Bosworth, Calmus, Lehman... and Brown?
Published: 6/17/2007 11:38 AM
Last Modified: 6/17/2007 11:38 AM
Folks, I give you the latest football player whose most formidable foe is hype. His name is Arthur Brown. He is a 16-year-old soon-to-be-senior middle linebacker at Wichita's East High School.
And in a recent summertime workout, his audience included Bob Stoops, Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer and a reporter from the New York Times.
Sixteen years old.
Brown's nickname, according to Thayer Evans' Times profile, is "Fireman." Which is good, because the kid may spend from now until National Signing Day next February containing the speculative blaze surrounding where he'll attend college.
USC? Florida? OU?
How deep have the Sooners dug into young Mr. Brown? Brian Butler, Brown's trainer, claims Stoops told him Brown would win two Butkus Awards.
That should score a few points, even for a kid likely being told he can turn water into Powerade by a who's who of college coaches. After all, Stoops has tutored Butkus winners Rocky Calmus and Teddy Lehman at OU. And once upon a time, a Sooner middle linebacker by the name of Brian Bosworth won back-to-back Butkuses.
Brown hadn't even been born during the Boz Era. He was still in grade school when Calmus stalked Owen Field. So maybe he sheds this ridiculous amount of attention like overmatched high school blockers. I hope that's the case, anyhow.
Because if you're 16 years old and you've already run cone drills for college football's holy trinity of coaches, it seems hype has opened up a sizable lead on you.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
