Matthew Shaw

There's a saying, your true character is revealed by what you do when no one is watching, and offseason football will reveal plenty of it in a hurry. Offseason football is all about long hours in hot rooms doing hard work, and sweating, bleeding, and pushing yourself when there is there is no crowd and there are no big Texas Friday Night Lights.For Arlington Lamar part of the summer push has been a commitment made by teammates to go over and above on a daily basis. It started as a 21-day commitment and just kept going. At the end of July, the group jumped on the camp circuit, and over two weekends visited Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State. Top defensive line prospect Bobby Brown has been one of the leaders of the group - a group he describes as blood brothers - and he has already seen the benefits."I've seen changes in people's bodies, speed, mentalities, and mindsets. Everything is changing," Brown said. "It means so much to me that all these young kids in my group, it's not everybody, but it's enough. Even if there was only one person coming out there it would mean something. It shows you have heart enough to care more about this season and your commitment to this team for you to commit every day to come out there and work your tail off when you could do whatever else."The group has come together, and Brown has seen growth and learned from each of them.In the case of cornerback and friend Deshawn Gaddie, Brown sees an easy comparison."Well, my thing is he reminds me a lot of myself very competitive and very athletic and he won't accept that anyone else is better than him," Brown said. "He has some growing up to do. He's a young cat. He's 15 and about to be a junior. But he means a lot to me. I wish he was my brother."Brown also knows he can depend on the 6-foot-1, 170-pound cornerback "I have a little more time to sack the quarterback. He's one of the best DBs I know," Brown said. "He listens and he pays attention and he's going to try to do everything to the best of his ability."2019 cornerback Jordan Polk has also established his presence at the workouts. Brown was quick to point out how he has benefited from working with the junior to be."Running behind him," Brown said. "Jordan pushes me to do better because he's going to give me something to chase after like a lion chasing a gazelle. I know Jordan, he's never given up on me and there's been practices where I've had trouble and him and Javonte and all those boys never gave up on me. Jordan, he showed me leadership from a young age, so I know he's going to be great his senior year. I know he's going to do good his junior year too."Polk is not the only one who has pushed Brown to his limits. Senior linebacker Javonte Kemp has as well."Javonte always pushes me because I know me and him are around the same speed but our speed is different. I'm more quick twitch speed and he's more make up speed. He will hawk you in 80 yards where I would catch you in 20, but he knows how to cover the field though. "Javonte, he means so much to me because he always tells me we're going to make it. He doesn't have an offer yet, but Javonte, he has this positive mindset and that just speaks so highly of him. He is strong. He is a strong man."The defense is not the only one doing the heavy lifting or teaching. Brown has also learned some lessons from the offensive side of the ball, in particular wide receiver Janoah Balog.With Noah he's very genuine," Brown said. "There's so many words you can use to describe this man's character. This man is one you want on your team for anything. "My mom always told me not to do people wrong because you might need them, and even though it was a prank, when we were at Texas he threw water on me and I got mad so I ended up pouring water in his shoes and on his shirt. His shoes were brand new and I never said sorry. "Like two days later when we were back home, I ended up needing a ride and he came and got me with no questions asked. He was not messed up about that prank and I never said sorry, but I'm saying sorry now. "He works his tail off. He does everything in his ability to make a coach happy to do what he needs to do to do what he has to do."However, one of the biggest, most important lessons comes from senior wide receiver and one of Brown's closest friends, Matthew Shaw."Man, Matt's dedication to God and work ethic is like none other," Brown said. "That man, he, honestly, has pushed me to my extreme limit. I've seen that man get flipped in the air and land on his neck, back, or hip, and we're losing in the game in 7-on-7 and I run out there on the field and the first thing he says when he gets up is did I catch the ball. I'm sitting there going you almost died and you're worried about catching the ball. That there showed me that sometimes you can't care about yourself before caring about your brothers. Sometimes you have to put others before you. Matt shows more heart and love for the game than I have seen from anyone else."The praise does not stop with the team though. Bobby's mother Erica has been key to the summer workouts. She designed drills, she organized the camp trips and school visits, and she has been there the entire time with a whistle in hand screaming encouragement."It makes me work just that much harder because she'll be like get on the line, and I'm like I'm not getting on the line," Brown said. "But I really don't have a choice, so I get on the line and run like I'm running for my life because I know she would flip. But it means so much to me, she doesn't even understand."It is easy to see why expectations are high at Arlington Lamar year after year, and why they remain high in 2017. Character, these guys have plenty of it. *****************On the recruiting front, Brown has official visits scheduled to Florida State (Sept. 16) and Alabama (Oct. 21). He will also take an official visit to LSU, but a date has not been set. His first trip of the season will be an unofficial visit to Baylor on Sept. 2, and he also mentioned Texas and Oklahoma as schools he would like to visit.As for Texas A&M, he does not have a visit scheduled right now, but he was quick to add, "You know I'm coming back."