DeWayne Brown Started From the Bottom Now He’s Here
by Ayo Fapohunda
Posted February 28, 2014 2:51 pm
Aaron Donald, Andre Freeman, DeWayne Brown, Jermaine Robinson, Jesse James, Manasseh Garner, Toledo, Tre Tarpley, Vonn Madden, West Virginia, wisconsin
Since the first days of Preps.com formally known as Finestpreps.com we have worked hand in hand with 2/10’s speed and agility and it’s founder DeWayne Brown. The relationship was built on a saturday afternoon when we popped up at one of his sessions at Allderdice High School, to pick up game film on former Peabody and University Prep alum and current Toledo Rocket, Jaylen Coleman.
After seeing the high school gym packed with aspiring athletes from the Pittsburgh City league, we immediately knew DeWayne Brown and Finestpreps.com shared the same vision.
The former city league hooper had a dream to even the playing field for under resourced children and provide them with the same instruction and access, their more fortunate peers were receiving.
What started as a dream became a reality when players like Ed Tinker (University of Pittsburgh), Manasseh Garner (Wisconsin/Pitt), Jermaine Robinson (Toledo), Andre Freeman(Hofstra/Slippery Rock), and Will Clarke (West Virginia) became beneficiaries of their own, and Dewayne’s hard work, and received division one scholarships.
After watching Aaron Donald separate himself at the NFL combine, Brown sounded like a proud father when recollecting his first days working with the Bednarik award winner. The summer prior to Donald heading to Pitt he began working with Brown on his explosion, speed, and footwork.
The relationship between the two continued and Donald’s dominant performance this season could be attributed to their saturday afternoon sessions, when Donald would get extra work with Brown dragging sleds, and doing foot work and explosion drills until he could barely move.
Not to be out shined by his Pitt counterpart, 2/10’s lifer Will Clarke, also joined Donald in this years NFL combine and put together a very impressive performance, clocking in a 4.77 with his 6’6 270 plus frame, were qualities Brown had seen in Clarke since he was a skinny freshman at Allderdice. Both are certain to be drafted this spring and become the first members of the 2/10th’s family who’s names will be called on draft day.
What’s fascinating is that although Brown now trains various high profile athletes, the stories he talks about most are the ones like Central Catholic senior, Tre Tarpley’s. The Viking safety came to Brown’s sessions with one goal in mind; get faster. Although Tarpley was receiving some division one attention, he knew he needed to elevate his game in order to fulfill his dreams and become the player he aspired to be.
Tarpley immediately bought into Brown’s “get down or lay down” philosophy and by time his senior year came around, had shaped himself into a new guy with a whole new swagger. After putting together a stellar senior campaign, Tarpley became a member of the 2/10’s fraternity after committing to SEC program, Vanderbilt.
These days if you head to a 2/10th’s speed and agility session it’s sure to be a who’s who of the Big Ten, ACC, MAC and WPIAL. From Penn State’s Jesse James, to Miami-of- Ohio’s Dayonne Nunley, to PJ Fulmore, and the rest of his North Catholic state championship team, there’s no telling who you might run into. One thing we can assure you’ll continue to see, is Brown and his partner Vonn Madden working with 5th and 6th graders from the city, giving them instruction on drills, so they too, can start the journey their fellow fraternity brothers once traveled.
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TAGS:
Aaron Donald, Andre Freeman, DeWayne Brown, Jermaine Robinson, Jesse James, Manasseh Garner, Toledo, Tre Tarpley, Vonn Madden, West Virginia, wisconsin