Cherokee High products make history together

After Montrell Washington’s name was called Saturday in the fifth round of the NFL draft, Brittain Brown made it twice as historic of a day for Cherokee High School.

The former Warrior teammates both got their calls to the NFL — Washington at No. 162 overall to the Denver Broncos, and Brown at No. 250 overall to the Las Vegas Raiders.

“I do not know if this has happened in our county’s history,” longtime Cherokee coach Josh Shaw said, “so this is a proud moment to be a small part of their story.”

According to Pro Football Reference, only two Cherokee County products had been drafted by NFL teams before this year, both in 2011 — Etowah’s Buster Skrine and Woodstock’s Bruce Miller. Skrine was still active in 2021, ending the season in the Tennessee Titans’ secondary.

If either Brown or Washington can make their respective teams’ rosters, they would join three other former Cherokee High players who played in the NFL after going undrafted — Charles Martin, Dan Rosado and Tommy Pharr.

Brown, a 2015 graduate of Cherokee, took a longer journey than most to get to the NFL, with six years at the college level — four years at Duke and two at UCLA. Brown sat out the 2016 season as a redshirt, then played three seasons with the Blue Devils before heading to the West Coast as a graduate transfer, also taking advantage of an extra year of eligibility granted athletes due to the pandemic.

Though injuries hampered Brown at Duke, he was able to showcase his abilities in the classroom, graduating in three years.

“He had 20-25 offers out of high school, but he chose Duke because of its academics,” Shaw said. “He had some injuries, but he was fantastic during his freshman and sophomore years. He was always a high-end academic guy.”

Brown rushed for 701 yards and seven touchdowns as a redshirt freshman in 2017, and he totaled 1,126 yards and 10 touchdowns across 25 games at Duke.

After transferring to UCLA, Brown earned his masters degree while rushing for 615 yards and seven touchdowns during the 2021 season. He also showed some versatility in the passing game, catching 18 passes for 128 yards.

“I’ve been playing this game since I was 5 years old with the dream to play in the league one day…i won’t disappoint!” Brown tweeted after his selection Saturday. “Let’s get it @Raiders”

Brown’s older brother and fellow Cherokee alum, Blace, is also playing football professionally. After a standout college career at Troy, he is entering his fourth year as a defensive back with the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.

In his final season before moving into the college ranks, Brittain Brown and Washington were part of the same offensive unit for Cherokee in 2015. That year, Brown led the Warriors with 973 yards and 12 touchdowns on 98 carries, while Washington caught 35 passes for 351 yards and four scores, and also returned 11 kickoffs for 286 yards, with a long of 81.

The following year, with Brown now at Duke, Washington was handed the keys to the offense, catching 81 passes for 930 yards and nine touchdowns. He also rushed for 745 yards and seven scores.

“We definitely had options, that is for sure,” Shaw said. “I remember telling Brittain’s dad when he was in eighth grade that he would never have to pay for college. Having two explosive players like that, it was ‘pick your poison.’ We had a bunch of good players wrapped around them, and it was neat watching them both grow up and come through the program.”

This past season at Samford, Washington led the Football Championship Subdivision with 1,938 all-purpose yards and 18 total touchdowns.

During his senior year at Cherokee, Washington primarily played the return specialist role, but after the first few games, Shaw and his offensive coordinator, Stevie Jackson, knew that he had to get more touches.

“This dude had to get the ball more than five or six touches per game,” Shaw said. “We went into the Creekview game and lined him up at running back. He ended up getting 20 touches that game and had some electric plays. He had a great career here. He torched Walton for 250 yards.”

That season, Washington was the Region 4AAAAAAA Offensive Player of the Year and a first-team all-state honoree.

Washington joins the Broncos team with a chance to boost their kick and punt return game, which ranked toward the bottom of the NFL last season. He showed explosive playmaking ability at Samford, and Denver is looking for that to translate to the pro level next season.

“Thank you for this opportunity I promise to make the most of it !!!!!! ” Washington tweeted Saturday, later adding a tweet saying it was the “Best day of my life.”

Brown joins a Raiders team that struggled with running back production behind starter Josh Jacobs, who ran for 872 yards and nine touchdowns in 2021. Las Vegas also drafted former Georgia running back Zamir White, so the position is clearly a priority heading into next season.

As a big, physical running back, Brown is difficult to bring down, and he fits the mold of the Raiders’ running back core.

“He brings so much physicality to the game,” Shaw said. “When Brittain played for us, he was 6-foot1, 195 pounds. He is a very tall running back, and he is over 200 pounds now. He is extremely hard to tackle.”