LIVING WITH THE DECISION MOM KEPT UCLA'S BROWN FROM GOING TO FLORIDA STATE.Byline: BRIAN DOHN Staff Writer SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden - While teammates laughed, slapped backs and traded hugs, Kevin Brown The name Kevin Brown can refer to several different people, including the following:
His mom, Linda, had other ideas, and because Brown was only 17, she had the final say. ``I wanted him to stay home because he's a homebody home·bod·y n. pl. home·bod·ies One whose interests center on the home. Noun 1. homebody - a person who seldom goes anywhere; one not given to wandering or travel stay-at-home ,'' said Linda, who added she eavesdropped on recruiting phone calls. ``He was being recruited by Florida State and I didn't like that at all. I was worried about him being that far away, so I wouldn't sign the letter. ``We were crying and shouting at each other. It was a tough time.'' So it was met with hearty chuckles, high-fives and great enthusiasm when the Brown family learned UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , where Brown is a starting junior defensive tackle, was playing Florida State in Wednesday's Emerald Bowl The Emerald Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played annually at 40,800-seat AT&T Park (home of the San Francisco Giants) in San Francisco, California, since 2002. at AT&T Park. Since Florida State defeated Nebraska in the Orange Bowl to win the 1992 national championship, the Brown household had been a Seminoles household. Brown's dream was to play for coach Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (born November 8, 1929 in Birmingham, Alabama), better known as Bobby Bowden, is the current head college football coach of the Florida State University Seminoles. at Florida State, and Brown was on his way after a dominating 2002 senior season as a two-way lineman at Long Beach Poly High. He said he signed two letters of intent, one with UCLA and one with Florida State, but only the one for UCLA was mailed. One reason Linda was reluctant to send Kevin to Tallahassee, Fla., was the experience another of her sons, Eugene, was fighting through. He was at Syracuse, and having trouble adapting to the distance from home. ``Kevin would always forget stuff for football practice, and I was always bringing him something when he would call and say he needed this, or needed that,'' Linda Brown said. ``Who was going to do that if he was all the way in Florida? Looking back, though, I think he would have been fine.'' Still, it was a frantic few days for the Browns. Owen, Kevin's older brother, said he spent much of signing day calling Florida State's coaching staff, trying to get an assistant coach, or even Bowden, to call and talk Linda into signing the letter. ``Nobody answered the phone,'' Owen said. ``(Kevin) didn't go to school for the first two periods because he was so emotional. There was a time I thought about signing it myself, but I would have been in deep doo-doo for that.'' It wasn't until the day after signing day Linda won out, and Kevin signed with UCLA. ``We thought we were going to get him, but his mother didn't want him going that far away,'' Bowden said. ``He was a good prospect, and back in those days we were successful recruiting Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, boys. Lately, since Pete (Carroll) came in (at USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. ), they've got their defensive mechanism up and it's hard to get one out of there. But (Brown) was very receptive to us.'' A major factor in Florida State's recruitment of Brown was the willingness to allow him to play defensive tackle. Many schools were recruiting Brown solely for the offensiveline, and he wanted to play defense. UCLA used the same tactic. But, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Owen, a seed of doubt crept into Kevin's mind midway through his freshman season at UCLA. Short on quality offensive linemen, Kevin switched from defensive tackle to offensive guard midway through the 2003 season. Bruins coach Karl Dorrell Karl Dorrell (born December 18, 1963 in Alameda, California) is the first black head coach in the history of the UCLA Bruins college football team, a position he took on December 18, 2002. promised Brown he could return to defense in 2004, but Kevin admitted he was confused about his role at the time. But when Brown returned to defensive tackle the following spring, all was well. His play improved throughout the season, culminating with a four-tackle, two-sack display in the regular- season finale against USC. It set up a potential breakout 2005 season, but that was derailed when Brown suffered a season-ending left ankle injury in training camp. Brown redshirted, and still isn't 100percent because of how his conditioning suffered. ``I think my body started to wear down at the end of the season, and I wasn't athletic or as quick-footed or as strong as the start of the season,'' Brown said. ``I felt like I was able to turn from more of an athlete to more of a smarter player, more intimate with the defensive game plan.'' Brown has 23 tackles, which is two fewer than his sophomore season total, but he remains disappointed by his overall play. ``The thing I like about what he's doing is effort, a more consistent effort,'' UCLA defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator typically refers to a coach on a football team in the National Football League or college football who is in charge of the defense. This position aids the head coach a great deal in many ways by delegating play calling to other coaches and allowing the head DeWayne Walker DeWayne Walker (born December 3, 1960) is an American football coach. Playing career College playing career Walker was a two-year starter at the University of Minnesota and played at Pasadena City College for two years. said. ``He's done a really good job of changing his whole demeanor about his approach to the game.'' The Browns -- be it Kevin, Owen or Linda -- still revere Revere, city (1990 pop. 42,786), Suffolk co., E Mass., a residential suburb of Boston, on Massachusetts Bay; settled c.1630, set off from Chelsea and named for Paul Revere 1871, inc. as a city 1914. Bowden. Linda continues to speak of Bowden's charisma, Owen talks about Bowden's family approach and Kevin said Bowden is ``a great man of integrity.'' Owen tapes every Florida State game, and he and Kevin often dissect dissect /dis·sect/ (di-sekt´) (di-sekt´) 1. to cut apart, or separate. 2. to expose structures of a cadaver for anatomical study. dis·sect v. the game films. Yet, all three Browns share one view on how it worked out. ``When I look back, I think it was a great decision,'' Kevin said. ``I'm happy because there's been a couple times here where I wanted to go home, and I'm only a few minutes down the road.'' brian.dohn@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) BROWN (2) UCLA defensive tackle Kevin Brown tackles Oregon's Jaison Williams during a game this season. Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion