When multi-sport athlete David Brown Jr. got to St. Mary’s High School, his goal was to develop into a collegiate basketball player, which seemed reasonable. He had the raw talent and surely would continue to improve playing in a program run by his father, David Sr.
Then he was bitten by the football bug, and as much as he loves basketball, the more Brown played football the more he was smitten.
“I really fell in love with the game,” Brown said Thursday. “You play once a week and the whole school comes together. It’s a great experience.”
At some point in his high school career, Brown identified football as the sport he would pursue and he continued to reap the benefits of that decision Thursday when he officially accepted a football scholarship and signed a National Letter of Intent to study and play at Bentley University.
“I wanted to pursue Division 1, but it didn’t work out,” Brown said. “But when I got to Bentley and met the coaches and learned what the school is all about, I knew it was a great fit for me. I love the coaches and it’s a great program.”
After leading the St. Mary’s boys basketball team to a state championship last winter, the only gap on Brown’s distinguished high school resume was a football state title. And he was determined to take advantage of his last opportunity to get one.
“I didn’t want to leave high school without a (state championship) ring,” he said. “After we got one last year in basketball, we wanted to have the same feeling in football.”
Brown ensured he and his teammates would have that experience, saving his best gridiron performance for last, rushing for 195 yards and scoring all four Spartans touchdowns in a 29-8 win over Stoneham in the Div. 6 state championship game at Gillette Stadium.
“We knew that was going to be his best game. David had his best week of practice and he was focused and ready to go,” said St. Mary’s football coach Sean Driscoll, who is happy to count himself among Brown’s biggest fans.
“I’ve known David since he was a little kid,” Driscoll said. “I knew he was going to be a quality person. You don’t get any better than him. He’s committed, he works hard and does all the right things in and out of the classroom. He’s a special player and a special leader and I was happy to coach him.”
Brown finished his career with 2,842 yards rushing, 62 touchdowns and more than 4,000 all-purpose yards, as well as 681 yards passing. In basketball, he went over the 1,000-point mark last week.
“He’s one of the top student-athletes I’ve had the opportunity to coach,” David Sr. said. “I’ve seen him put a lot of work in to attain his goal and I’m very excited for him.”
Any regrets from the basketball coach/father on his son choosing to play football in college?
“He’s been playing football since he was 5,” David Sr. said. “It was his decision and we’re happy for him. I played football and my in-laws are a big football family.”
That’s an understatement. Helen (Pedro) Brown – wife of the coach and mother of the player — is the daughter of Peter C. Pedro Sr., one of Lynn’s all-time best athletes who became one of the best college football players in the country at West Texas State University. Her brother, Peter C. Pedro Jr., was a standout player at Lynn Classical and the University at Albany, while her late brother, Rick, was an all-star at Classical.
Regardless of which sport he chose to pursue in college, David Brown Jr. is heading to an outstanding academic institution.
“As a parent, if you told me 18 years ago that my son would have a chance to play at a college like Bentley, I would have jumped at it,” David Sr. said.
The geography doesn’t hurt, either, as the proud mother pointed out.
“I already looked at the schedule, and the farthest game is in New York, so we can get to all the games,” Helen Brown said.
Call that the icing on the cake that was baked by a student-athlete who will go down as one of St. Mary’s best.
