Texas A&M Basketball
* It was great to be able to come back and lead the chapel service held before the basketball game against Kansas last week. It was unique to be able to walk back into Reed Arena and see it from a different perspective. Seeing how far Reed Arena has come since the time his team was sharing a smaller gym with the girls, and to see the guys have their own separate gym was very exciting.
* After being a McDonald’s All-American, he had the opportunity to play wherever he wanted coming out of high school, but chose Texas A&M. He originally came to A&M for two things. The first being that it was far enough away from home so that he could be his own man, but close enough that his family could come in and watch him play. The second being the famous Aggie quote, “From the inside you can’t explain it, and from the outside you can’t understand it.” A&M’s traditions and the Spirit of Aggieland really spoke to him and helped him make a decision to come to A&M. Still remembers the fun times he had at Fish Camp and thinks all athletes should go to get them indoctrinated to the traditions of A&M.
* His time at A&M started out well. Coming in off the high of being a McDonald’s All-American his senior year in high school helped ease the transition into college to a degree. He did not prepare as much as he should have during the offseason before his sophomore year at A&M however. That coupled with Coach Tony Barone being on the hot seat led things to progress the way they did. Going into his sophomore year, expectations were high after just being the first Big 12 Freshman of the Year. He started to get involved in some off the court activities that he had never done before including partying and drinking which he shouldn’t have. This led to him not preparing for the season as well as he should have. He was also close to flunking out of A&M at one point. With all of those things piling down on him and the expectations being put on him to perform at a top level, it led him to contemplate suicide at one point. Publicly he didn’t look as bad, but on the inside he was so depressed and pressured that it led him to thinking about suicide. At the time, instead of going home and saying he flunked out of school because of the things he was getting himself into, he figured it would be easier to take his life. However, on his way back home driving down Highway 6 one night, he had an encounter with Christ that changed his life and his perspective. From that point on, he dedicated his life to serve Christ.
* One of the songs he was listening to driving down Highway 6 that night talked about holding on and not letting go. It really ministered to his heart and he got out of the car on highway six, fell to his knees and surrendered his life to Christ that day. It changed his perspective of everything he did moving forward and was able to move on and have a decent senior year. His life took off after he left A&M due to his encounter with Christ his sophomore year.
* Never regretted his time spent at Texas A&M. He loves coming back to the university and loves everything that the university stands for. If he had millions and millions of dollars, he would be more than happy to pour it into the school. His time at A&M made him the man he is today. Adversity isn’t always bad. It may not feel good going through it, but it builds character. The current team has had to go through adversity, which he can relate to, and it will end up helping them in the long run on and off the court.
* Many of the young people he mentors to today are dealing with depression and low self-esteem. Having a platform through athletics, he has been able to help them and speak to them about it because he went through the same things at one time. He tells them that your plan may be different than God’s plan. Originally, he thought he was going to live his life playing in the NBA and playing professional basketball, but he couldn’t be happier with what he does for a living now. He says that LeBron James was built to make millions, while he was built to reach millions through the word of God.
* Met his wife when he originally went to Pennsylvania to play professional basketball with the Pennsylvania Valley Dogs coached by Darrell Dawkins in a feeder league for the NBA. When he went up there originally, he thought he was going there to help get his NBA career back on track and ended up meeting his wife. They have been married almost 10 years now and have four children. He went there looking to get to the NBA and ended up spending nine years there before he moved back to Houston with his family.
* When he spoke to the team last week, he spoke about there being no “I” in “team”. He asked them to repeat the saying, “There is no I in team.” to him multiple times and then asked “Well what if there was?” He then wrote out the word team on the whiteboard and circled each individual straight line in the word and called them each an “I”. He then told them that, without each little “I”, there would be no team. He told them that each one of them were one of those little “I's” and that they would have to come together to be a team.
* The church he is working at hired him on for about six months. After those six months are up, he hopes to find a job in collegiate coaching. His heart and his passion is in coaching college kids and wants to teach them to maximize winning, not only on the court, but in their lives as well. He would love more than anything to come along side Coach Kennedy and help out the A&M team in some way. Had an opportunity to meet with Coach Kennedy when he was first hired over the summer and spend some time with him and the players. He had the chance to spend about an hour with Coach Kennedy in his office and was thoroughly impressed with the way he composes himself. He loves how through the adversity of his disease and the team’s struggles, he hasn’t changed as a person at all. Knows that the team has won over the past eight years, but thinks that they are really going to start to win during Kennedy’s tenure.
Jerald Brown: From near death to new life ... faith & A&M hoops
Notes from Jerald Brown Interview
* For the last four and a half years, he was been with FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) sports ministry in Houston and Pennsylvania. Since then, he has left FCA and is now working for Faith Bridge Methodist Church on the North side of Houston. He is the full-time discipleship coordinator on staff.* It was great to be able to come back and lead the chapel service held before the basketball game against Kansas last week. It was unique to be able to walk back into Reed Arena and see it from a different perspective. Seeing how far Reed Arena has come since the time his team was sharing a smaller gym with the girls, and to see the guys have their own separate gym was very exciting.
* After being a McDonald’s All-American, he had the opportunity to play wherever he wanted coming out of high school, but chose Texas A&M. He originally came to A&M for two things. The first being that it was far enough away from home so that he could be his own man, but close enough that his family could come in and watch him play. The second being the famous Aggie quote, “From the inside you can’t explain it, and from the outside you can’t understand it.” A&M’s traditions and the Spirit of Aggieland really spoke to him and helped him make a decision to come to A&M. Still remembers the fun times he had at Fish Camp and thinks all athletes should go to get them indoctrinated to the traditions of A&M.
* His time at A&M started out well. Coming in off the high of being a McDonald’s All-American his senior year in high school helped ease the transition into college to a degree. He did not prepare as much as he should have during the offseason before his sophomore year at A&M however. That coupled with Coach Tony Barone being on the hot seat led things to progress the way they did. Going into his sophomore year, expectations were high after just being the first Big 12 Freshman of the Year. He started to get involved in some off the court activities that he had never done before including partying and drinking which he shouldn’t have. This led to him not preparing for the season as well as he should have. He was also close to flunking out of A&M at one point. With all of those things piling down on him and the expectations being put on him to perform at a top level, it led him to contemplate suicide at one point. Publicly he didn’t look as bad, but on the inside he was so depressed and pressured that it led him to thinking about suicide. At the time, instead of going home and saying he flunked out of school because of the things he was getting himself into, he figured it would be easier to take his life. However, on his way back home driving down Highway 6 one night, he had an encounter with Christ that changed his life and his perspective. From that point on, he dedicated his life to serve Christ.
* One of the songs he was listening to driving down Highway 6 that night talked about holding on and not letting go. It really ministered to his heart and he got out of the car on highway six, fell to his knees and surrendered his life to Christ that day. It changed his perspective of everything he did moving forward and was able to move on and have a decent senior year. His life took off after he left A&M due to his encounter with Christ his sophomore year.
* Never regretted his time spent at Texas A&M. He loves coming back to the university and loves everything that the university stands for. If he had millions and millions of dollars, he would be more than happy to pour it into the school. His time at A&M made him the man he is today. Adversity isn’t always bad. It may not feel good going through it, but it builds character. The current team has had to go through adversity, which he can relate to, and it will end up helping them in the long run on and off the court.
* Many of the young people he mentors to today are dealing with depression and low self-esteem. Having a platform through athletics, he has been able to help them and speak to them about it because he went through the same things at one time. He tells them that your plan may be different than God’s plan. Originally, he thought he was going to live his life playing in the NBA and playing professional basketball, but he couldn’t be happier with what he does for a living now. He says that LeBron James was built to make millions, while he was built to reach millions through the word of God.
* Met his wife when he originally went to Pennsylvania to play professional basketball with the Pennsylvania Valley Dogs coached by Darrell Dawkins in a feeder league for the NBA. When he went up there originally, he thought he was going there to help get his NBA career back on track and ended up meeting his wife. They have been married almost 10 years now and have four children. He went there looking to get to the NBA and ended up spending nine years there before he moved back to Houston with his family.
* When he spoke to the team last week, he spoke about there being no “I” in “team”. He asked them to repeat the saying, “There is no I in team.” to him multiple times and then asked “Well what if there was?” He then wrote out the word team on the whiteboard and circled each individual straight line in the word and called them each an “I”. He then told them that, without each little “I”, there would be no team. He told them that each one of them were one of those little “I's” and that they would have to come together to be a team.
* The church he is working at hired him on for about six months. After those six months are up, he hopes to find a job in collegiate coaching. His heart and his passion is in coaching college kids and wants to teach them to maximize winning, not only on the court, but in their lives as well. He would love more than anything to come along side Coach Kennedy and help out the A&M team in some way. Had an opportunity to meet with Coach Kennedy when he was first hired over the summer and spend some time with him and the players. He had the chance to spend about an hour with Coach Kennedy in his office and was thoroughly impressed with the way he composes himself. He loves how through the adversity of his disease and the team’s struggles, he hasn’t changed as a person at all. Knows that the team has won over the past eight years, but thinks that they are really going to start to win during Kennedy’s tenure.
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