Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Levi Brown dances to Senior Day with purpose
11/29/2019 10:24:00 AM | Football, Word on the Herd
Marshall offensive lineman will make 38th consecutive start
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Here is a grown man, hovering around 300 pounds, doing cartwheels during football practice. A 6-foot-4 offensive lineman with a body covered in tattoos and, usually, a bearded face, dancing during games to the delight of the crowd if his team is winning, and to their disapproval if the scoreboard is not so favorable.
Some might refer to him as a hot dog, which is OK with Levi Brown. He has a cartoon version of the cookout staple tattooed on his leg. But as Brown's Senior Day looms Saturday – Marshall hosts FIU at noon in the regular season finale for both teams – the fifth-year senior is, in some respects, a long way from the person he was growing up in Heard County, Georgia.
In other ways, he has never changed.
"He went from being a shy person to being wide open," said Athena, Levi's mother. "I feel like sometimes he's running for president. I'll tell him to hurry up, to kiss all of those babies and shake all of them hands because it's time to go. But back when he was growing up, he never spoke to a stranger."
Levi was so averse to public interaction that he refused to order his own food in restaurants. He'd pass along his requests to mom or dad, and they'd do it for him. To get to know Levi, he'd first have to know you. In a small community tucked along the Alabama-Georgia line, the pocket of people who Levi let into his circle was even smaller.
"We would have never thought he is like he is now," said Robert, Levi's father. "He would joke with his friends because he was with the same kids from Pre-K through high school. He was a clown with his friends. But public speaking and talking to strangers, Levi didn't do that."
In four seasons playing football at Marshall, Levi has started 48 games. This Saturday, barring something unforeseen, will be Levi's 38th consecutive start. Only nine players have started at least 50 games in program history. For Levi, it is not a case of longevity because of necessity. He has been one of Conference USA's best linemen since he started playing regularly in 2016.
Levi finished his first season on the league's all-freshman team. He was second team all-conference as a sophomore and first team as a junior, nods from the opposition. Before his senior season, he was named to the preseason watch lists for the Rimington and Outland trophies.
The greatest tribute, though, might be from Levi's coaches. Through all of the shenanigans, through all the ill-timed dance-offs at the 40-yard line, for all the occasions an on-looker was left bewildered as to why a student-athlete could be so joyous when the game was going against the home team, the coaches have named Levi a game captain 11 times, including this Saturday. No one on the current roster has been named a game captain more often.
"When we lose a game, I get it hard on Twitter for having fun," Levi said. "But that's the biggest thing I want everyone to do. I'm out there having fun, playing a game that I've been playing since I was 6 years old.
"You know, a lot of times, we work for nine months to play three months of games. What we're doing in that nine months is not fun by any means. Actually, it sucks. I'd rather go out and kick rocks than run 110s for an hour.
"So what you need is someone who will make life a little bit fun."
***
On Marshall's official athletics website, Levi's hometown is listed as Franklin, Georgia. That's actually the location of Heard County High School, where Levi starred in multiple sports, including basketball and tennis.
Levi is from Ephesus, Georgia, a town without a traffic light in a county with only one of them.
"We live on the outskirts," Athena said. "We're 30 minutes from that red light."
Until he moved to Huntington to attend Marshall and play football, Levi lived nowhere else but Ephesus. The closest house was more than 400 yards away, but when Levi and his friends got together, they'd have acorn wars and mud pie wars and go swimming in the creek.
"Our parents hated when we swam in the creek," Levi said. "We got our tails whipped for it."
Levi and his dad, though, would do it, too. They'd walk up and down the creek, smack dab in the middle of it, fishing together. Robert, 55, has worked on power lines since he graduated high school when he was 18 years old, and once he brought Levi into the world, they were never far apart.
"He was my first son," Robert said. "He was mine. We had a special bond. Everything I did, he wanted to do. Wherever I was, he wanted to be. That's the way it's always been. Ever since he left for college, I've been a lost person without him."
Robert doesn't begrudge Levi for leaving, though. In fact, he encouraged it. Robert developed a bond with head coach Doc Holliday during Levi's recruiting visit in 2014 as the pair sat in the hotel lobby and discussed hunting.
"I thought it would be good to get away from Heard County," Levi said. "Home is always going to be home. I'm not always going to be able to get somewhere else in life and experience something."
Five years later, Levi has experienced a lot of somethings to carry into the next phase of his life. That could be a future in the National Football League, or it could be back in Heard County and his familiar surroundings.
"Being a middle school gym teacher would be the highlight of my life," Levi said. "When it's not sports season you get to play dodgeball for a living."
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His full name is Levi Lane Brown. The first name was a biblical selection by his mother, and the middle name is after Lane Frost, the main character in the bull riding movie "8 Seconds."
Levi Lane lives for others. He dances for others. He lights up to shine on other people. He has a big heart, which he gives away in abundance.
The best example: Erin, his sister.
Levi was almost 12 years old when his parents adopted Erin and brought her home from the hospital. Erin has special needs, and Levi adored her from the start.
"That's his best friend," Athena said.
By the time Levi reached Heard County High School, he had developed an affinity for children with special needs. During pre-game festivities, he'd scoop up a special needs child and run through the banner carrying them onto the field.
"I am so proud of him," Athena said. "He has such a big heart."
While the cartoon hot dog tattoo is a nod to Levi's fun-loving nature, the tattoo he has for Erin shows the softer side of his personality.
"He has a tattoo on his arm with the time she was born," Athena said. "It says 'Time stops for no one.'"
Erin, along with Levi's parents, will join him on the field Saturday for Senior Day introductions, and then he'll get to do what he loves in front of who he loves one more time at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. No matter the score, no matter the weather, Levi is going to enjoy suiting up again for Marshall. Â Â
"Sometimes he gets a bad rep," said Tim Cramsey, Marshall's offensive coordinator for the past two seasons. "He has fun living life and he has fun playing the game and you can learn a lot from a kid like that.
"While you're doing it, you better have fun playing it. As 17 seniors are going to find out, days are numbered pretty quick in this game."
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and a seven-time winner of the National Sports Media Association West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year award. In addition to HerdZone.com's Word on the Herd, McGill is the editor of Thundering Herd Illustrated, Marshall's official athletics publication. Follow him on Twitter (@chuckmcgill) and Instagram (wordontheherd)
