‘TOUGH AS NAILS’
Oregon QB Brown has overcome plenty before leading Ducks into Ohio Stadium
EUGENE — Anthony Brown Jr. was looking at a blank space.
He knew he had to fill it in. He was prepared. But other than his own recall of the correct formulas and confidence the computations would produce the right answer, Brown wouldn’t get feedback until the test was over.
It was the spring of 2016 and the then-true freshman early enrollee at Boston College was taking Computers in Management, CSCI1021, a course to learn
“to use technology as a tool for problem-solving by developing increasingly sophisticated models in Excel.”
The final, one of Brown’s first in college, required him to write the formulas on paper longhand.
“I passed the class,” Brown said. “That’s all I got to say to that.” Five years later, that exam is the hardest thing Brown says he’s experienced.
Not the 6 a.m. workouts with his father and cousin in Cliffwood, New Jersey, that started when he was 10.
Not tearing his right ACL as a redshirt freshman in 2017 and the ensuing recovery.
Not tearing his left ACL as a junior in 2019 and another surgery, after which he elected not to take any pain medication while rehabilitating.
Not transferring more than 3,100 miles from Boston College to Oregon amid a pandemic to compete for a starting quarterback job, only to be the backup and not play until the final two games of last season.