Former Tabor great Brown could soon be turning Green
Sports reporter
Seven months ago Ben Brown thought he was done.
Today, he's getting reps with one of the National Football League's most storied franchises, the Green Bay Packers.
Winners of the first two Super Bowls and one since, the Packers history could be compared to that of the New York Yankees in baseball.
Even though the team has been through some rough stretches in the past few years, just the idea of being on an NFL team has the former Tabor Bluejay's heart beating fast.
Or does it?
Once overwhelmed by the history of the Packers and where they play, Lambeau Field, in the past few weeks Brown has gotten serious.
"The first two or three days I was like, 'Wow that's Brett Favre'," he said of the three-time MVP quarterback. "But now I look at [him] the same as (former Tabor quarterback) Ricky Ishida."
For any football fan who has never had the chance to play in the NFL, that may seem ridiculous. But for Brown, it's either focus and get the job done, or be gone.
"I'm adapting really well," Brown said of the play books double-in-size that of Tabor's. "My feeling is that I've already made the team. I don't know if the coaches know that or not," he said with a laugh.
It wasn't a cocky laugh, instead a laugh of confidence, or even a laugh of nervousness, because for Brown this may be his only shot.
Pre-NFL
After two years at Bakersfield Community College in California, Brown decided to work three jobs in 2003 to help support his wife and young child. The talented high school star who was recruited by the likes of Arizona and UCLA, was now out of football.
Then a friend hooked him up with Tabor's program, and he was back in business.
After finishing the season this past fall, his name was not called on draft day in the spring.
And he didn't really expect it to be.
Instead Brown and his wife, Shrell, put together a highlight film and sent it out to all 32 NFL teams.
A letter accompanied the tape. In it Brown wrote he believed he was destined to play in the NFL.
A few teams were interested, but the Packers, struggling to find a running back, offered him a free agent contract.
Brown thinks it's great that he's getting reps in practice, but he knows there is a long way to go.
"I still want more," he said.
So far the word out of Packers camp, is he will get it.
Anticipation
Or course speculation from fans and media mean nothing until his name is called as a member of the team, but as Brown loves to say, "My family's got to eat.'"
So while that motivates him every day, so does something else.
God.
"God is first," he said. "Not many people know this but I have this thing where I feel if my coach is telling me to do something on the field, it's because God told him to. I go all out for God."
Brown has put his faith in God many times, and so far he has been blessed.
Right now, he hopes God blesses him and his family one more time, perhaps with an official green and gold jersey.
Any number will do.
