Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1193094
and we support and we love and all those types of things. And now to see him playing the way he's playing, making plays in the passing game, making plays in the running game as a blocker, helping us win, huge smile on his face, his family, huge smiles on their faces – I'm a big believer in over- coming adversity and what it can do for you as a football player, but more impor- tantly, what it does for you in life. I think he's a really good example of that. "The answer is not to leave when times get tough. The answer is to buckle down and get to work and communicate and have tough conversations and work through it, and that's what Nick did. That's what Nick's mom did, that's what Nick's dad did, his uncles who come to practice, his grand- mom, all of them. And Nick did the work. You're talking about a guy who techni- cally couldn't play for two whole years, so to see this thing end the way it is for him is awesome." That kind of determination, a willing- ness to push through any obstacle, is a hallmark of this senior class, as it is for most senior classes at most schools. Football is a game of attrition, and fifth- year seniors are, by definition, survivors. Brown emphasized that point when he was asked recently how he hoped to be remembered at Penn State. "I always think about this," he said. "I want to be remembered as a guy who played hard all the time, fought through what he could fight through and tried to be out there for his team. … I feel like if that's what I can leave here with, I'm good." ■ STAYING POWER Brown is one of five fifth-year seniors on the Nittany Lions' starting defense this season. Photo by Steve Manuel C O T T O N B O W L P R E V I E W