Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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18 OCT. 7, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY JACK SOBLE D J Brown didn't have to make himself available for comment three days after Notre Dame's 17-14 loss to Ohio State. The Irish only allow reporters to speak with four players every Tues- day evening. Brown could have easily chosen to not be one of them. No one would have faulted him for it, given that he would inevitably be asked about his critical dropped interception during the Buckeyes' final drive. But he did. And he explained why he chose to be there. "Great players make mistakes," Brown said. "Great players miss shots. Michael Jordan has missed the game-winning shot. For me, if I don't learn from this game, the Ohio State game, then I've failed. I just want everybody to know I've moved on." Brown talked for 10 minutes about the play itself, how he goes about moving on, who's picked him up, how practice felt and what he thinks about Duke. " Fo r m e , i t's j u s t wiping the dirt off and just moving on, hon- estly," Brown said. As a starting gradu- ate student safety in his sixth year, playing 60 snaps each game, Brown isn't coming off the field any time soon. He knows he could easily be in the same situation again, with a chance to make a game-changing play, and he believes when that time comes, he'll be grateful for what happened against Ohio State. For several reasons, the Irish are grateful to have Brown patrolling the back end of the defense. The leadership he's shown since a painful loss and a painful individual moment is an impor- tant one. "DJ is a great player for us, a great leader and is a guy that takes account- ability for his mistakes," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. "And I want all of our players to have that same mindset as DJ." WIPING THE DIRT OFF Shortly after he took the snap from the Notre Dame 31-yard line with 41 seconds left, Ohio State junior quarter- back Kyle McCord locked in on his tar- get, senior tight end Cade Stover. Stover was running wide open for the middle, and McCord thought he had him for an easy pitch and catch. He didn't see Brown, who read the play perfectly and flew in from Mc- Cord's right, looking to make a play on the ball. Brown zipped right in front of Sto- ver. He timed his jump well. But the ball went off his hands, falling to the ground at the 12-yard line. "I had a feeling that's where the quar- terback was going to try to go," Brown said. "So, I just jumped the route, under- cut it and I ended up not making the play." Seven plays later, Ohio State walked it off. Shortly after the game, Brown's effort to move on started with a conversation with his mom, Chimene Liburd. Liburd kept their conversation private, but she didn't talk about the game with her son. That's not what she believes her role is. "My focus as a mom was really just to be there and talk about things besides football," Liburd said. "It's just to be that decompression, with all the stress about all the stuff that happens." "I always have family there for me," Brown said. "But at the end of the day, I wasn't looking for sympathy or anything like that. I knew what I could have done or what I had to do." Brown didn't have to be told any of that. His head coach at Washington (D.C.) St. John's, Joe Casamento, said he never had to yell at Brown — not even just in a negative way. Casamento never even had to encourage Brown to go harder in practice. Brown just did it. Liburd described her son as measured, smart and dedicated. He took that ap- proach when he woke up on Sunday, watching the film. He learned from the dropped interception, as well as the rest of the game. Then, Brown turned his fo- cus toward leading his teammates. "For the younger guys especially, they haven't lost," Brown said. "Especially freshmen, they haven't lost. … Know- ing that just one game is not the end of the season, we have a lot more football to play. "Our fate is in our own hands. That wasn't a playoff game. That wasn't a na- tional championship." Brown helped his teammates move on, with the goal of not letting the loss affect the rest of the season. Notre Dame holds meetings every game- week Monday, then practices for the first time each week every Tuesday. Irish offen- sive coordinator Gerad Parker said the team was able to "get the filth off" during Tuesday's practice, cit- ing great leadership as a reason it could do that. Brown agreed. "Yeah, 100 percent. Just getting back on the field, it felt good," he said. "You don't have to just think and watch the same plays over and over again. You get to move on and think about our next challenge." QUARTERBACK OF THE DEFENSE Brown helps Notre Dame in ways that often don't show up on the stat sheet. MOVING ON DJ Brown doesn't hide from a dropped interception, and vows to learn and continue leading the defense "Great players make mistakes. Great players miss shots. Michael Jordan has missed the game-winning shot. For me, if I don't learn from this game, the Ohio State game, then I've failed. I just want everybody to know I've moved on." BROWN