A decade and a half later, Alex Brown is as much of a Florida Gator as ever

During my six years covering the Chicago Bears, Alex Brown was no doubt the best interview on that team.

It made for an interesting dynamic — Brown went to Florida, and I was an alumnus of Florida State. These were the Urban Meyer-led Gators, so my Seminoles weren’t faring well in the rivalry.

I remember one Wednesday in November during open locker room, when the media get a 45-minute window to talk to players before practice. As the crowd of print, radio and television reporters gathered around Brown, I asked the first question. It was something innocuous about the upcoming opponent.

“I’m not talking to you this week,” Brown said.

UF was set to play FSU that Saturday. He just smiled and waited for another question from somebody else.

There was nothing malicious about it, though. We actually got along quite well, as he could fill a notebook and did so in entertaining fashion. He had the gift of gab. Writers need content and he provided it.

One of the most dominant defenders Florida ever produced, Brown was a fourth-round pick in 2002.

He enjoyed a nine-year NFL career — eight with the Bears from 2002-09 before a one-year swan song with the New Orleans Saints in 2010. His 33 sacks are the most in Gators history. As a result, he was enshrined in the school’s Hall of Fame in 2012.

In addition to his post-football work in business logistics, Brown, who turns 37 on June 4, now dabbles in radio and television.

Since the Bears took a pair of SEC prospects in the draft — Georgia’s Leonard Floyd in Round 1, Florida’s Jonathan Bullard in Round 3 — I was a guest recently on ESPN 1000 in Chicago to discuss the selections.

Due to his long-and-lean frame that makes him look more like a basketball player than a football player, I said Floyd reminded me of former Gators great Jevon Kearse. Still living in the area, Brown was listening and immediately sent a text to host David Kaplan, who read it live on the air during our segment.

“Stop it,” wrote Brown. “Kearse was 265 on his Pro Day and ran a 4.40 40-yard dash. Floyd not even close at this point.”

Once a Gator, always a Gator. In no way was Brown going to let a Bulldog draw comparisons to “The Freak.”

Brown and I reconnected after that radio appearance, as we didn’t have any interaction after he departed Chicago for New Orleans six years ago. Now we follow each other on Twitter.

When I asked him to do an exclusive Q&A for Saturday Down South, he was happy to oblige.

As much as any NFL player I ever covered, Brown maintained a connection to his alma mater. It was fitting that he ended up with the Bears following his time in Gainesville. They wear slightly deeper shades of orange and blue.

The plan was to talk for 10 or 15 minutes. I turned off my recorder at the 35:12 mark. Typical Alex Brown.

Saturday Down South: Do you remember how hard of a time you used to give me in the Bears locker room just for doing my job because I was a Florida State graduate?

Alex Brown: I do remember that. But see you didn’t have to wear the FSU hat to remind me that you were FSU all day long, that you went to Tallahassee. Because you did that, then I had to give it back to you because you guys were the only team that had the better of me in college. Because I only beat you once when I played. I only did it my senior year. That was real tough.

SDS: You typically don’t see former Florida State players doing the tomahawk chop after scoring a touchdown or ex-Miami players flashing “The U” after making an interception. But you did the Gator chomp after almost every sack in your career. Why was it so important to you to keep that connection as a pro?

AB: I love Florida, man. I absolutely love the University of Florida. I love Gator Nation. The reason it was so important was because they gave me a chance. I’m not going to give that story that they’re the only team that gave me a chance. There’s lot of places I could have went. But it was the perfect place for me. Mike Peterson, thank God for him because he was my host. The host has a lot to do with whether or not that player actually comes, and I was very, very fortunate that I got him as my host.

SDS: Your connection to the Bears remains pretty strong, as you still live in the Chicago area, but there’s something about where you go to school.

AB: The University of Florida never changed for me, regardless of what happened. I knew that at some point the Bears were going to say, “You know what? That’s enough. Thank you for your services. Goodbye.” If I wanted to prove that I could still play, I’d have to go somewhere else. For the Gators, that will never change. Once you leave that college, your college will never change. I take a lot of pride in that. I love everything about Florida. There’s nothing a person can say that I don’t love about Florida. I love absolutely everything, and they gave me my opportunity. I’m very, very grateful, very thankful.

SDS: You were a quarterback and linebacker at Hamilton County High School in Jasper, Florida. Jasper is a pretty small place. Linebacker I understand, but what kind of a quarterback were you?

AB: You know what? I can throw the football. I thought I was decent in the accuracy. It wasn’t pinpoint accuracy like Aaron Rodgers or something. I can throw a deep ball a little better than I can throw a hook route. We pretty much ran the option, and then after that first couple plays during my senior year, our coach, Barry Gardner, he would allow me to call the plays from there. It was kind of a hurry-up type deal. Whatever I saw, I would call the play and we’d go from there.

SDS: Did you ever consider going to a smaller school like a Georgia Southern or a Valdosta State to continue playing quarterback?

AB: My goal was to get to the NFL. If I was to get to the NFL, I thought the route was to play defense. And that’s the way I chose. Fortunately, it worked out.

SDS: You began at Florida as a backup to Jevon Kearse, one of the freakiest athletes in college football history. When you’re redshirting and watching a guy like that in front of you, did you ever wonder if you were good enough to play at that level?

AB: I never thought of it like that. Yes, I did sit behind him and say, “Oh, my gosh, this guy is absolutely phenomenal.” He is a different type of player. I’ve never seen anything like him. At that time, I was young. I hadn’t seen many players in the NFL as big as he is and as fast as he was, and he gets in the NFL and he does well. You see Jevon Kearse, so, so talented. The only person I ever saw that I could compare him to is Brian Urlacher. They’re big, big humans that can absolutely fly.

SDS: You were a great player at Florida, but it’s not an insult to say you weren’t the athlete that Kearse was.

AB: We’re sitting in a meeting room. Jevon plays SAM linebacker, and I play SAM linebacker. (Assistant defensive coordinator Bob) Sanders asked me, “Alex, you see how Jevon is doing it? You see this? This is how I need you to do it.” My response was, “Well, Coach, I can get it done, but I can’t do it like that.” He was that good. That answer to Coach was okay, because he was that good. He was that talented. Yes, I can get the job done. There’s more than one way to skin a cat. I had to lean on that a lot when Coach would call me out on not doing as Jevon did it.

SDS: Everyone just assumes when you’re a physical anomaly like Kearse that you don’t have to work nearly as hard. I always found that the best players in the NFL were always the hardest workers, too. You can’t coast your way to the Pro Bowl.

AB: It was late in the game. We’re blowing somebody out. We’re up 40-, 50-some points. Jevon jumps over the line to block an extra point, lands and slips on his back. Lands flat on his back on the ground. It had to hurt. It looked like it hurt. It hurt me. I’m standing on the sideline watching him, and it hurt me. That taught me how hard I needed to play regardless of what the score was. I learned tons and tons from Jevon, but that in particular really stands out to me how hard I need to play each and every day.

SDS: You made a name for yourself as a sophomore in 1999 against Tennessee, the defending national champion at the time. You sacked Tee Martin five times. What do you you remember about that game? Did two or three of them fall in your lap, or could you simply not be blocked that day?

AB: All week, we’re sophomores — Andra Davis, Gerard Warren, Marquand Manuel. We’re all sophomores, and everybody’s talking about how Jevon Kearse just left, Johnny Rutledge just left, Mike Peterson just left. What is the defense going to do? We got players. We got some players, too. The year before, we went up to Tennessee and lost to those guys. Now we got a bunch of quote-unquote no-name guys on the defense. Me, I’m that guy. You can only poke me so long, and I come out and say it because I believe in me. I believe in my teammates. I believe that we can get the job done if we go out and do what we’re supposed to do. Tuesday or Wednesday of that week, I just was fed up with it. I just told them we’re going to come out, and we’re going to punch them in the mouth.

SDS: I’m sure your old coach, Steve Spurrier, loved that.

AB: Coach Spurrier had called me in Friday night and said, “Listen, you’re talking all that trash. You better be ready to play.” Okay. I have no problem with that. I’ve never been afraid of some moment, never been afraid of competition. I’m ready to go. They got a so-called first-round left tackle, Chad Clifton. I’m ready to go. Let’s do it. I’m ready to go. Then I started to go. It was sack after sack after sack. It was the last day that I was actually Alex. Then, I became Alex Brown. From that point on, I was Alex Brown. There was no turning back. I’m not sneaking up on anybody anymore. Everybody knows that you’re that guy that had the five sacks, and you’re not going to do that on us. I had to change up stuff and change my game, because people aren’t going to just let me run by them anymore. They’re going to chip me.

SDS: It’s only natural for that to be a once-in-a-lifetime performance.

AB: Chris Samuels, when we played Alabama, he just really tore me a new one. I learned a lot that game. I mean, I was hurting afterwards, but those are the games you learn stuff. You learn about you. You learn if you’re going to quit, or if you’re going to actually find a way to beat this guy, or if you’re just going to let him beat the hell out of you the rest of the game.

SDS: In college, sometimes you were labeled as just a pass rusher. In the NFL, despite developing a well-rounded game against the run and pass, you were periodically criticized for not getting enough sacks. How hard is it to resist the urge to sell out to the QB every snap — and possibly get gutted against the run — when 15-sack guys are the ones handed the monster contracts?

AB: You’re absolutely right. I don’t know. I really don’t know. I don’t know a way to quantify a guy that gets 12 or 13 tackles for loss and then he has seven sacks. Which equates to what, 19 or 20 tackles behind the line of scrimmage? And then you got one guy that gets 12 sacks and he has three tackles for loss. If you only have 15 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, why does it matter who has the ball when you make the play? If the quarterback has the ball, it weighs more than if the running back has the ball? They lose the same amount of yards. It’s the same thing. If it’s 2nd-and-13, it’s 2nd-and-13 no matter what. I don’t care how you look at it.

SDS: You were an alternate for the Pro Bowl twice despite usually being a five-, six- or seven-sack guy.

AB: My guy that I looked at was Michael Strahan. I thought he was the best all-around defensive end during the time I played. He wasn’t just the sack guy. He played the run. He did it all, and that’s what I wanted to model myself as. I don’t care if I get 10 sacks or not. I want to get 12 tackles for loss. I want to have five pressures that result in interceptions. I’ll get the quarterback out of the pocket four or five times during the year and let my teammates get the sack. I was that guy. I just want to win.

SDS: Your durability in the NFL is legendary. I don’t believe you ever missed a game to injury. But it’s not like you never got hurt. Getting hurt is part of football. What were some of the injuries you played with that would have kept a lot of players on the inactive list?

AB: I don’t think I’m a tough guy by any means. I think I just took the whole mantra that if that guy behind me is better than me, Coach will never see it because I’m not going to miss practice. I’m not going to miss games. If I’m there, I’m there. From pre-K to 12th grade, I missed one day of school. My parents, they were the parents that said you can’t learn unless you’re there. So we were there every day. I took that into the world as far as football, and I didn’t miss.

SDS: Remembering some of the injuries you guys played through, normal people just can’t relate to that.

AB: Leading up to the Super Bowl year in ’06, the third preseason game — I think it was against Arizona — I dislocate my right shoulder. And then two weeks later, we have to play Green Bay to kick off the season. There’s no way I’m missing that game. So I go in there with a splint, with a harness under my shoulder pad. I wore that harness for about four games, and the doctor told me, “Alex, you have to keep it on.” I was like, “Screw this. I’m not wearing this thing anymore.” I knew I had to work harder to get it stronger so I could take it off and not be bothered. It worked, man. It worked. I don’t think I’m superhuman or anything. I think there’s a thing called will that if you really want to do it, you’ll get it done, especially when it’s physical.

SDS: You grew up in Florida, where college football is religion but the NFL isn’t as popular. But you played most of your pro career in Chicago, where the Bears are religion but college football isn’t as popular. How are the fan bases similar and different?

AB: I just thought about that. Really, when you said that, I just now really thought about that. And it’s so true. I was fortunate to be on the right side of each one. The fan bases are, I think, totally different. I don’t think I ever heard anybody boo at the University of Florida. It was a fantastic place to play, and we won a lot. They really didn’t have a lot to boo about. I didn’t really hear people booing. It was a lot of fun. I love my teammates, and it was great. I’ve got a lot of friends that I still talk to now. Playing there and when I go back, the love that I get from the Gator Nation is unbelievable.

SDS: Nobody is afraid to boo at Soldier Field.

AB: Being down in Florida, there was always the offense. It was the Fun-n-Gun and the run-n-shoot. And the defense was always fighting for respect or fighting for attention, saying that we’re here, too. We played defense here as well.

SDS: Outside of Walter Payton, all the Bears legends played defense.

AB: They couldn’t care less about anything else. It’s all defense, all the time. Unless we have a top-notch running back. Get it back from them so we can run the football. They don’t care about nothing else. They want a defense that’s going to knock the hell out of you, and they want a running back that’s going to pound you and pound you and pound you. That’s Chicago. I was fortunate enough to play on the defensive side and then be on one of the top defenses in the league for a couple of years. It was phenomenal. My gosh, it was so much fun to hear how loud people got because we played defense.

SDS: Just imagine if you were the same exact player and had the same exact career, but you went to college at Illinois and played in the pros for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

AB: The experience would have been totally different because you wouldn’t have had much of an experience on either side as far as when we’re talking about passionate football fans.

SDS: You had the ideal experience at both levels.

AB: Yeah, I did. Illinois and Jacksonville, you wouldn’t have had a lot of winning either.

Photo credits: UAA Communications