Brown savors his final games
Safety’s impact has been profound
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Ji’Ayir Brown gets to return to his home state of New Jersey for the first of a series of lasts Saturday.
His last road game, which comes against Rutgers. His last home game, which coincides with Penn State’s senior day. There’s even a potential bowl game,should Penn State’s fifthyear safety elect to play. The Trenton, N.J., native has come a long way since starting out at Scranton’s Lackawanna College,and he knows it.
“I’m just trying to slow these last two weeks down. It’s been a hell of a ride here at Penn State, and you never want to see it come to an end, but nothing lasts forever,” Brown said. “I’m just trying to slow time down as much as possible. I knew this moment was going to come. I knew this time of year was going to come. I just wanted to be ready for it as much as possible.”
Brown, who grew up 45 minutes south of Rutgers’ campus, is expecting a big turnout of family and friends Saturday. The last time Penn State played at Rutgers was during the COVID-19 impacted season, a campaign which featured significant attendance restrictions.
“It’s going to be good, my last year at Penn State, play in Jersey one more time, play a great opponent like Rutgers, and be able to put on a show for my hometown,” Brown said.
No. 11 Penn State is far and away the betting choice; according to some sportsbooks, the Nittany Lions are as high as 19.5-point favorites . A big reason Penn State is favored so heavily is because of its defense, which pitched a shutout last Saturday in a 30-0 win against Maryland.
For the second season in a row, Brown leads Penn State in interceptions. He has three after tying for the FBS lead in 2021 with six. But Brown said he hasn’t met either his personal or team goals, considering the Nittany Lions’ chances of making the College Football Playoff are practically nonexistent.
James Franklin isn’t surprised by the lens through which Brown views his season.
“If he had 10 interceptions right now, I think he’d still be disappointed,” Franklin said. “It’s just kind of how he’s wired.”
According to ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., Brown is the thirdhighest ranked safety for the 2023 NFL draft, slotted behind Texas A&M’s Antonio Johnson and Alabama’s Brian Branch. But Franklin doesn’t think Brown, who is Penn State’s leading tackler with 55, is getting the attention he deserves.
“When it comes to college football awards, when it comes to the NFL, his name should be all over the place,” Franklin said.
With the departure of fellow safety and Jaquan Brisker to the NFL after last season, Brown had to take on a larger leadership role. Receiver Mitch Tinsley called Brown a “phenomenal” leader.
“Some people ... they do a lot of talking but don’t back it up,” Tinsley said. “But I feel like for [Brown], he’s constantly showing, ‘You follow me, I’m the type of guy that’s going to get the job done.’”
Brown’s leadership style and grace aren’t surprising, considering he had to attend Lackawanna after graduating from Trenton Central High School and that he had just two Division I offers from Penn State and Kent State once he finished-community college.
He may not have met his lofty expectations for 2022, but simply being part of the Nittany Lions’ secondary for the three seasons will provide Brown ample reason to hold his head highe.
“Being where I come from, where there’s not too many opportunities like this given out, I just tried to make the best of every one of them and just tried to appreciate it ... before it’s gone.”