Posted on Fri, Jan. 28, 2005
Sam Donnellon | Brown personifies Super attitude
FOXBORO, Mass. - He is their poster child.
The New England Patriots like to call themselves overlooked, underappreciated and above all, unselfish. And when you ask what makes them think that way, the answer always finds its way back to Troy Brown.
Brown is in his 12th season as a wide receiver and return specialist in the NFL, all with the Patriots. He is in his first season as a defensive back. You really can't even call it a season, since
he didn't play the position for the first 2 months of the regular season.
But then Ty Law went down and Tyrone Poole went down and Asante Samuel went down and the Patriots were out of cover guys. Troy Brown, age 33, was asked to play his first game as a cornerback on Nov. 7 against the pass-happy St. Louis Rams.
"I wasn't afraid," he said as the Patriots returned to practice yesterday. "I was more nervous than anything else. I knew I had the ability. But I had to believe myself that I could go out there and get it done. Going in my first game, a team like the Rams. That part was scary."
Here's the part that's scary:
It worked. Having tried the position in training camp, Brown wasn't a disaster that day against St. Louis, and he got better each time he played. It worked so well that, with Brown taking a regular shift (mostly against Brandon Stokley) in the Pats' playoff game against the Colts 2 weeks ago, Peyton Manning put a total of three points on the scoreboard.
Here's another part that's scary: In spanking the Rams that day, 40-22, the Patriots had a linebacker catch a touchdown pass, a kicker throw a pass for a touchdown, and three unproven people, including Brown, out in coverage.
"Every situation is a little bit different," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said yesterday. "But what it comes down to is when you look at a player you have to somehow see or project a role for him on this team or there's no sense in having him."
The Eagles, of course, have done this as well. A linebacker in college, Josh Parry hung around the Eagles' practice squad, learning how to be a blocking fullback. The Eagles have moved players around, too. But none had Brown's resume, whose name is all over the Patriots'
all-time receiving lists.
But Brown's role had diminished as the Pats added younger receivers to their mix, allowing Belichick to think outside the box.
"Most of the time in that situation... you go along for a while until you say this isn't going to work out, we're going to have to find somebody else," Belichick said. "For every Parry... for every Troy Brown... there are probably 30 other names who you could plug in there that you've never heard of the guy.
"I can't remember some of the names, either. But if a player wants to develop a role for himself in this league and he doesn't have one, he has to create one. You don't just get handed a job."
Said Brown: "What I do best is go out there, make plays, and try to set a good example for this football team. The best way to be a champion is to be unselfish and do whatever is asked of you to help your team. That is what I am all about."
Asked what his reaction would have been if asked to switch to defense out of college, Brown said: "I wouldn't have squawked about it. I would have been like, 'OK, that's cool.' And I would have given it my best shot."
Just the way Freddie Mitchell would have reacted.
The Patriots are full of these kinds of players, guys drafted in middle or late rounds, guys making good money, but not great money. A story in the Boston Herald yesterday noted that only two players on New England's roster, Tom Brady and Law, count more than $5 million against the salary cap.
Brown and linebacker Willie McGinest earn a little more than $3 million.
Many of the remaining 49 players - 18, to be exact - earn what amounts to a middle-class wage in the NFL: $1 million to $3 million.
"Troy Brown said this to me... that we're just a bunch of sixth- or seventh-round picks," Brady said the day after the Patriots vanquished Pittsburgh. "We're just a bunch of recast veterans who come in and do the job.
"It's not about the paycheck you're getting. It's about your team winning the championship. To have a chance to go to the White House. To have a chance to have a ring ceremony. To have a friggin' parade.
"That's what it's all about. I'll never forget these days. Ever. Ever."
Troy is a class individual and I hope one day he again we be apart of our beloved MU (as a WR coach).
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