Brown on All-Star team

Published 9:30 am Monday, March 14, 2011

Former ECHS Blue Devils safety T.C. Brown (13) was selected to the North-South All-Star game to play as a cornerback. The game will take place on July 14 in Montgomery.|Photo by Adam Prestridge

Former Escambia County Blue Devils safety Tacorian (T.C.) Brown spent his first three years on the Blue Devils’ football team as a cornerback, but when head coach Mark Heaton took the reins of ECHS last year Brown was moved to safety.

The move to safety turned out to be one of the best Brown could make for the Blue Devils and his performance during his senior season has helped him secure a spot in the North-South All-Star on the South’s roster in a game that will take place on July 14 in Montgomery.

After only playing safety in his senior season, Brown is proud of what he accomplished and where it has gotten him.

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“It’s a great feeling,” Brown said. “This makes me feel like I did something great and every one gets to see it. It’s like I proved something and no one really expected it of me. To be able to go and display my talents at the All-Star game is an amazing honor.”

When it comes to the discussion of Brown being selected for the All-Star game, Heaton knows that he and the other coaches on the South team made a wise choice.

According to the head coach, having a talent like Brown was a tremendous asset to his team.

“I’m so glad I got here when I did,” Heaton said. “T.C. was considering transferring to Flomaton where his cousin Dalvin (Craft) was before he transferred back to Escambia County. He’s a great kid, very coachable and has a ton of athletic ability. When you put that with what he does academically, it makes for a great player. He’s very deserving of this opportunity.”

For Heaton, the search for a safety was difficult because he was new to the school and was still unsure of his players’ abilities individually.

“We talked about it as a staff,” Heaton said. “We leaned on the guys that are here from the previous staff and kind of told them what we wanted in a safety. We were looking more for an outside linebacker type rather than a coverage guy, and T.C. really did a great job in coverage as well as in the box for run support. He fit the mold of what we were looking for perfectly.”

The move to corner worked for not only Heaton, but the Blue Devils and Brown as well.

Brown finished his senior season with 57 tackles and led the Blue Devils in interceptions with seven including a touchdown saving pick in Atmore’s playoff win over the Jackson Aggies last November.

Brown said he liked the move because it gave him more options when he was on the field.

“After playing at corner and playing at safety, I can say I like being at the safety position much better,” he said. “It freed me up to a lot more than when I was locked in on coverage as a corner.”

Brown, one of 74 players in the North-South All-Star game, will play all around the secondary for the South team at the game.

Brown’s skills made him a viable option to be selected as a cornerback at the game, but he might see time at safety, according to Heaton.

“T.C. was selected as a cornerback,” Heaton said. “He also might get some reps at safety, but when they saw his coverage skills and his tackling ability the knew he was a good fit for cornerback.”

When Brown arrives for the All-Star week in July, he will not be doing anything differently than he does with his own team.

He said he is going to give everything he has every time that he is on the field.

“I don’t expect things to be any different,” Brown said. “I just need to step out there and give 100 percent at every practice and the game.”

When the teams take the field on July 14, Heaton plans to have plenty of support to be behind Brown and the South team.

The head coach of ECHS said he this is a great opportunity for not only Brown, but the school and other Blue Devils as well.

“This is great for T.C., but it’s also great for our other players and the school because it gives some exposure of what we are doing at Escambia County High School.,” Heaton said. “We are going to get some buses and take as many of our players who want to go to the game, so they can be there behind T.C.”