By Jim Gehman, Player Engagement Insider
For a few years prior to being enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Tim Brown was part of a logjam of wide receivers on the outside looking in.
Minnesota’s Cris Carter got the nod in 2013, Buffalo’s Andre Reed in 2014, and Brown, who spent 16 seasons with the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders (1988-2003) and one season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2004), is celebrating his one-year anniversary after entering the Hall in August 2015.
“It was tough because you knew that for the most part you’re kind of going to have to wait,” said Brown, a nine-time Pro Bowler who posted 1,094 career receptions for 14,934 yards and 100 touchdowns. “They’re not going to jump you over Cris or Andre. Those guys are my friends and they had been waiting longer than I had been waiting. I don’t think I would have wanted to see that happen.
“On the other hand, it made it comforting because you know that, okay, once Andre goes in; chances are I should be going in. And that’s what I told my wife last year. ‘Hey, look, if they don’t put me in this year, then we can forget about this whole Hall of Fame thing because it’s probably not going to happen. Not for a while.’ So that was sort of my attitude going in to it. I think it worked out just the way I thought.”
There is still a logjam of exceptional wide receivers such as Terrell Owens, Randy Moss and Jimmy Smith who, some more loudly than others, hope they’ll soon be put in the Hall of Fame. What advice would Brown offer them?
“Well, you can’t tell guys don’t be disappointed because any time your name is on the ballot you want to hear your name called,” Brown said. “So I get it from that standpoint. But please understand how lucky you are to be in the top 15. Because chances are if you’re in the top 15, you’re going to get in sooner than later.
“But to criticize the voters and the process, it’s something that once you get in, you realize how silly it is and you shouldn’t have done that. You criticize people and then what? You’re going to turn around and tell them that you love them for putting you in? I mean, it puts you in a very awkward position.
“That being said, I know it’s tough, but just try to enjoy the process as much as you possibly can and just know your day is coming.”
As prepared as he was for the festivities he’d experience as a member of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015, Brown was still unable to foresee everything.
“I think it was bigger than I could have ever imagined,” he said. “It was like walking around in earthly heaven or something. It really felt like an out-of-body experience. I look back on some of the stuff and it’s ‘How did I even get through that?’ because your mind was so fried with all of the things that were happening. But it’s just great to be able to realize that you actually went through it and enjoyed every minute of it.
“(Former Arizona Cardinals and St. Louis Rams defensive back and Hall of Famer) Aeneas Williams saw me right after they had announced that I had made it, and he pulled me over and said, ‘whatever you do, don’t let this be a whirlwind. Every event you go to that has to do with the Hall of Fame, step back and look at the crowd and listen to what’s being said and really just enjoy it.’ And to me, that was some of the best advice I could have gotten because the last thing you want is for this to be a whirlwind and man, I can’t remember what happened.
“I think because of what he told me then, every event that I go to, even now, that has to do with the Hall of Fame, I find a way to step away for a moment to enjoy it and understand where I am.”
Brown has also learned to understand that as a Hall of Famer, his professional life has changed.
“People told you how great it was, but you just have no idea how great it could really be for you until you’re here,” Brown said. “I was on the phone with my agent going over a business deal that is just incredible. And it’s a deal that I know for a fact would not have happened if I was not a Hall of Famer because I know that they offered this to another Hall of Famer. He didn’t decline, but when he didn’t respond the way they wanted him to, the guy who I know said, ‘Well, I know another Hall of Famer. Let’s just go speak with him.’
“So I think from that standpoint if I was just a Heisman Trophy winner and a very good football player in the NFL, I don’t know if I would be reviewing these numbers and the potential opportunity that we have coming up.”
As a Hall of Famer and an author of The Making of a Man, How Men and Boys Honor God and Live with Integrity [www.makingofaman.net], Brown has had the opportunity to travel around the country and speak in churches and with youth and men groups.
He’s also involved with a business, Smart Giving Cards. “We started out helping non-profits raise funds, youth groups and churches and things of that nature,” Brown said. “We sort of went around the spectrum and are still doing that, but they’re using the card for a payroll card, also. Our card is different in that every time our card is used, a percentage goes back to help a non-profit. This is not a credit card, this is a prepaid card. And the thing that I love is that we’re going to be able to help people. We’re not just out there trying to make money, we’re actually helping people with their ministry or their youth sports groups.”