If you win a Heisman Trophy, you’re a legend. Win one at Notre Dame, and the achievement is magnified. Tim Brown is one of those players, and he was asked about his time with the Irish during an interview with Greg Bailey, sports director at Houston ABC affiliate KTRK-TV. The 12-and-a-half-minute interview, which Brown did in advance of appearing at an upcoming local charity event, shifts to Notre Dame at the 7:29 mark.
Brown mentions how his high school team went 4-25-1 during his time there, so it baffled people that Notre Dame would take a chance on a player whose program was in a bad place. Longtime Irish fans with a good memory might remember that in 1984, Brown fumbled the opening kickoff in his first game before making a play that vindicated the second chance he got in that game. The Irish eventually gave Brown the opportunity to be on his first team that finished with a winning record. Given that Brown had played football since seventh grade, that first winning team was a long time coming.
Brown also fondly talks about Notre Dame during his Heisman season in 1987. The Irish that year got off to an 8-1 start and were very much in the national championship conversation. Instead, a one-point loss to Penn State put an end to those dreams, making the following game against Miami irrelevant, though the Irish also lost that game. Regardless of what had to be a bitter ending to his collegiate career, Brown clearly holds everything that happened on and off the field at Notre Dame in high regard, and that’s all any Irish fan can ask for.