BROOKSVILLE — He liked to walk the walk and talk the talk.
On the football field, he was one rude, crude dude most of the time, seemingly taking immense pleasure in dealing out pain and punishment. Quarterbacks, running backs and offensive linemen all viewed Jerome Brown with equal contempt.
But then they never knew him.
When Brown was reveling in his special brand of mayhem, the people in this small town (population 7,400) about 40 miles north of Tampa would sit in front of their television sets and chuckle. They knew it was just an act. They knew Jerome was just out there doing his thing and having some fun, and no one should be too offended. They knew when it was over, he would again be the giant teddy bear of a man they all loved and cherished. The kind, gentle and giving soul with the heart too big to measure.
“I have never known anyone like him. And I don’t think I ever will again,” said Stephanie Richardson, a former neighbor of Brown’s who sang with him in the church choir. “He was so kind. So gentle. And I’ve never seen anyone give so much of themselves. It didn’t matter if you were black or white, rich or poor. If you needed help, Jerome was always there.
“He was a hero and a role model. I don’t know how we’re going to get by in this town without him. Right now, this town is in total shock.”
The day after Brown’s life ended suddenly and tragically on a neighborhood street not far from where he grew up, there is a Sunday morning quiet about town.
Traffic along Highway 41 is slow. Restaurants and shops are practically empty.
“I tried to go to work this morning, but I just couldn’t,” said Richardson, a Florida Power & Light employee. “And I’ve seen a lot of other people who have done the same thing. It’s like the town has been paralyzed by this.”
Less than 24 hours after Brown lost control of his Corvette and slammed into a utility pole, killing himself and his 12-year-old nephew, Augusta Wesley Brown, the crash site is the town’s focal point.
Several dozen people, most of them friends or acquaintances of the former Miami Hurricane and Philadelphia Eagle, stare blankly at the trampled grass where Brown’s car came to rest on top of him.
There is little to see. Some shards of glass. A few black, fiberglass fragments that were once part of the car’s body. A gash 7 feet high on a wooden utility pole where the car stuck.
But a steady stream of vehicles files down Hale Avenue, usually a lightly traveled street. Some stop and get out of their cars. Others slow down and then move on.
“I don’t think this is a case of morbid curiosity,” said Catherine Taylor, a friend of Brown and his family. “People are coming by here just because they still can’t believe this has happened to Jerome. They’ve heard about it and read about it, but they have to come see to make sure. I’m here and I still don’t believe it. I can’t believe Jerome is dead.”
Moments before the accident Thursday, Brown and his nephew had been in the body shop at Register Chevrolet, just north of the accident scene. Brown had dropped off a car earlier to be reconditioned and was checking on it, said Tom Wiley, the shop’s general manager.
Brown was friends with the shop’s mechanics, and had had lunch with them the day before at a nearby restaurant.
Just before Brown left the shop Thursday, he told Wiley he wanted to do something special for the mechanics before he left for training camp in two weeks. He suggested a fish fry, and Wiley nodded his approval.
Brown then got into his $65,000 1991 Corvette ZR-1 with his nephew. Seconds later, both were dead after the car flipped. Police say Brown was traveling at a high speed on a slick road when he lost control. Neither Brown nor his nephew was wearing a seatbelt.
Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at the First Baptist Church of Brooksville.
News of the accident spread quickly.
Phillip Robinson, a 14-year freshman at Hernando High School who had participated in Brown’s football camp less than a month ago, was playing basketball when a friend rode up on a bicycle with the news.
“He said, ‘Jerome’s been in a car accident,’ and everyone was stunned,” Robinson said. “I said, ‘Is he hurt? Is he alive?’ My friend didn’t know.”
Robinson ran to the accident scene.
“When I got there, a lot of people were already there,” he said. “Jerome’s car didn’t even look like a car, it was so smashed. He was hanging out from under it and I could see his face. I thought maybe he had just fainted.
“But then they put a sheet over him and I knew he was dead. Everyone started to cry.”
Thirteen-year-old Clarance Adams, upon hearing the news, reacted the way so many young men did. He locked himself in his room and cried.
“I’ve never felt like this before,” Adams said. “He was just a good friend to so many of us. He was our hero.”
Jerome Brown had a special relationship with the kids in this town. Always viewed as a big kid himself, the attraction was probably natural. Although Brown had a home in Cherry Hill, N.J., he spent most of the offseason with his parents, in the upperclass home he built them shortly after signing with the Eagles.
When Jerome was home, so were the kids.
“He’d have a bunch of us over there all the time. We’d play basketball and swim in his pool,” Adams said. “Some kids even got to ride in his car. I got to sit in it once.”
It seemed whenever a kid was in need, Brown was there.
In 1988, an 11-year-old girl named Juanita Willis was struck by a car in Brooksville and sustained severe head injuries that left her in a coma. Upon hearing about the accident, Brown and several Philadelphia teammates donated several thousand dollars to help pay for Willis’ medical care.
Like everyone else in town, John Willis, Juanita’s father, is in mourning over Brown’s death.
“We have truly suffered a great loss,” Willis said. “This man was a pillar of our community. If there was anything he could be involved in or help you with, you only had to ask once and he was there.
“This man was loved. This town is going to mourn him for a long time.”
Especially its youth.
“It’s been total gloom around here since (Thursday),” said Mike Imhoff, the football coach at Hernando High. “The kids all looked up to him as a role model. He was always so good to the kids. They’re in shock.”
The day after his death, there were thousands of Jerome Brown stories being told.
Catherine Taylor shared one with a small group of her friends, hoping to ease everyone’s pain.
“About a year ago, I was sick and it was pouring down rain. I didn’t want to leave the house, but I had to get some food at the store,” said Taylor, a member of Brown’s church. “I was driving along and my car slid into a ditch. I got out of the car and started trying to wave people down, but no one would stop. Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, Jerome showed up in his jeep and pulled my car out of the ditch.
“It seemed like he was always doing that sort of thing around here. Showing up when he was needed the most.”
Sadly, he is gone. But Jerome Brown’s presence will long be felt here.
Eleven-year-old Juan Langley, a participant in Brown’s recent football camp, plans to be part of Brown’s legacy.
“One day, when I’m successful like he was, I’m going to look back and know that he helped me get there,” Langley said. “He always used to tell us that no matter how hard things get, keep on trying and trying until you’re successful. He never gave up. So I’m not going to, either.”
FRIENDS’ REFLECTIONS
“It’s a great human tragedy. I feel very terrible. What’s there to say. It’s a shame for a person in the prime and peak of their life. I feel very bad for the family.”
— NORMAN BRAMAN
Eagles owner
— “He surely touched a lot of lives. Jerome just took me up under his wing. He told me this is a small part of our lives playing football… He just enjoyed life… Jerome’s personality was a big guy with a big heart; he was kind of gentle, like a big teddy bear. Those who didn’t know him saw him as King Kong; we that knew him saw a big panda bear.”
— BENNIE BLADES
Lions safety ex-UM teammate
— “It wasn’t too kind… He was one that would bend over backwards for anybody. He would give the shirt off his back. He was like a big kid.”
— MELVIN BRATTON
Falcons RB ex-UM teammate
— “He was our team leader. We became good friends. He was a great inspiration on and off the field… He was a prime example of a Hurricane player… I just wish the best for his family and I’ll be praying for him… The one thing that sums up Jerome is — a lovable person.
— BRIAN BLADES
Seahawks WR ex-UM teammate
