Hometown Hero Don Brown honoree looks back on memorable grid career
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — When Don Brown went away to school, he went away from Butler for the first time.
The 1969 Butler graduate accepted an offer to play football at Wake Forest University, where he received his Masters in Education in 1976. He parlayed that and his degrees in science and mathematics into a 40-year career in the financial industry.
Before beginning that career, he enjoyed an eight-year career as strength and flexibility coach with the NFL’s St. Louis Cardinals.
Prior to Butler’s Sept. 12 home game against Hollidaysburg, Brown will become the 67th individual inductee into the Butler Football Hometown Heroes, a program that began in 2004.
“I’m not real comfortable with the word hero,” Brown admitted. “I don’t consider myself a hero at all. I’m just a guy who worked his butt off.”
At 5-foot-11, 210 pounds, Brown was never a big football player physically. But he was a fullback and outside linebacker for three years with the Golden Tornado. Butler posted a composite 19-8 won-loss record during that time, but did not make the WPIAL playoffs.
“We were 7-2 my junior year and lost a tight game to New Castle in our last game,” Brown said. “That was our last conference game and only conference loss. Had we won, we could have played for the WPIAL championship.
“Our only other loss that year was at (Youngstown) Ursuline. We played in a monsoon. That was the muddiest game I ever played in. My big moment in football was intercepting a pass late to preserve a 7-6 win over Sharon that season.”
Butler will be honoring the military during the Sept. 12 game this season, a fact not lost on Brown.
“That’s special to me,” he said. “Some of my high school teammates went on to serve. Wes Blaine went to Army, Bill McGinnis to the Air Force.”
Brown said his success in football - he played on Wake Forest’s first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference championship team as a sophomore in 1970 before embarking on his NFL coaching career - came from the groundwork laid for him in Butler.
He played for the Penn Street Cardinals of the Butler Area Midget Football League, where he was coached by Paul Silvus. He also played for coach Harry Leyland with the BAMFL All-Stars.
“Legendary guys,” Brown said. “I was so fortunate to grow up in Butler. From the ages 8 to 18, I had standout coaching. Art Bernardi, Paul Uram and Bo Voelker with the high school team, there were none better.”
Those coaches helped line him up for a visit to Wake Forest, where he played outside linebacker. Brown was a captain of the Demon Deacons his senior year, when the team finished 2-9.
“That was two years after winning the ACC title,” he said, laughing. “We went from riches to rags.”
Brown became close friends with fellow Wake Forest linebacker Ed Bradley, who went on to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The two remain close friends today.
Uram helped set him up for the pro coaching opportunity with the Cardinals.
“Coach Uram had a strength and flexibility program that extended the careers of NFL players,” Brown said. “Then-Washington Redskins coach George Allen loved playing veterans and took to Uram’s program. That got Paul’s name out there and he helped me get in with the Cardinals.
“When I was a kid with the Penn Street Cardinals, my favorite NFL player was Larry Wilson, the Cardinals’ best player who became a Hall of Fame safety. When the Cardinals hired me, Larry Wilson was the one who picked me up at the airport. I was absolutely thrilled.”
Brown worked under head coaches Bud Wilkinson (one year) and Jim Hanifan (seven) in St. Louis. His final season was 1985, the Cardinals narrowly missing out on the NFC East title.
“We were 8-7 going into our final game against the Redskins,” Brown recalled. “If we win that game, we win the division. We missed a would-be game-winning 35-yard field goal by inches in the final minute. That was my last pro game.”
A Winston-Salem resident for years, Brown did volunteer work for World Relief through his church. In 2017, he spent a few weeks working at various refugee camps on the outskirts of Athens, Greece.
“I brought a bunch of athletic equipment over,” Brown said. “A lot of those people had never thrown or kicked a ball. It was an eye-opening experience for me.”
Brown has never forgotten his hometown roots. For nine straight years, he helps organize the Butler Friends Gathering, a group of approximately 150 people that convenes at Alameda Park for an annual picnic.
“I’m proud to be from Butler,” Brown said.
“At our age, we have to see who’s still above ground,” he joked.
His late brother, Greg Brown, who handled the finances of the BAMFL for years, is one of the 66 previous Hometown Hero honorees.
“I’m going to be right there with him now,” Brown said. “That means more to me than anything.”
