Waiting for the next start
Norwalk’s Brown bided his time to shine at QB, only to have it intercepted by COVID-19
NORWALK — All the confidence Tommy Brown needed for this would’ve-been football season and beyond came from a game 11 months ago.
Without its standout quarterback on Nov. 9, Norwalk gave the start against Danbury to junior Tommy Brown. He was 13 for 27 for 246 yards with three touchdowns and no turnovers in a 37-33 loss. His then-coach said he’d start for over half the teams in the FCIAC.
“We knew that Kyle (Gordon) was banged up. It was going to be a game-time decision. I had to be ready,” Brown said this week before a football practice at Nathan
Hale Middle School.
“It definitely makes me more confident in myself. I know what it’s like. I’ve been there, so now let’s just do it again for another 10 games.”
The fall 2020 season was going to be Brown’s chance to do that with the Bears, to show colleges what he could do behind center in a competitive football league, to attract the attention of a prep school to get in one more year before college.
Instead, the CIAC pulled the plug on the fall 11-on-11 season on Sept. 4 after a back-and-forth with the state Department of Public Health over the sport’s risk of transmitting the novel coronavirus.
Instead of preparing for a Week 4 visit from Cheshire, Norwalk was getting ready to face city rival McMahon to open play in, to steal the FCIAC’s term, a “football alternative,” 7-on-7 play along with strength challenges.
The path to the next level got a bit more winding.
“For me right now, I’m not getting looked at by any colleges. I planned, or I want to go post-grad,” Brown said. “Thing is, I’ve got to see who’s available, who has a quarterback ready. If they have a junior quarterback now, if I go post-grad, he’ll be a senior. It’ll be all messed up.”
Going straight to college is still on the table, he said, if there’s a fit.
“My heart breaks for him just
because he’s really earned it,” first-year Norwalk coach Pat Miller said, “but if you talked to him, you wouldn’t even know (about the disappointment). He’s been on these guys the whole time.
“You watch him out here, he’s still high-energy. You would have no idea, just looking at him in practice, that a season would’ve been taken away from him like that.”
Miller succeeded Sean Ireland as Norwalk coach in January, a month after Miller helped Sheehan to the Class S championship as an assistant coach. He said the first Bears player he met was Brown, and the quarterback made an impression right away.
“One thing that I love: I told him to pick a time every week that we want to meet. He picked Friday,” Miller said, and he laughed. “It’s like, I’m trying to get out of here early on a Friday, and he picks — for a kid his age to pick Fridays to want to stay, it was awesome.”
Brown said he hadn’t talked to any prep schools yet, and he hadn’t looked at playing independent 11on-11 football this fall. The CIAC announced on Tuesday the possibility of playing a short football season in March and April, COVID-19 metrics permitting.
Miller said he has been pitching Brown’s name to prep schools and colleges as much as possible, discussing him with a few Division III schools in the Northeast. He said Brown could play at that level right away, but even if not, he’d
give a team’s starter a push. Brown has drawn some attention on Twitter, too.
“I said that Tommy Brown is everything I want in a quarterback before I even saw him throw a ball,” Miller said. “He’s just a natural leader. He doesn’t have to say much. Every time he talks, everyone listens. He’s got that kind of quiet confidence to himself. He’s very mature for his age, very professional.”
The CIAC suspended play because of the pandemic on March 10, canceling what was left of winter state tournaments, and spring sports were put on hold. Brown tweeted 10 days later, and it was his pinned tweet earlier this week: “can’t wait to get back to work this season,” with video of a 72-yard touchdown pass to Andre Robinson Jr. from that Danbury game.
The journey from then to now, through a once-in-alifetime (hopefully) spring and summer, was a long one, he said, “a little boring.” It was disappointing to have so much uncertainty in his senior season. But he said he has worked hard to remain positive.
“Try to be a better person every day, see what I can do to help others, especially during this time,” Brown said. “A lot of people are in need, so that’s what I want to do, just help.
“I know a few people who’ve lost family members to the COVID; just check up on them. Donate, spread positivity on COVID and (the) Black Lives Matter movement. With the crazy stuff that’s been going on, just spread positivity.”