’s 6’3”, 230 pounds. Are you ready for that?’ He said, ‘Coach, if you want to win, you’ll put me on him.’ So that’s what I did. We started watching tape, and our whole game plan was to match Brodrick up on him. “And that tells you the type of person he is, and the competitiveness he has within. He’s an outstanding young man,” says Jones. “He’s what you want in a player. You don’t have to worry about him having off-the-field issues. He’s not going to put himself or the team in a tough situation where he’d embarrass himself or his family. He’s a good student in the classroom.” Gilbert’s assessment of his teammate echoes that of his coach. “He knows he has to play with a chip on his shoulder because of his height,” says the junior. “I think that’s what motivates him to be the cornerback that he is. He’s ferocious. He’s not afraid to come down and make a tackle. He plays like a linebacker.”