Early on in life, Pell City’s Mike Brown was told he would never play football. As a first-grade student at Iola Roberts Elementary School, Brown wore a metal brace on one of his legs because one leg was longer than the other. Doctors told his mother he would never play sports.Brown proved the doctors wrong as he eventually grew out of the braces and became one of the premiere football players for the Panthers in the 1980’s.
Growing up
Brown started playing football at the age of 9 in a youth program in Pell City.
He attended Iola Roberts Elementary School growing up in Prescott, then he and his family moved to the lake so he attended Coosa Valley Elementary School, then Duran Jr. High School and Pell City High School.
Playing football at school
Brown started playing school football at Duran. His coach was Ralph Bell. By the time he was a freshman, Brown was a member of the varsity Panther team.
“I didn’t play B-team and was pulled up with the varsity team, along with David Gulledge and Phillip Farrell,” Brown said.
Brown played defensive end and outside linebacker on defense while backing up Farrell on offense at the tight end position. He stood 6-foot, 3-inches and weighed 215 pounds.
Enjoying success
Brown said the Panthers enjoyed success all four years he was a member of the varsity program under head coach Lyle Darnell. They advanced to the state playoffs his final three years.
“We had many players in our class who had been playing football together since our youth days,” Brown said. “We stayed together through the years and had a pretty good group.”
The 1986 season was one of the best in Pell City history as they advanced to the semi-finals of the state playoffs. They traveled to Gadsden to take on the Tigers Thanksgiving night and lost 9-7 as Gadsden scored the winning touchdown on the final play of the game.
Coach Darnell
Brown said Darnell was a good coach and a great leader who was so very intense and thorough.
“I was looking through some things just last week and found some of his old defensive game plans,” Brown said. “He was so thorough and had information on all our opponents and each player who he thought was good and who we needed to key on.”
Many colleges show interest
With all the success Brown and his teammates enjoyed the past four years, he and several of his senior buddies were heavily recruited at the college level.
Brown was recruited by Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Southern Miss, North Carolina State and Clemson.
“To begin with, Jack Crowe, who is now at JSU, was an assistant coach at Auburn and he was recruiting me hot and heavy,” Brown said. “In my junior year at Pell City, he went to Clemson to coach and he continued to recruit me. That’s how I found out about Clemson.”
Why Clemson?
During their senior year I 1987, Gulledge and Brown signed with Clemson together. Brown said he chose Clemson due to the small-town atmosphere.
“I really did want to play for Danny Ford after I started being recruited by Crowe,” Brown said. “I had taken several unofficial visits there before taking my official visit in January before national signing day in February. I really liked Coach Ford. He was from Gadsden and he was at the game we lost to Gadsden on Thanksgiving night.”
College career
Brown was recruited as a tight end. After he was red-shirted his first season, he was moved to center.
He lettered his final three years and was the starting center his junior and senior seasons.
While Brown was at Clemson, the Tigers won three Atlantic Coast Conference championships, played in five straight bowl games, went 10-2 every year but his senior season when they were 9-3.
Brown played for Ford his first three years and then for Ken Hatfield for his final two seasons. He made First Team All –ACC his senior season.
He said playing for Ford was a lot like playing for Darnell.
“He was very intense, emotional and demanded a lot from you,” Brown said. “He worked our tail off every day. He always talked about Coach Bear Bryant a lot because he played for him at Alabama. He had my respect.
Bowl success
In the 1988 Citrus Bowl, Clemson defeated Penn St., who was coming off a national championship season. That was Brown’s red-shirt freshman year.
In the 1989 Citrus Bowl, the Tigers defeated Barry Switzer and the Oklahoma Sooners, who were also coming off a national championship season. It was Switzer’s last game at Oklahoma.
The 1990 Gator Bowl was Ford’s last game as Clemson head coach and the Tigers did not disappoint as they defeated West Virginia.
Brown’s junior year saw the Tigers defeat Illinois 30-0 in the Hall of Fame Bowl in Tampa, Fla.
The only bowl game Brown and the Tigers lost was the 1992 Citrus Bowl against California.
A future in the NFL?
Brown majored in management and minored in marketing. He graduated in 1991 and tried out for the NFL the following spring. While he weighed 215 pounds in high school, Brown rocketed to 300 pounds his senior year at Clemson and was looking to take a shot in the National Football League.
After the 1992 Citrus Bowl, he signed with an agent out of Philadelphia. About two months before the draft, he started working out with various pro teams.
Something wrong
About a month before the draft, Brown started losing weight. He went from 300 to 270 in a matter of days and didn’t know why.
“I went to the Clemson team doctor and he ran some tests which showed I was a diabetic,” Brown said. “He told me my football playing days were over as far as the NFL. I never had any symptoms up to that point.”
Brown called his agent and advised him of the situation.
Change of plans
The team doctor sent Brown to a nutritionist who put him on a 1,500-calorie daily diet. Brown was accustom to eating between 11,000 to 15,000 calories per day. In one month, Brown went from 270 to under 200 pounds.
“I knew my football career was over,” Brown said. “Looking back now, I think it was a blessing from God. Who knows, I could have been hurt in the NFL. I think it was God’s way telling me I had enough of football and He had other plans for me.”
This also opened the door to Brown’s back-up at Clemson, Curtis Whitley, who went on to be a starting center for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.
Coming home
Brown came home to Pell City and went into business with his dad at Treadwells Bait & Tackle down below the dam. His dad purchased the business in 1980.
They also dabbled in real estate a little in Talladega and St. Clair counties.
Family
Brown and his wife Brenda went to high school together and were high school sweethearts.
“We actually started liking each other while in the seventh grade,” Brown said.
They married before his senior year at Clemson and have been married 17 years. Today, Brenda is employed with the St. Clair County School System at Odenville Middle School.
They have two daughters. Candace is 16 and is a junior at Moody High School where she excels in basketball. Katie is 13 and in the eighth grade at Moody Middle School and she plays softball. Both play travel ball year round.
“My dad died in 1999 and I took over the business,” Brown said. “I finally sold the business last year because I missed so much the girls did when they were younger. Now, I try not to miss a game for either of them.”
Brown actually keeps the scorebook for the Moody basketball girls and coaches Katie’s travel ball team.
“I am so proud of my daughters,” Brown said. “I am more proud of what they have accomplished than anything I have ever accomplished. Brenda and I are constantly doing for them. They are good students and good athletes. They stay busy in sports year-round.”
The Browns are members of Bethel Baptist Church in Moody.
