Jason W. Brown (born May 5, 1983) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

and

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and was selected by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

in the fourth round of the

2005 NFL draft The 2005 NFL draft, the 70th in league history, took place on April 23 and 24, 2005 NFL season, 2005. The draft was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City and was televised for the 26th consecutive year, with coverage on E ...

Early life

Brown was born and raised in

Henderson, North Carolina Henderson is a city in and the county seat of Vance County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,060 at the 2020 census. History The city was named in honor of former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Leonard Hender ...

where he attended Northern Vance High School, where he was a member of the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is one of the oldest, largest, and most widely recognized cocurricular student organizations in American high schools, with 1.4 million members. The purpose of the NHS is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to ...

. He was a member of the marching band until the football coach recruited him to play football. He was a standout not only in

but also in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. He holds four state championships; three in discus and one for

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

College career

Brown started his career at

as a tackle, then

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

. Brown first saw action in his freshman year at right tackle against

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. He was later moved to

, where he played the remaining three years of his college career. Brown did not miss a game during his career, and was named First-team All- ACC in 2004.

Professional career

2005 NFL draft

Along with Chris Spencer, Brown was considered one of the best centers available in the

. He was projected as a mid-third round pick, and was eventually selected in the fourth round (124th overall) by the

Baltimore Ravens

Brown started all 16 games at guard in the 2007 season after spending 2005 and 2006 as a backup to Ravens starter

Mike Flynn Michael Thomas Flynn (born 24 December 1958) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 24th U.S. national security advisor for the first 22 days of the first Trump administration. He resigned in light of reports tha ...

. He later started all 16 games in the 2008 season as a center. He was considered the best interior

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

going into free agency after the end of season.

St. Louis Rams

Brown visited the Rams in the first day of free agency February 27, 2009. The next day, he agreed to a five-year deal worth $37.5 million, including a $20 million in guaranteed money. The deal would make Brown the highest paid center in the NFL. However, on March 10, it was reported that the contract had been disapproved by the league and the two sides were working to correct the issue. The deal was finally approved by the NFL on March 12. On March 12, 2012, Brown was released by the Rams.

Free agency

Brown became an unrestricted free agent and received a conservative one-year contract offer from the

and attended visits with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

and

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

After football

Brown chose to walk away from football in 2012 at the age of 29 to become a farmer in

Louisburg, North Carolina Louisburg is a town in and the county seat of Franklin County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,064. The town is located approximately 29 miles northeast of the state capital, Raleigh, and located a ...

. He maintains a 1,000-acre farm called First Fruits Farm where he grows produce such as

sweet potatoes The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of the ...

and cucumbers. He donates these crops to local food pantries, having given away over 500,000 pounds of sweet potatoes and 50,000 pounds of cucumbers. Brown began learning about farming practices in 2012 by watching

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

videos. Brown also owns and manages a special events venue called Amazing Graze Barn, which is located on the grounds of First Fruits Farm.Amazing Graze Barn - About Us
Retrieved Oct. 13, 2019. The barn is available for hosting weddings as well as corporate events and community gatherings.

Personal life

Brown, who is

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

, is a practicing

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. Jason and Tay Brown married in 2003 and have eight children.

References

External links

North Carolina Tar Heels bio

St. Louis Rams bioWisdom For Life and First Fruits FarmAmazing Graze Barn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Jason 1983 births Living people African-American farmers 20th-century American farmers American football centers American football offensive guards Baltimore Ravens players Farmers from North Carolina North Carolina Tar Heels football players People from Henderson, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina St. Louis Rams players