The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Remembering Ricky: Ricky Brown
03.30.2012 | Football
March 30, 2012
Ricky Brown played fullback at Texas from 1996-1999. He played in 50 career contests including three bowl games (1997 Fiesta Bowl; 1999-2000 Cotton Bowls) and started 30 of his last 32 games. He paved the way for three straight 1,000-yard rushers, including Ricky Williams' UT-record 2,124-yard season (1998). He was the 1999 Team Co-Captain and was selected honorable mention All-Big 12 in 1998. He sat down with MB-TF.com and shared some memories of his days playing with Ricky.
It was exciting to play with him. He was an incredibly gifted athlete. He was an incredibly hard worker. I think that I always felt that no matter what the situation was, we had an opportunity to win. Because he was a guy that could turn a game around. I think for the university, I really feel like he brought us to the place where we really wanted to be as national contenders. It was the start of that.
What I remember about Ricky was it is hard to exaggerate how great he was as an athlete and how great he was for the program. I think he was also a great intellect. I remember the way Ricky tried to challenge me athletically, but also intellectually. He was a guy that would ask a ton of questions, and he understood things incredibly well. [He knew] the offense and how the offense was designed to work and he understood defenses. I think in many cases he gets tons of credit for his athletic ability, but no one knows that he is a really smart guy. You get the feeling that he was a real intellectual trapped in an incredibly athletic body. He was a great football player, and he would try and make you better. Anybody that shows up and competes at the highest-level everyday [makes] the people around them have to take it up a notch. That was one of the things that Ricky did.
I always remember that he was great competitor and took it to a whole different level. I had this college professor that was always telling me, "If you are going to be something, you want to do it all the way and put everything into it as if you couldn't fail." Having a guy like Ricky around, I could [hear those words.] He was that competitor, that element that made you feel like if you did put everything in, you couldn't fail as a team. He really gave you that motivation and inspiration by watching him play that you could do this and you could accomplish whatever you want.
There are a couple of things that I remember [as special moments playing with Ricky.] It is hard to boil it down to one moment. I get asked that question all the time. The first thing that pops into my mind is his record setting run against A&M. It was one of those moments that was so memorable, because we won the game and all kinds of people came down on the field and commemorated that moment. It was one of those weird opportunities where as things are happening you kind of realize that you are really a part of something special. Usually it is only when you look back that you realize how great something was. That was one of those moments when you are like, "This is pretty cool." That is definitely one of my most poignant memories.
Another memory that I have was when we were all kind of gathered in the football meeting room [to watch the Heisman ceremony on TV], and he walks in at the Downtown Athletic Club accepting that Heisman trophy. He kind of gave a "shout out" to us all and it felt like we all could share in that honor a little bit, even though he did so much [by himself] to achieve that.
