Favor Returned Brown Supports Cowboys After They Supported Him

The tragedy of November turned into the triumph of January for Larry Brown, longshot winner of the Super Bowl MVP.

Brown intercepted two passes, setting up a pair of crucial touchdowns in Dallas’ 27-17 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night and became this game’s first defensive MVP in a decade.

As he stood on the podium reserved for the MVP, Larry Brown thought about his infant son, Kristopher, who died last November.

“I just thank God,” Brown said. “He gave me the strength to get through this year. It was rough but with the team and the players and the way they supported me through all of the hard times, I’ve just got to give them credit. I couldn’t have done it without them. They enabled me to get through this season.”

And he got them through the Super Bowl.

On a team bulging with big name stars like Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders, Brown was an unlikely hero, a mostly anonymous guy working in the secondary.

He was an NFL longshot right from the start, a 12th-round draft choice out of Texas Christian in 1991, the 57th defensive back chosen that year. He was only a two-year starter at TCU but earned some attention with 75 tackles and 10 passes defended in his senior year. When he was MVP of the Blue-Gray game, it made him a prospect.

Twelfth-rounders don’t usually stick around very long. Brown not only stuck but by the fourth game of his rookie year, he was a starter on a rebuilding Dallas team. And he’s been in place ever since, a consistent starter, in the secondary almost every week.

And then, one day last November, Kristopher Brown died.

Dallas played in Oakland that week and Brown did not accompany the team. The day before the game, he joined the Cowboys and although he did not start, he played and made three tackles.

“I had to get back in uniform and suit up,” he said. “I felt I needed to play. I didn’t have to play. The organization did not put any pressure on me, My family and I decided that it would be best if I played and it worked out for me.”

Brown said his teammates rallied around him when Kristopher died.

“They support me as we continue to move on and get through that tragedy,” he said. “It stays on your mind. You’ve got to learn to move on.”

After the loss of his son, Brown returned to have the best season of his career. He tied for the team lead in interceptions with six and became the only player in club history to return two interceptions for touchdowns in a single season.

There were key pickoffs against both Philadelphia and Green Bay in the playoffs, setting the stage for Sunday’s MVP performance.

Again, the interceptions came at critical moments in the game.

With Dallas leading 13-7 in the third quarter, the Steelers started from their own 36 and were near midfield, facing a third-and-9. Neil O’Donnell went into a shotgun formation and threw the ball straight at Brown, stationed at the Dallas 38.

“I think he just had a bad read,” the cornerback said. “He threw it to me. I had to hold on to it. It was a broken route and I was able to go get it.”

Brown returned the pass 44 yards before being pushed out of bounds at the Pittsburgh 18. Two plays later, Dallas was in the end zone, extending its lead to 20-7.

The Steelers simply wouldn’t go away. though. They cut the lead to 20-10 on a 46-yard field goal by Norm Johnson, then recovered an onside kick and drove to another touchdown, making it 20-17.

The Cowboys were reeling and with 4:15 left to play, Pittsburgh took over again at its own 32. On second down, O’Donnell, working on a string of 11 completions in 12 attempts, went to the shotgun again, throwing this time for Corey Holliday.

Again, though, he found Brown, this time at the Steelers 39. The cornerback brought the ball back to the Steelers’ 6-yard line.

“I had to go get it,” he said. “I made a great break on the ball. The slant was coming and I beat the receiver to it. They try to throw everything on timing and I was just able to get there first.”

Two plays later, Smith was in the end zone and the Cowboys’ victory was safe.

Brown became the first defensive player to win the MVP award since Richard Dent of the Chicago Bears did it 10 years ago.

Brown knew he was an unlikely MVP.

“We’ve got so many stars, I just want to go out and play hard,” he said. “My career has always been based on one or two plays.”

This time they weren’t just plays. They helped win a Super Bowl.