‘Cause I, gonna make you see. There’s nobody else here. No one like me. I’m special so special. I gotta have some of your attention, give it to me. -Pretenders
Public Service Announcement: Ok, here we go! Got a sad one today. Troy Brown announced his retirement yesterday during a press conference at Gillette Stadium. Troy Brown ended a 15-year career with the New England Patriots. Troy Brown is my favorite football player of all time. All time.
I just loved this cat. Troy Fitzgerald Brown. Loved him. What can Brown do for you? A whole lot. That’s what. Win you some football games. That’s what. Football players play football. Players make plays. Troy Brown plays football. Troy Brown makes plays. Troy Brown had been making plays for the New England Patriots for fifteen seasons.
- Making plays like the gamebreaking punt he returned in the AFC Championship game against the Steelers.
- Making plays like when as a DB, he shut down a 230-pound quarterback with a laser rocket arm in the 2004 playoffs.
- Making plays like he did in Super Bowl XXXVI. Game tied. Pats driving. 2nd and ten. Brown catches a Brady pass over the middle to go twenty-three yards in traffic to the Rams thirty-six and out of bounds. You know the rest.
- Making plays like when he lined up as emergency quarterback to further develop his legend.
- Making plays like when he instinctively ripped the ball out of the Chargers’ Marlon McCree’s greasy little fingers to ensure victory. That’s all this cat ever did. Make plays.
He made plays in twenty playoff appearances. He is the Patriot’s all-time leading receiver with 557 receptions. He has spent his entire career with the Patriots since being drafted in the eighth round in 1993. Drafted in the eighth round out of Marshall. We are Marshall!
At Marshall, Brown led the NCAA Division 1-AA in both kickoff and punt return average in 1991. His career kickoff return average still stands as an NCAA record. So do his four kickoff returns for touchdowns. He scored a touchdown every eight times he touched the football. Every eight times. Hear that Ted Sarandis? Yowza! At Marshall, Brown claimed the Thundering Herd its first National Championship with him as its primary wide receiver and returner. From the ashes we rose! Troy Brown rose.
He rose in the championship game. Playing both sides of the ball. Gordie Lockbaum style. In the championship game, Brown sealed the deal by intercepting a Hail Mary pass in the waning seconds of the game against a Jim Tressel coached Youngstown State team.
This measly little piece does not do Troy Brown justice. It does not, cannot, display what Troy Brown has meant to the Patriots and a generation of Patriots fans and most of all, to me. How truly special he really was. What he represented. Charles Barkley may not want to be your role model, but Troy Brown was a role model to us all.
Peace out homies. Six two and Even!
Need More? New England Patriots,NFL,Troy Brown
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