It might seem hard to believe that at 6-foot-3, 280 pounds, Lyons sophomore Mickey Brown never played football until his freshman year.
Brown considered himself strictly a basketball player while growing up in Bellwood. It wasn’t until he moved to La Grange after eighth grade when his mother, Olethia Brown, gave Mickey permission to try out for football.
“I didn’t play until my first year,” Mickey Brown said. “When I got to high school, I thought about it. My mom encouraged me to play football my first year. I like it.”
Following his success on the football field, Brown no longer plays basketball.
He seems to have settled in as the nose tackle in the 3-5-3 alignment of new Lyons defensive coordinator Bryan Bergman.
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In the 35-7 loss to visiting Oak Park-River Forest on Friday, Oct. 16, Brown lined up at nose tackle between two-way senior lineman Taylor Curlin at left end and junior Nicholas Rivera at right end.
Lyons’ defense had a tough day, allowing 271 yards and two touchdowns by Huskies leading rusher Antonio Cannon and 121 yards passing by quarterback Keegan Smith.
There is still much for Brown to learn. His first significant playing time came as a reserve in a 10-7 win at Leyden Sept. 19. Brown came off the bench to sub for senior Dominic Raphael at right end. Frankie Walsh started at left end and two-way lineman Taylor Curlin was the nose tackle.
He started for the first time Sept. 26 in Lyons’ 35-0 loss to Glenbard West in Week 5. Two weeks earlier, Brown missed Lyons’ home game against Proviso West Sept. 11 due to an injury.
“(The Glenbard West game) was tough,” Brown said. “I was nervous, but my teammates helped me out. They kept me going.”
Brown made the move to the varsity this season after playing on the freshman A team last season.
“There is a difference in the speed of the game and intensity,” Brown said. “You play with people with more experience and they’re tougher. No game is easy. I just keep working and keep doing my job.”
Brown is one of three sophomores starting for Lyons. The others who started against OPRF were quarterback Ben Bryant (7-for-25, 97 yards) and receiver Brandon Fischer, who caught three passes for 39 yards.
“The key thing for Mickey is getting better and playing every play consistently hard,” Lyons coach Kurt Weinberg said. “As a freshman, he used to dominate guys.”
Brown and the Lions (5-3, 2-3 West Suburban Silver) hope to clinch their seventh straight playoff berth at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, with a victory at York (3-5, 1-4).
Twitter @geomwilcox