Eagle hears from a GOAT
BC’s Brown picked up by Brady
Anthony Brown received support and guidance from a former college quarterback who knows what it’s like to recover from a season-ending knee injury.
The Boston College quarterback talked about the surprise visit he received last week from Tom Brady following Day 1 of Eagles training camp yesterday.
“I came into the building to watch film and in the quarterbacks’ room there was a (head) set so I kind of figured it out,” Brown said. “You have to play it cool, it’s Tom Brady.”
Brady was coming off a near-perfect season in 2007 when he suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in the 2008 opener against Kansas City. Brady recovered and went on to be named the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2009.
Brown would like to duplicate in the ACC what Brady accomplished in the NFL. Brown suffered a devastating right knee injury in the second quarter against North Carolina State last November.
“He’s a very special guy but he’s a normal guy,” Brown of Brady, the onetime Michigan QB. “He was relaxed, he was very calm and very chill. He just gave me some motivating words on staying positive and keeping my teammates up to continue our process to get ready for the season.”
Brown completed 134-of258 passes for 1,367 yards with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions before his redshirt freshman year was cut short. The 6-foot-1, 210-pounder from Cliffwood, N.J., enjoyed a breakout game on Oct. 21 at Virginia by completing 19-of-24 for a careerhigh 275 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-10 win.
Brown has the resources to pick up where he left off in training camp and take his game to the next level by the season opener against UMass on Sept. 1 at Alumni Stadium.
BC has five returning starters on the offensive line with two former starters, Jon Baker and Elijah Johnson, recovered from injuries. Returning right tackle Chris Lindstrom is an Athlon preseason All-America selection and on the Outland Trophy watch list.
Having his wall of protection intact and gametested provides Brown with the security to stay on task as a prototypical ACC dual threat quarterback.
“It is very comforting,” Brown said. “Their experience takes you a very long way and it’s very relaxing knowing that I have guys that have been here for a very long time and have played a lot of football.
“They are ready to get after it.”
The most effective way of delaying the pass rush and keeping the linebackers at home is play action. But that only works if the ball carrier is a credible threat to break a long gain on any down and distance.
And Eagles tailback AJ Dillon emerged as the best running back in the ACC last season as a true freshman. Dillon rushed for a freshman school record 1,589 yards on 300 carries for a 122.2 per game average with 14 touchdowns.
Dillon’s presence in the backfield will force defensive coordinators to load the box, creating man coverage opportunities for superb tight end Tommy Sweeney and wide receivers Kobay White, Jeff Smith and Michael Walker.
“AJ and play action is a very huge key because if you don’t key on AJ you have huge problems when he actually gets the ball,” Brown said. “Play action is a huge aspect we are focusing on and AJ is pivotal because defenses are very focused on him right now.”