Question and Answer with Chad Brown
PITTSBURGH – Chad Brown signed with the Steelers last week to continue his 14-year career. During his first stint in Pittsburgh, in 1996, he won the Chief Award because of his insight into the game. He’s still got it …
Q: I remember talking to you 10 years ago. You weren’t so – how shall I put this? – impressed with the game. But last week you raved about it. Has your passion for the game increased?
A: I think you still have to be prepared for life after football. Football is such a short part of your life, but because of that the game is so much more special. You can be a doctor for 40 years. You can’t play football for 40 years. So because you have such a short window of opportunity, I think you have to pour more into it to get the most you can out of it, because, as I said the other day, when it’s over it’s over. I’m sure every coach who played this game, even some of you reporters who played in high school or college, would love to strap it up one more time. But the last time you strap it up is the last time you strap it up. There are no old man games at the park; there’s no Senior Football League like there is in golf, so you’ve got to get it while you can.
Q: Did you think you’d be playing this long when you were here the first time?
A: No, I just wanted to finish my first contract, four years, and go from there.
Q: The last time you played against the Steelers, you were on fire. Were you particularly motivated for that game?
A: Yeah. I had hurt my foot the year before and I think that’s when you realize, wow, this game can be taken away from you at any point. So obviously, playing the Steelers with their tradition of linebackers there, I wanted to be the best linebacker on the field that day. Anytime you play someplace where you played before you kind of want to show up a little more. My parents were in the stands, so I thought this would be a good game for me to turn it all the way up and see what I’ve got left, and I had a lot of fun that day. I had a pretty good game and we won, which always makes it easier.
Q: Tell me a little bit about New England. Why are they so successful?
A: Excellent coaching and players who truly, truly prepare every week, every day. They’re not always the most athletic team on the field, but those guys are prepared for all situations and all scenarios. It comes down from the head coach. Belichick’s sense of preparation and his ability to break the game down into situations is amazing, and it prepares you as a player. Instead of forcing you to memorize a hundred different plays that the offense does, [it’s] short-yardage – this is what they run; two-minute situation – this is what they run. So you’ve only got to remember a few different things, so it allows you as a player to be prepared for each situation that occurs in a football game. They run a really good program there.
Q: Yet, no ring. Is that a big part of the reason you came back to Pittsburgh? And are you starving for one?
A: That’s the reason you play the game. You boil football down and it’s a job. It’s just a job to support your family. But as a football player, what is the peak of your profession? It’s not being the highest-paid, it’s being a Super Bowl champion. Having won championships in Pop Warner football and in high school football and at the University of Colorado, it’s the one ring I’m missing, so of course I would love to get that. As far as whether the Super Bowl was the reason I came back here, would I be clamoring to go to Green Bay right now? No. I wouldn’t call my agent up for that one. But the Steelers opportunity is kind of a great: You kind of come back home, kind of come back to where I started, finish the circle kind of thing. Obviously they have a great chance to make it to the Super Bowl, so that made the decision that much easier.
Q: Have you sensed the revival of hope here after last Sunday?
A: That’s always funny. They hate you one week and they love you the next.
Q: Could you sense that in your short stay so far?
A: I sensed in the locker room that there was a sense of calm and confidence, no sense of panic. But not being around this team, I really didn’t know what to expect on Sunday. The guys came to play. If we continue to do that, and everybody does their jobs, I don’t see why we won’t continue that type of success. But you’ve got to stay even keel. It’s your guys’ jobs in the media and the public to hate us or love us on alternating weeks. Our job is to keep even and keep working.
Q: As the crowd was cheering your sack, did you think right then that your career had come full circle?
A: Well, in a sense, yes, but I saw it more as a welcome back than a full circle, because a full circle implies the end, and I have no idea how long I’ll be here. Those guys who are injured will come back and be healthy, so I just want to keep working and hopefully keep making plays. It’s not time for me to rest on my laurels, on my one sack. I didn’t come here just for one sack. It felt great, but like I said it was a welcome back, not an end-of-journey kind of thing.
Q: What was your reaction to watching last Super Bowl?
A: Jerome and I have the same agent, so I was obviously very happy for Jerome. I know the Steelers organization, Coach Cowher, they’ve been so close so many times, and to see them get it was awesome.