Brown

BUTLERTWP — A broken neck couldn't deter Tom Brown from playing football.

So when the 1939 Butler graduate received a challenge from his high school coach, Regis Heinzer, to play professional football, he couldn't refuse.

"I went on to Fort Union Military Academy and played running back while getting my grades up, then went to William & Mary for a couple of years," Brown said. "I bumped into my high school coach when I was back in my town.

"He asked me if I was going to try out for the Steelers. I figured I'd never have a chance. He looked me in the eye and said: 'Don't you think you can make it?' That's all I needed to hear."

Brown, now 85, was one of the honorees at the third annual Hometown Heroes ceremony before Butler's 23-0 win over Fox Chapel last Friday.

Football was different in his day. He broke his neck in a 1938 high school game and finished playing the same game.

"It happened making a tackle on a kickoff against Beaver Falls,"Brown recalled. "I felt it. Something was wrong. They helped me off the field and I couldn't straighten my neck out. I went back out there and played anyway.

"The next Monday in school, Coach saw me in the hallway and my neck was all swelled up. He took me to the hospital and they told me it was broken."

Told by doctors he'd never play football again, Brown returned to the field in 1939 and was voted his team's Most Valuable Player.

His coach's words during that meeting in Butler reignited his passion to play.

"I called the Steelers to ask for a tryout," Brown said. "I told them I played at William & Mary, he (publicist Joe Carr)checked on it and they put me on a train to Hershey to try out.

"There were 100 players out there trying to make a 28-player roster. But I wanted it so bad, and if you want anything bad enough in life, you can get it."

Brown made the 1942 Steelers as an offensive end and linebacker. The team finished 7-4 that year under coach Walt Kiesling.

Brown was a teammate of "Bullet"Bill Dudley, the Steelers' No. 1 draft pick that year, and played against Hall of Fame quarterbacks Y.A. Tittle and Sammy Baugh. He sacked Baugh that season.

"We played before capacity crowds at Forbes Field," Brown said. "I can still remember the pre-game introductions, your name coming through the loudspeaker and all of those people cheering. Stuff like that never leaves you.

With World War II breaking out, numerous pro players — including Brown — joined the service.

Brown never played in the NFL again, but he did play professional [-caliber football.

"I joined the Air Force because I always wanted to fly a plane," Brown said. "I love flying. But they assigned all the athletes to one of four bases.

"I wound up playing for the 4th Air Corps Flyers at Riverside, Calif., I didn't get to fly in combat and that probably saved my life.

"I'm grateful for those years and I'm grateful to football," he added. "That sport brought the toughness out of me. It showed me loyalty and how to be a man. I went on to represent manufacturing firms and gained a lot of those contacts through football."