View Full Version : Following the Career of Desmond Brown, a NCAA 2003 story with a GREAT final twist
This story has is already complete, but I'll share it with you, regardless. You'll most likely love the ending.
I decided as most have already to follow the trail left by the nation's best player. I took Arkansas State, so I couldn't possibly have a chance to recruit the best player in the nation, and simmed with the sole idea of seeing how Desmond Brown did.
Desmond Brown, the #1 QB in the high school ranks, is from Raceland, LA. the 6'5" 203 pounder wows the recruiters and scouts with his cannon arm and good accuracy. His 40 yard dash is a solid 4.86. He does well in the weight room, benching 235 and 460 in the squat.
Early on before the recruiting war, he states in an interview with Rivals.com, that his early favorites are Miami (FL), Ole Miss, and Texas Tech.
Arkansas State (1-11) sends a recruiter, but he's told unless the Mississippi River dries up, he's likely not to consider ASU. The recruiter comes back with the good news that there's a chance. ASU sinks all they can into getting Brown.
After the first week of recruiting, it's obvious ASU probably won't get Brown. However, he's reshuffled his deck, albeit very little. Brown now lists Texas Tech as his favorite, followed by Miami and Ole Miss.
After the second week, Brown commits to Texas Tech. He listed Tennessee as his second choice, and then Miami. Boo on Ole Miss for not trying!
GoldenEagle
06-19-2003, 10:18 PM
Ole Miss wanted to make sure they continued their yearly journey to the Independence Bowl.
With Kliff Kingsbury departed for the pros (and drafted by the Bears in the first round, Kliff takes the starting job), Desmond Brown looks to fight senior B.J. Symons for the starting nod at QB for the pass happy Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Desmond Brown takes the jersey of #6, since that was his high school number.
Desmond's ratings:
Overall: 82
Speed: 63
Strength: 46
Awareness: 74
Agility: 72
Acceleration: 58
Carry: 62
Break Tackle: 60
Throwing Power: 85
Throwing Accuracy: 75
Stamina: 72
Injury: 74
Desmond takes the starting nod, fairly easily, and will start as a true freshman for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Their schedule:
vs. New Mexico
vs. Louisville
at NC State
at Ole Miss
vs. Texas A&M
vs. Iowa State
at Oklahoma State
at Mizzou
vs. Colorado
at Baylor
at Texas
vs. Oklahoma
Sorry, but I didn't keep what week they were in. :)
As you can see, Desmond has a chance to play the team that snubbed him.
In the interest of time, I'll post scores and stats now.
W vs. New Mexico 49-35; 32comp-55att 471yds 7TD, 2INT
W vs. Louisville 28-23; 24-41, 400, 4-0
W at NC State 41-20; 27-48, 352, 3-2
L at Ole Miss 9-27; 5-21, 62, 0-2 (apparently injured for some of the game)
L vs. Texas A&M 20-38; 20-41, 299, 1-2
W vs. Iowa State 45-31; 24-54, 335, 4-1
W at Oklahoma State 34-7; 28-49, 391, 2-2
W at Mizzou 47-40; 21-48, 374, 4-1
L vs. Colorado 9-51; 23-49, 313, 0-3
L at Baylor 17-31; 9-16, 122, 1-0 (injured, missed the rest of the game)
W at Texas 38-25; 24-48, 365, 4-0
L vs. Oklahoma 10-24; 16-45, 234, 1-1
Bowl Game
Tangerine Bowl vs. North Carolina
L 21-26 (no stats available since I simmed it)
Final stats: 255 comp, 515 att, 3712 yds, 31TD, 16 INT
Led nation in attempts, 3rd in yards and TDs. Sacked most in the nation 49 times.
Brown's offseason is one of minimal improvement. He increases to 84 overall.
Overall: 84
Speed: 63
Strength: 47
Awareness: 77
Agility: 73
Acceleration: 58
Carry: 62
Break Tackle: 60
Throwing Power: 86
Throwing Accuracy: 77
Stamina: 73
Injury: 75
Texas Tech brings in two freshmen to backup Brown. One is rated as 81 overall. Brown dusts off the competition and keeps his starting job.
The upcoming schedule is released:
vs UCF
vs TCU
at New Mexico
at Texas A&M
at Kansas State
vs Oklahoma State
at Kansas
vs Nebraska
vs Baylor
vs Texas
at Oklahoma
That's it for now. I'm likely off the net for the next 12 hours or so.
Brown’s sophomore campaign was bittersweet. He stayed healthy all season long, but while his team won more, his performance somewhat suffered. All of his numbers dropped, and his interceptions increased. What’s more, he showed a Chris Simms mold in not beating the high ranked Nebraska or eventual undefeated National Champion Oklahoma. Looking at the numbers, it didn’t seem he prepared enough for either of them.
Brown did redeem himself somewhat by defeating top 25 teams Texas and Texas A&M. He later defeated Oregon in the Holiday Bowl as well.
L vs. UCF 31-33; 34cmp-63att, 498yds, 3TD-2INT (34-63, 498, 3-2)
W vs. TCU 41-35; 27-57, 393, 4-2
W at New Mexico 26-21; 26-51, 347, 2-1
W at Texas A&M 33-17; 24-49, 305, 2-2
L at Kansas State 20-25; 20-43, 330, 1-0
W vs. Oklahoma St 37-20; 24-36, 289, 3-3
W at Kansas 27-13; 15-37, 315, 2-0
L vs. Nebraska 14-24; 16-33, 180, 0-2
W vs. Baylor 31-19; 28-48, 417, 3-1
W vs. Texas 29-13; 23-41, 325, 2-1
L at Oklahoma 7-52; 14-34, 166, 0-3
W vs. Oregon 38-34; Holiday Bowl, no stats available
Final stats: 251 comp, 492 att, 3565 yds, 22TD, 17 INT
Brown was Big 12 player of the week for his game against Kansas, although I would have thought his Baylor performance would have rated it. I guess the Kansas week was a “weak” week for the Big 12.
Sorry about the formatting, I forgot how to make it nice and neat.
It’s Brown’s second off-season, and it looks like he’s taken to heart what the coaches have been telling him. He shows moderate improvement this off-season, even putting on another pound (he’s now 204). Brown’s now an overall 89 as a junior. He improved his strength, awareness, agility, carrying, breaking tackles, throwing power, throwing accuracy, stamina, and his injury ratings.
Texas Tech rolls into the preseason at #9, and big things are expected of the Red Raiders.
Playing time wise, the Red Raiders bring in another freshman to compete. He’s on the bottom of the roster and doesn’t show up in the 3 deep. It’s likely he’ll be red shirted. Brown clearly shows he’s the number one QB at Texas Tech and prepares to show the scouts what he’s made of.
Red Raider’s Schedule:
At Southern Miss
Vs. South Carolina
At Washington St
Vs. Hawaii
Vs. Texas A&M
Vs. Kansas St.
At Oklahoma St.
Vs. Kansas
At Nebraska
At Baylor
At Texas
Vs. Oklahoma
The season proved to be a discouraging one for Brown. He started off well against Southern Miss, but an injury late in the game forced him to miss the South Carolina game as a precaution. Brown came back the next week in solid form and pummeled the Cougars and the Warriors.
Unfortunately, Brown was injured early in the Texas A&M game with a strained Achilles tendon. This forced him not only out of the game, but to miss the next three games as well.
The Red Raiders did the best they could without him, but dropped the Kansas State game at home. Red Raider fans everywhere cursed under their breath that things would have been different had Brown been in the game.
Brown did come back for the Nebraska game amidst small controversy. The backup won two games rather easily and some were calling for a QB change. Brown performed horribly at Nebraska, but he and the Red Raiders somehow, someway, found a way to win, and win ugly.
Brown went on to defeat the Baylor Bears and was named Big 12 offensive player of the week, but things got ugly after that.
At this point the Red Raiders were still ranked #15, despite the two losses (both of which were when Brown didn’t play). With games against Texas and Oklahoma, spirits and expectations were high. Unfortunately, Brown and the Red Raiders didn’t have enough to win either game.
Both games were attainable, but neither worked out. Brown struggle mightily against the top secondaries of the nation; combining for 1TD and 4 INT.
The two losses dropped the Red Raiders out of contention for the Big 12 Championship game and into the Alamo Bowl with the Michigan Wolverines.
Michigan handled the Red Raiders easily to the tune of a 34-point victory.
W at Southern Miss 49-44; 23-53, 387, 5-3
L vs. South Carolina 25-28; DNP
W at Washington St. 40-21; 22-46, 319, 2-1
W vs. Hawaii 67-28; 29-40, 489, 3-0
W vs. Texas A&M 31-24; 7-10, 127, 1-1
L vs. Kansas St. 10-38; DNP
W at Oklahoma St. 37-7; DNP
W vs. Kansas 40-13; DNP
W at Nebraska 34-31; 18-37, 297, 1-3
W at Baylor 48-38; 30-55, 527, 4-3
L at Texas 15-20; 17-44, 222, 0-1
L vs. Oklahoma 10-24; 20-47, 250, 1-3
L vs. Michigan 14-48; Alamo Bowl
I check to see if Brown has decided to take a chance on the NFL, but Brown has decided it would be best to wait another year. Despite returning for his senior season, Brown’s improvement over his final off-season conditioning is minimal again. He adds another pound to his frame, and improves to an overall of 90.
Brown posts minimal improvements in strength, awareness, agility, throwing accuracy, and stamina.
TEXAS TECH QB MIA
Lubbock, TX (AP) Texas Tech’s football program is usually known for its ability to pass the football. The talk this summer, however, is about who is NOT throwing the football.
Texas Tech hasn’t made any coaching changes and summer camp is still going with the football in the air almost as much as it’s on the ground. The one thing that has changed is who’s throwing that football.
Gone, and nowhere to be found, is senior Desmond Brown. Many theories arise to his whereabouts, but no one has come forward, much less Brown, to explain the sudden disappearance. Some say, he was discouraged by the three losses in a row last season to top competition. Others say the young man was homesick. One rumor has it that Texas Tech told the young man they were going to revoke his scholarship, based on the young talent behind him. Whatever the cause, Brown is missing and nowhere to be found.
Make no mistake about it; Brown is not on campus. You won’t find him enrolled in any classes. No one has taken his jersey, but there is definitely competition for his job. It’s unclear why the young man would decide to hang up his cleats after practicing through spring drills. He gave no hint that he was making himself eligible for either the NFL Draft or Supplemental draft. In fact, no paperwork whatsoever has been filed with the NFL on Brown’s behalf at all. There have been no reports by any other college that Desmond Brown has enrolled.
Phone calls to the Brown residence in Raceville, LA, have not been returned; although it is rumored the family has hired a private investigator.
It seems as if Desmond Brown may never have existed at all.
Brown never showed up again in the game, neither in NCAA or Madden in a draft class.
Crazy, huh?
The End :)
vBulletin v3.6.0, Copyright ©2000-2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.