Oct. 30, 2007

By Willie T. Smith III, The Greenville News

Mike Brown got a late start on his football career.

Due to his size, the Furman redshirt freshman tailback didn't play varsity football until his junior season at South Cobb High School in Marrietta, Ga.

But since then, he has quickly caught up.

"My sophomore year I played in the preseason a little bit with the varsity," Brown said.

"I ended up getting knocked out of the game. My parents protested me playing early because I was so small. They didn't want me out there."

Brown, who stands 5-foot-8, weighed about 130 pounds as a sophomore. He managed to improve his weight to about 150 pounds prior to his junior season. Because of that, Brown's parents allowed him to play.

That was only the beginning. Due to a plethora of talent at tailback, Brown wasn't assured playing time. But following a solid preseason, he earned the starting job.

Since joining Furman, Brown has continued to work on his weight. He is now hitting the scales at 184 pounds and used every inch of it to not only become a factor in the offensive backfield, but on special teams as well.

Brown has used his 4.3-second speed in the 40-yard dash to block two punts this season and return a kickoff for a touchdown.

He also has received more time in the backfield since the Paladins returned to their signature option attack.

"Redshirting really helped me out," Brown said. "I got used to practice and how it went -- studying film and studying opponents, realizing weaknesses, things like that, and just learning the overall game.

"We had Cedric (Gipson), who was a redshirt junior at the time, as the starter at tailback. I learned a lot watching him."

After blocking punts against Presbyterian and Coastal Carolina, Brown returned a fourth-quarter kickoff against the Citadel into a 76-yard touchdown that put Furman ahead in the game at the time.

And after rushing for a career-high 66 yards on nine carries against Tennessee-Chattanooga, he ran for 83 yards on seven carries against Appalachian State. Included was a 50-yard touchdown jaunt in the third quarter.

"I really knew what I needed to work on in the offseason to be able to play," Brown said. "I really worked hard and I think it's paid off really well this year."

Although Brown continues to share time at tailback with Gipson and sophomore Stephone LaFrance, he has placed himself in the rotation.

He credits his offseason workout program for the performance.

"(Director of Strength Training and Conditioning Stephen) Manino set up a nice program for us to come in and lift and scheduled running times," Brown said. "One of the guys, when I first got here, told me `you can be like everybody else and do what everybody else does, or you can do extra and try to be better than the rest of the class.' A lot of the guys and me would come up here extra times to do some lifting and do our own running. I think that really helped as well."