Jason Brown, the 6’ 3” twenty-nine year old, seven-year veteran of the Saint Louis Rams and Baltimore Ravens, played 100 games in the NFL, ninety one of them as a starter. That’s quite a track record. He is now, for all accounts, enjoying his life in retirement. Growing up Jason had to overcome many roadblocks.
To begin with, Jason wasn’t always popular in school. His classmates called him “fat boy” and other brutal, hurtful names. Their taunts stung Jason, but he did not let them define him. Instead, he was able to resist criticism and peer pressure and focus on what he knew to be most important: schoolwork and football.
Jason is very wise and has a heart of gold. He believes that when you lose someone you love dearly, you can let that inspire you to keep things in perspective. In the middle of the night in Iraq, a mortar shell hit Jason’s brother’s battalion. His brother Lunsford Bernard Brown II, known as Deucey to the family, by chance, absorbed most of the shrapnel. Army reports concluded that by doing so, Jason’s, 27-year-old brother very likely saved the lives of eleven other soldiers. Sadly, Deucey died. Even more sorrowful, he never met his baby girl.
Jason Brown uses this loss to inspire his life and his actions, and he loves helping troops, even if that means a handshake. He takes the time to pause for a moment to look into their eyes and imagine their world. He can’t stop their pain, but he can slow it, one handshake at a time.
Jason recently bought a working farm. He is real life farmer now, and he is very excited about it. He said he is working even harder than when he played in the NFL, and has named his farm “First Fruits Farm,” a name he chose to honor his Christian faith and his dedication to God.
Jason has also founded the Wisdom for Life Church. The core of the church’s mission is bible distribution, bible literacy, as well as sharing the same love of Jesus he has. He does this first by meeting the immediate needs of the community and having genuine fellowship with believers and non-believers alike.
Ambassador Jason Brown shared recently, “I’ve witnessed people with God given talent and ability waste it away by not living a life with purpose according to the will of our Heavenly Father. This is not living at all. It is actually dying. We need to have a covenant relationship with our Creator, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Here’s to modern day heroes.
Until next time, Chrissy Carew
Founder and Head Coach, Insightful Player, LLC To Follow me on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/InsightfulPlayr