University of Connecticut Athletics
Meet The Spring Game Honorary Coaches: Donald Brown
4/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 14, 2010
There will be a celebrity spotting this year at UConn's annual Blue-White Spring Football Game on Saturday, April 17. You may have seen him on the field at the Super Bowl, or talking strategy on the sidelines with Peyton Manning. Or perhaps you saw him a year earlier, finishing off a season in which he amassed the 11th highest total rushing yards in FBS history.
Donald Brown, UConn's all-time leading rusher and a current member of the Indianapolis Colts, will be on the sideline coaching the spring game on Saturday at noon at Rentschler Field. Parking and admission are free. Brown joins his UConn teammate and Super Bowl opponent Tyler Lorenzen as coaches of one team, facing off against a team coached by the captains of the 2004 UConn football team.
This won't be the first time Brown has faced off with his former teammates. With opponents such as Darius Butler of the Patriots, Dan Orlovsky of the Texans and Donald Thomas of the Dolphins, Brown says he is able to keep in contact with fellow Huskies.
"It's fun seeing the guys before and after the game," Brown said. "Who would've thought 10 or 15 years ago that UConn would have several players in the NFL."
Of all the UConn players in the NFL however, Brown is the first ever to be selected in the first round, going 27th overall to Indianapolis. In his first season, Brown rushed for 289 yards and three touchdowns, and added an extra 169 yards on 11 receptions from Peyton Manning.
Playing beside an all-time great such as Manning, Brown said, can be intimidating. At first he was star struck, but eventually they got down to football.
"He's one of the hardest working individuals I've been around and he really helped me out tremendously," Brown said. Manning isn't the only one that has taken Brown and the younger Colts under their wing. All of the veterans are a crucial part in helping the team mentally survive the long NFL season, and as Brown put it, they help to "expedite the learning curve as a rookie."
Although the New Orleans Saints defeated the Colts in the Super Bowl, Brown was able to learn from the process. "It was disappointing to get that far in the playoffs and lose a close one," he said. "But the experience and all the knowledge I gained from it is invaluable."
Brown is sure to come out next year even hungrier for success, as he is no stranger to competition. After a standout freshman season at UConn, Brown was plagued with injury and played in the shadow of Andre Dixon's breakout season his sophomore year. The following year, Brown blew away the competition for playing time, and rushed for over 2,000 yards and 18 touchdowns.
In Indianapolis, Brown again finds himself in a constructive battle for playing time--this time with Joseph Addai. Addai and Brown are a classic case of mentor and apprentice, as the veteran showed the rookie the ropes in 2009. "Joe's a great guy and he helped me out tremendously with the playbook," Brown praised. "We started workouts (Wednesday) and we picked up right where we left off."
Brown will likely be picking up right where he left off with many of the current Huskies on Saturday, as he is only one year removed from the program. "I'm excited just to get back and see the guys and the coaches," Brown said.
--Sean Soltys
Players Mentioned
