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 secondteam a ll-a merican, first-team a llBig 12 (coaches and a P), a Thorpe award semifinalist and a Lott im PaCT 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.

“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.”

“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 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.”

Gilbert does have one knock on Brown, however.

“I don’t like the fact that he always tells people he’s faster than me,” he says. “He won’t race me.”

Brown, like any good corner, likes being out “on the island,” and he loves playing in the Big 12.

“It’s a pass-happy conference,” says Brown. “Teams like to throw the ball 67 percent of the time. Passes are going to come your way. Just knowing that every game you’re going to have plays coming your way, and you can really showcase your cover skills and knowledge of the game. The game is on your shoulders, the secondary’s shoulders. You can’t give up the deep play.”

Brown spent his summer training hard, and expects that his teammates have done so as well.

“We have a lot of tenacity,” he says. “We want to be the best. We want to get to the next level. It’s been three years of offense this and offense that. We had a pretty good defense last year. We led the country in turnovers. We don’t want to be a defense that just gets turnovers. We want to be a defense that forces teams to have fewer than 100 yards rushing and less than 100 yards passing.

“Everyone is going to be good. Calvin Barnett is a force to be reckoned with. I think when he gets an opportunity he’s going to be out there manhandling those offensive linemen. You have to look out for him. Then you have D-Lowe (Daytawion Lowe ) back there at safety. All the linebackers are excellent at what they do. You have Cooper Bassett and Ryan Robinson on the defensive front, so look out for them, too.

“I’m ready for this upcoming season. I’m ready to get this underway.”