BOWLING GREEN — Of the thousands of high school seniors who took visits to Bowling Green State University this school year, Gabe Brown’s trip to campus will go down as the most surreal.
While BGSU will be a future destination for students of all backgrounds, Brown’s journey happened because he will be a college football player.
Which is a bit odd when one considers Brown was not a football player when his senior year started.
Nevertheless, after one improbable season of high school football, the offensive lineman from Grand Rapids, Mich., will sign with Bowling Green on Wednesday.
In a matter of just a few months, Brown went from being issued his new helmet to becoming a college prospect to being given the grand tour at BG.
“Once I got on campus, I was like, ‘This is a Division I program, this is a Division I stadium, these are Division I players, and this is a Division I coaching staff,’” Brown said. “It’s been awesome, it’s been fun, and definitely something that has been amazing to me.”
Brown, who had played football at younger levels, always figured his future would be in baseball as a standout pitcher and first baseman.
Then the stars aligned so that Brown wound up playing football. He tore the labrum in his throwing shoulder as a sophomore, and even after physical therapy, says he still can feel the difference in his shoulder when he throws a baseball.
He initially planned to return to football for his junior year, but recovery from the injury prevented it. And as a senior, he missed football conditioning due to playing baseball.
But then East Kentwood High School lost its right tackle for the season with a broken leg in its first scrimmage.
It just so happened there was a 6-foot-4, 285 pound emergency option who was roaming the halls.
“He comes down stairs on a Sunday night with these huge cleats, and I said, ‘Where you going with those?’” said his mother, Maleika. “He says, ‘I’m going to play football,’ I was like, ‘Uh, no. I think this needs a discussion.’”
Motherly concerns only lasted a couple weeks. Brown had a helmet by the end of the next day, and after missing the first game as part of an acclimation period, he played the rest of East Kentwood’s games.
What’s more, he wasn’t just suitable. He belonged on the line, and proved to be a natural almost instantly. 247Sports lists Brown as a three-star recruit.
“After the second game, I was like, ‘Dude, he kind of looks like a football player!’” Maleika Brown said.
Brown figured he would eventually adjust, but even he didn’t expect to be this good this quickly.
“I knew I was going to be pretty good, but I didn’t know I was going to be this good,” Brown said. “Once we got into conference play and I was still dominating people, I was kind of like, ‘Oh, maybe I am pretty good at this.’
More than the Brown family noticed. Bowling Green’s coaching staff has extensive ties recruiting the state of Michigan and a need for offensive linemen who will anchor the team over time. The Falcons didn’t wait around after spotting Brown.
Brown bonded with Falcons offensive coordinator/line coach Terry Malone, and BG became the first Division I team to offer a scholarship.
Offensive linemen usually take longer to develop than other positions, and the majority redshirt their first season and don’t play at all until their third, but Brown liked BG’s blueprint for the future.
“I knew it was going to be a longshot for me to get a Division I scholarship in my first year of football, but they had a plan for me,” Brown said. “I know it’s going to be tough work and I know they’re going to shape me, but I know that they’re excited that I’m like a clean slate and they can shape me however they want at this point.”
Wednesday figures to be an incredible day for the Brown family.
Six months after he started playing high school football for the first time, he’ll officially sign up for four to five more years at the Bowl Subdivision level.
“It’s been a whirlwind for sure,” Brown said. “But it’s starting to set in real hard.”
First Published February 4, 2020, 9:05 p.m.
