Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1420595
N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 1 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M cally at Penn State, knowing that I had to take care of my body and study the playbook on my own. Lackawanna was a great opportunity for me." Brown was playing safety by his soph- omore year, and playing it well enough to evoke comparisons to Kyzir White, a Lackawanna graduate who went on to shine at West Virginia before being se- lected by the Chargers in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He was a first- team NJCAA All-American as a sopho- more and the Northeast Football Confer- ence's Defensive Player of the Year. James Franklin had been impressed with Brown's performance at a Penn State camp. The Nittany Lion coach liked what he saw on film, and he also liked what he heard from the Lackawa- nna coaches about the player's personal character. The only thing left was to pay a home visit, and that trip confirmed everything the PSU coaching staff had been told. "We went to a soul food restaurant in Trenton, N.J., not far from where my dad worked growing up," Franklin said. "One of the things that stood out to me, that I think is telling, is how many family members were there, how many people from the community were there. His high school coach and Pop Warner coach were all there, and they just all love Tig. "That's the type of guy he is. He's got a really good way about him. He's one of the guys with his teammates, but he also has a really good way, a respect- able, coachable, fun way, to be around coaches and adults as well." When Brown signed with Penn State in December 2019, he was reunited with Brisker, who was already on his way to a starring role on the Nittany Lions' de- fense. Brisker had played in all 13 games during his first season on campus, fin- ishing with 32 tackles and tying for the team lead with a pair of interceptions. In 2020, Brisker made nine starts, ranking third on the defense in tackles with 57 and breaking up a team-high six passes. Brown didn't make any starts, but he did see action in all nine games, finishing with five stops. Following the 2020 season, Brisker decided to return for one more year at Penn State even though he would likely have heard his name called at some point on Day 2 or Day 3 if he had entered the NFL Draft. The Nittany Lions had scuffled to a 4-5 record and had pulled themselves out of bowl consideration after ending their season by beating Il- linois in a quiet, snow-encrusted Beaver Stadium last December. That was not how Brisker wanted his college career to end. Mea nwh i l e , B row n wa s l o o k i n g ahead to what he hoped would be his first starting season in the Nittany Lions' secondary. He was competing with rising senior Jonathan Suther- land throughout spring practice and preseason camp in a battle that ex- tended into late August. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Brown ended up winning it, a testament not just to his skills but to his competitive nature. His willing- ness to push himself had propelled him into the starting lineup, and even af- ter achieving his goal he didn't feel as though he could afford to relax. "It wasn't a let-my-foot-off-the-gas situation," he said. "I had to do more. I had to watch more film, I had to study more, I had to make more plays. That's how I approached it when I won the job." Through six games this season, Brown was ninth on the team in tackles with 19, while Brisker was fifth with 25. The duo had combined for five of Penn State's eight interceptions, including a team- best three by Brown. Just as he did at Lackawanna, Brown still looks to Brisker as a role model. Brisker, he said, understands the game on a level that allows him to adapt quickly to what opponents are doing, Brown (16) came to Penn State a year after his former Lackawanna teammate Jaquan Brisker. He won the starting free safety position in preseason camp in August. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL