Why Brown keeps photo in his locker
Tucked behind a crimson helmet on the top shelf of Orlando Brown’s new locker at the Switzer Center is a photo.
The 4-by-6-inch picture isn’t in a frame. Instead it’s propped up between the white face mask and white wall.
In it, there’s a young, brown-haired boy wearing a crimson OU cap and a white Sooners jersey grinning ear-to-ear next to a man twice his size.
That man, who was closer to a kid than a full-fledged adult in that moment, wore darkrimmed glasses, a silver book bag and a gray Nike zip-up sweatshirt over a crimson shirt. He smiled a cautious, half-grin as he held a Sharpie over an Oklahoma football game guide.
That man was Orlando Brown, posing for a quick picture as he made his way to a home game during the 2014 season, and that boy was a fan Brown only knows as Jacoby.
This year, Jacoby made a point to see Brown at “Meet the Sooners Day.” When he finally got through the autograph line to see Brown, Jacoby plopped the photo down
in front of him. Brown was shocked. “Honestly, it just touched me because I work hard, and I know how hard I work,” Brown said. “That kid took that picture with me when I was a redshirt freshman.”
When that photo was snapped in 2014, Brown was at least a year away from stepping foot on the field and even farther away from becoming an All-American offensive tackle destined for the
early rounds of the 2018 NFL draft.
Even still, that young boy stopped Brown and asked him for an autograph and a photo.
“I was fresh out of high school,” Brown said. “For me, that just holds a lot of value in my heart. Every day I take the field, knowing that this kid is watching me and wants to see me play on Saturdays.
“It just helps me keep the mindset and mentality to do what I have to do out here. It’s just more motivation for me.”
This time around, Jacoby left Brown with more than just an autograph or another picture. Brown gave him one of his signature white bandanas that he carries around in honor of his father, Zeus.
“It just holds value for me,” Brown said of receiving the photo. “It just touched me.”