Alex Brown Gets Another Crack at Vols -- As 'Mr. Two Bits'
Tuesday, September 22, 2015 | Football, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- His may be the single, most dominant performance by a defensive player in University of Florida history. As such, Alex Brown is a five-star choice as honorary Mr. Two Bits this week.
Especially given the opponent.
On Sept. 18, 1999, Brown sacked Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin five times, batted down two passes, forced a fumble and also made a leaping interception in UF's 23-21 defeat of the defending national champion Volunteers at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The performance, aired in prime time on CBS, was a coming-out party for the sophomore defensive end on the way to a first-team All-America season.
So how cool will it be to see Brown, now 36, do the George Edmondson thing Saturday night when the Gators (3-0, 1-0) welcome the Volunteers (2-1, 0-0) in their annual Southeastern Conference showdown at The Swamp.
“People still talk to me about that game," he said. "I joke with them sometimes that before that game I was just 'Alex,' but after that game I was 'Alex Brown' or just 'That No. 13.' ”
"Mr. Brown" would have been appropos, too.
[Check out a video montage of those sacks below, courtesy of the GatorVision archives]
For the old guard Gator fans, yes, it was every bit the jaw-dropping performance that Wilber Marshall turned in during his epic display against Southern Cal back in 1983. Brown, a sophomore from Jasper, Fla., garnered the national Defensive Player of the Week and went on to be a three-team All-SEC performer, as well as the conference's Defensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2001. He's still the Gators' all-time and single-season sacks leader, with 33 and 13, respectively.
A fourth-round pick of the Chicago Bears, Brown went on to play nine seasons in the NFL and started for the Bears in Super Bowl XLI in Miami. He finished his career with 45 1/2 sacks, including four on New York Giants QB and future Hall of Famer Kurt Warner in 2004.
But he never had five in an NFL game. It remains the UF single-game mark and figures to stand for a long, long time.
To this day, Brown recalls the run-up to that night as clearly as the fallout of the one the year before, when the Gators lost 20-17 in overtime at Tennessee, a defeat the Vols used as a springboard to an unbeaten season and national title.
In '98, Florida went to Knoxville ranked No. 2. Tennessee was No. 6. The Gators, with Coach Steve Spurrier swapping Jesse Palmer and Doug Johnson at quarterback, turned the ball over five times, yet still managed to push the game into overtime. But after a UT field goal, UF's Collins Cooper missed a 32-yarder and Neyland Stadium nearly fell down in celebration.
Brown and teammates such as Jevon Kearse, Mike Peterson and Johnny Rutledge were mocked and humiliated as they tried to leave the field while an orange sea from the 108,000 emptied onto the field to tear the goal posts down.
A year later, the game needed zero hype -- Tennessee was No. 2, Florida No. 4 -- but the bullets were flying from both camps, with UT guard Cosey Coleman calling UF's young defensive line a bunch of “second-stringers” and Brown retaliating by announcing -- get this -- he would hit Martin so hard the quarterback's helmet would come off.
“I mean, I talked so much trash that week I was surprised Coach Spurrier didn't suspend me,” Brown said. “That ['99] team was so much younger than the year before, but we just believed we should win and that we were going to win because we were Florida and they were Tennessee.”
And on the game's third play, Brown came off the edge and positively flattened Martin.
Yes, the QB's helmet came off.
True story.
The Gators roared to a 23-7 lead. Once again, though, turnovers fueled the Vols, who used a 99-yard drive to cut the deficit to two in the fourth quarter, then had the ball in UF territory in the final minutes before the Gators defense -- linebacker Keith Kelsey, specifically -- stuffed running back Jamal Lewis on fourth down to preserve the win.
The victory was Florida's 30th straight at home.
UF coach Jim McElwain wants The Swamp to rediscover that mystique. Maybe Brown's version of the Mr. Two Bits ritual will help get things there.
Too bad he can't suit up.
“If Tee Martin is there, I may just have to go find him,” Brown laughed. “But if he knows I'm coming, I doubt he'll want to show up.”
