Tom Brown (born 30 July 2003) is a professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er playing for the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). He was drafted by Richmond with the 17th pick in 2021 AFL draft and made his debut in round 24 of the 2023 season. He is the son of former AFL player

Paul Brown Paul Eugene Brown (September 7, 1908 – August 5, 1991) was an American American football, football coach and executive in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), the National Football League (NFL), and the American Football League (AFL). ...

and brother of Geelong and AFLW player Millie Brown.

Early life and junior football

Brown grew up in the Victorian country town of

Mooroopna Mooroopna is a town located north of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It is on the banks of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River opposite the larger town of Shepparton. The Midland Highway (Victoria), Midland Highw ...

and played junior football with the Mooroopna Football Netball Club. As a teenager, Brown attended and played school football for

Geelong Grammar School Geelong Grammar School is a private Anglican co-educational boarding and day school. The school's main campus is located in Corio on the northern outskirts of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, overlooking Corio Bay and Limeburners Bay. Establ ...

, as well as for the

Murray Bushrangers The Murray Bushrangers is an Australian rules football team playing in Victorian statewide under-18s competition, presently known as the Talent League, since 1993 based in Wangaratta. The team trains on Norm Minns Oval, Wangaratta. The Under 1 ...

in the

NAB League The Talent League (also known as the Coates Hire, Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the National Australia Bank, NAB League and Transport Accident Commission, TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representa ...

. His final junior season was significantly interrupted by a serious mid-season syndesmosis ankle injury. In the final days before the 2021 AFL draft, ''AFL Media'' and ''ESPN'' both projected Brown to be selected with the 18th pick.

AFL career

Brown was drafted by with the club's second pick and the 17th selection overall in the 2021 AFL national draft. He failed to make an AFL debut in 2022, playing instead with the club's reserves side in the VFL. Brown spent the early months of the 2023 season sidelined by a wrist fracture. He returned to football with 10 matches at VFL level, before being called up to make his AFL debut in the final round of the season.

Player profile

Brown plays as a medium defender, with a mix of skills including precise disposal at half-back. After being drafted at 186 centimetres tall, Brown grew seven centimetres over the next two years, transforming him from a rebounding half-back into an effective hybrid player.

Personal life

He is the son of former AFL player

and brother of Geelong and AFLW player Millie Brown.

References

External links

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Tom Brown's profile
at Rookie Me Central {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Tom Living people 2003 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Murray Bushrangers players Richmond Football Club players People educated at Geelong Grammar School 21st-century Australian sportsmen