Oregon tight end Pharaoh Brown couldn’t walk a year ago, months after he suffered a leg injury so gruesome that ESPN elected not to air it during a national TV broadcast.
During fall camp last season, a reporter asked Brown why he still played football. Brown responded, “The same reason you’re a journalist — it’s what I love.”
Three surgeries and months of rehabilitation did not dissuade Brown from returning to the sport he loves. Now he’s not only running on the field, but “running like the old Pharaoh,” according to offensive coordinator Matt Lubick. That’s the “old Pharaoh” who was named first-team Pac-12 All-Conference and caught six touchdowns despite missing the team’s final five games in 2014.
“I’ve been very impressed [with Brown’s progress],” Lubick said after a recent spring football practice. “It’s interesting because even though he’s away from football basically for a whole year, mentally he’s as sharp as ever.”
Brown is not pushing himself to return to “game shape” any sooner than his health permits. The fifth-year senior knows he still has plenty of time to get stronger before Oregon’s first game of the 2016 season in September, for which he said he will be ready.
“Sometimes I get ahead of myself and want to do a lot [on the field],” Brown said. “Last year I was on two crutches in a bed. Now I’m running on the field, just being grateful and giving thanks.”
Brown faced the possibility of amputation after he left Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium in an ambulance during a game against Utah. After stepping on the ankle of a teammate with his left foot during a goal line play, Brown planted his right foot so awkwardly it caused an artery in his knee to stretch, which cut off the blood flow to his shin. He was bleeding internally, although that wasn’t apparent until a doctor, who didn’t have time to introduce himself due to the urgency of Brown’s condition, recommended emergency surgery.
Brown’s injury, which he compared to those of Marcus Lattimore and Shaun Livingston — “you always remember those type of injuries,” he said — caused him not only to miss significant time on the field, but also in the classroom. He missed the entire ensuing winter academic term while he recovered.
Now, Brown competes in one-on-one and seven-on-seven drills. To prevent overexertion during practice, Brown wears a GPS device with a live feed that streams directly to an app on the phone of one of Oregon’s sports science specialists. That way, Brown’s activity can be monitored at any given second, so he knows when to call it quits if he pushes himself harder than he should.
Lubick said Brown participates in all facets of practice, but that coaches are being “overcautious” with him until they know he’s 100 percent. His number of reps, though, has been increasing.
Head coach Mark Helfrich said the biggest obstacle Brown faces is confidence, which goes for any athlete who’s suffered as severe an injury as Brown has. Functionally, Helfrich said, “he’s getting there.”
Brown is confident in his eventual return to full strength, but makes time to “sit down and look back and be thankful.”
Follow Kenny Jacoby on Twitter @KennyJacoby