Bond Of Brotherhood Helped Pave Brown's Hall Of Fame Career

Chad Brown works out almost every day of the week. During his workouts, he has one form of "entertainment" that he uses to provide motivation and pass the time; game footage from his time at the University of Colorado.

Memories of his time in Boulder are ever-present for Brown and perhaps have been brought up even more so as this year he was inducted into the Colorado Athletics Hall of Fame.

Brown played linebacker for the Buffs from 1989-92 and during that time, he was a power house on the field. During his senior year in 1992, the Los Angeles native was named a second team All-American and All-Big Eight Conference after overcoming three separate injuries and still recording 88 tackles, 15 of which were for a loss.

In the 1993 NFL Draft, Brown was selected 44^th overall by Pittsburgh where he played four seasons. Following his time in Pittsburgh, Brown made stops in Seattle and New England before retiring from football after a 15-year NFL career in 2007. In the pros, Brown recorded over 1,000 tackles, 79 sacks and six interceptions. He was a thee time Pro Bowler and named All-Pro in 1996 and 1998.

After an illustrious NFL career, Brown came back to Boulder after retiring from football, something his coach Bill McCartney guaranteed would happen while recruiting the young linebacker.

"[McCartney told me] I was going to marry someone from the University of Colorado and make Colorado my home base," Brown recalled. "You don't want to say Mac was Nostradamus but it's all worked out exactly as he planned it, his vision for me couldn't have been more true."

Another part of McCartney's vision for Brown was that he would make a serious impact at Colorado and have "a huge role" in the team winning the Big Eight and eventually, a national championship. That also came true as Brown is still regarded as one of CU's most successful linebackers of all time.

Brown continues to have a presence and make an impact at Colorado today. After retiring from football, he ventured into broadcasting and continues to do on-air analysis for games across the country, including for the Buffs.

Because of this, it is not a surprise that Brown looks back on his time at CU as one of brotherhood and a bond between teammates that is irreplaceable.

"A lot of my class spent five years together, a lot of blood, sweat and tears," Brown said. "While our time together as football brothers ended when we graduated, those guys will remain my brothers forever. And they were in my wedding and called when my kids were born and life stuff happened. That will always stay the same."

He considers his senior game at Folsom Field as one of the most emotional moments of his career but also notes how significant the team's national championship year was because of how impossible it seemed from the outside.

"[If you] tried to explain to someone what happened [in 1989 and 1990], that the coach's daughter would get pregnant with the quarterback's child and he would die of cancer and your star tailback would be suspended and on and on and on, you would say 'no way, it's too Disney-esque,'" Brown recalled. "All of those events brought us closer together and made us realize what a special time it was. It made us realize that this opportunity doesn't come around very often. It made all of those other moments so much more important."

But again, the love between teammates is one that Brown credits for much of his success on and off the field.

"[Coach McCartney] He would always talk about this agape love concept," Brown said. "We tend to think of love in a romantic way. But we removed the romantic part of it and just made it about love for you each other as people and wanting each other to do well."

Over 25 years after his memorable last snap at Folsom Field, Brown has been inducted into the CU Sports Hall of Fame. Always humble, Brown is quick to give the credit to his teammates and coaches for their joint success on and off the field. But, this honor is one that Brown certainly deserves because of his athletic ability and most of all, because of the legacy that he himself continues to forge at the University of Colorado.

Colorado University Athletics

Bond Of Brotherhood Helped Pave Brown's Hall Of Fame Career

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