The University of Louisville Football Cardinals had a decent NFL Draf/Free Agent session. Sheldon Rankins got drafted. Burgess signed a FA deal with Miami. Aaron Epps signed a FA deal with Cincy. Kelby Johnson signed a FA deal with the Bucks. All were expected to get a shot. There was one name however that landed a free agent deal that was a surprise. K Jon Brown’s free agent deal with the Bengals. What made it a surprise was not that Brown wasn’t talented, the former soccer player just didn’t get a lot of clock. He didn’t attempt a FG or XP and only played in one College football game before getting injured. Mydaytondailynews.com published a great article chronicling his journey. Here’s an excerpt.
“I just started kicking two years ago,” Brown said Monday afternoon as the Bengals began their fourth week of voluntary workouts. “I mean, I’ve been kicking a ball my whole life, but football is definitely a different approach.”
Brown played high school football in Clinton, Miss., as a wide receiver and kick returner, but soccer is the sport that earned him a scholarship to the University of Kentucky. After one year he transferred to Louisville, where he played one season before fellow Mississippi native Brett Baer, a kicker from Louisiana-Lafayette who was with the St. Louis Rams for one training camp, convinced him to try kicking.
To read the article in its entirety, please click here
