Brown, Soul aim for a championship

Former CSU, Swamp Foxes player looking for the chance of a lifetime

In the spring of 2002, Charleston Southern senior defensive back Mike Brown remembers packing his belongings for the trip home to Maryland, his college career complete, no professional prospects looming, and uncertainty clouding his future.

"I got a call from the coach of the Charleston Swamp Foxes, who were just getting started in the Arena Football League 2, asking if I wanted to try out," Brown said. "I said, 'sure.' After the tryout, they offered me a contract. The rest, as they say, is history."

The Swamp Foxes were done after two years, but not Brown.

He has carved out a solid career in Arena Football and will play for the Philadelphia Soul (15-3) at 3 p.m. today (ESPN) at New Orleans Arena when they take on the San Jose SaberCats (13-5) in ArenaBowl XXII.

The SaberCats are looking to claim their fourth title in seven years.

Former Clemson defensive back Brian Mance is also on the Soul roster and former Charleston Southern assistant Mickey Mays is the Soul's defensive line coach.

"I'm very excited about this," said Brown. "It's not often you get to play for a championship. A lot of guys go through their whole career and don't get an opportunity to win a ring, so to have this opportunity, I'm going to make the most of it."

Brown parlayed his two-year stint with the Swamp Foxes into a spot with the Orlando Predators. He spent two years there and then landed with Philadelphia after Orlando defensive coordinator Bret Munsey got the job as head coach of the Soul.

Brown is a major contributor for the Soul. He plays primarily in the secondary, but also is the team's top kick returner and is used some at wide receiver.

In 11 games, he has five interceptions and has been in on 41.5 tackles as a key member of the secondary. On offense, he has two receptions for 21 yards.

In the kicking game, he has returned 60 kickoffs for 1,105 yards and three touchdowns.

"Of course my dream goal was to go to the NFL, but I never got the chance," said Brown, who turned 30 in April. "Going to a small school like Charleston Southern, I didn't get the breaks. But the arena game fits me because I play hard and I'm a high-motor guy with pretty good skills. I just love the game and I've been blessed by God to not have had any serious injuries."

Brown played for former coach David Dowd at Charleston Southern. Dowd, now an assistant football coach at Sumter High School, hasn't forgotten Brown.

"The thing I remember about Mike was that he was a skinny thing," Dowd said. "He was a string bean, but he could hit you. If you played man coverage, he could be awfully harassing to a wide receiver.

"You talk about a kid who could get it done on defense. Any time we had a guy we felt we had to play one-on-one, Mike was the guy who had to cover him. He was definitely our lockdown guy."

Brown was recently honored by the Arena Football League with the 2008 Al Lucas Hero Award, given annually to the player who makes the greatest contributions to his community and to Arena Football.

Reach Charles Bennett at cbennett@postandcourier.com.

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