Since before he can remember, Ottawa REDBLACKS quarterback Dru Brown always had a football in his hand.
His father, Dave, played linebacker for the Washington State Cougars, and passed his love of the game down to his son. At first, Brown was running routes, throwing touchdowns in the backyard and sitting in front of the television on Sundays, before playing organized football for the first time.
Before becoming a linebacker in college, Brown’s father was a quarterback, so naturally, when he began playing himself, he started in those positions. Brown later switched to quarterback and defensive back, but entering high school, he was forced to pick one or the other.
One position was the hammer, the other the nail, but a little bit of contact never scared him, Brown says.
“That’s the big question that my parents always talked about, how’s he going to do when he gets hit? Does he like hitting people? I think they found out early on that I was one of those people that had a screw loose, and that didn’t really matter much.”
His mother, Terri, who was always the more concerned about Brown taking contact, was a doctor until she recently retired. In an interview earlier in the 2024 season, Brown lovingly called his mother a “dawg,” citing how important she has been for him throughout his life.
“My mom is very special,” he said. “As a doctor, you have to be strong and suppress your emotions when dealing with people, especially when delivering bad news. But with family, she was very loving and compassionate, just a very unselfish person who did everything she could for us.”
Brown often felt the caring hands of his mother after his many injuries as a youngster. She recalls going to pick him up from school for a trip to the emergency room a number of times, including for a broken arm, hand, and collarbone.
In Brown’s support system, everyone played their own roles, and that was his mother’s. He and his sisters were always close, and according to Terri, never fought, though Brown and his siblings refute that claim. When he was really young, he participated in gymnastics, just like his sisters, showing how much Brown wanted to follow in their footsteps.
As he grew a little older and figured out what he liked, he picked football, leaning on his father for everything sports until his passing in 2023.
“They were just really close,” Terri said. “He would be at mighty might practices watching, all the way up through high school at least three or four times a week. He was always helping Dru with all his decisions.”
Dave’s dedication to his son went beyond regular football practice, as well. Every Sunday, instead of watching football on TV, he’d drive an hour and a half to the East Bay to take Brown for a session with his quarterback coach, a drive that would become something of a tradition until Brown got his licence.
While playing for the Redwood City 49ers between the ages of nine and 11, and the Los Gatos-Campbell Longhorns in the following years, Brown always felt the unwavering support of his parents. He always knew he wanted to be a professional football player, and says his family never tried to sway him down other avenues or “stuff his face in a book,” rather providing as much support as they could to help him achieve his lofty goals.
At Los Gatos High School, Brown says he knew playing at the collegiate level and beyond was an option for him early on.
“I was usually one of the better players on the field in youth football, but I think once you get in high school, you get to see what’s out there,” Brown said. “I knew that I was undersized, but I never really thought I needed to figure out something else. I just fully pursued it.”
His parents, however, were harsher critics.
“From my mom’s perspective, it was probably at the end of high school when she thought it was maybe tangible for me to do the things that I’ve done,” Brown said. “My dad, just having played, probably knew earlier on, but I’d like to think that my mom was a little bit less biased when it came to that.”
It’s hard to blame his parents for taking some convincing, as Brown’s confidence came from within. His first two seasons of high school football came at the junior varsity level, becoming the starter in his second year.
After leading the Wildcats to a 9-0-1 record in 2012 and throwing 11 touchdowns, Brown made the jump to the varsity team for his junior season, where he would again be the backup. He made the most of his opportunities, however, throwing five touchdown passes.
In his final season at Los Gatos, Brown threw for 2,301 yards and 22 touchdowns, offset by only five interceptions in his one and only season as the varsity starter. He led his squad to a 10-3 record before eventually falling in the semi-finals.
Despite having a solid statistical season and a strong belief he could play at the next level, all was quiet when it came to Division 1 offers. Maybe it was because of his size — he knew he was undersized for a quarterback — or his lack of starting experience, but either way, it wasn’t the first time Brown had been told he couldn’t do something, and it wouldn’t be the last.
“It gets easier the more people tell you that you aren’t good enough because it’s just fuel to the fire,” Brown said. “That used to motivate me for a long time, but I didn’t really care about anyone else besides my family.”
When things didn’t break Brown’s way, he could always count on his father to repeat the same quote: “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.”
“He always kept his head up,” Terri said of her son. “His dad was always encouraging him, telling him ‘You’ll get your chance.’ He’d tell him to keep doing the work, keep studying, keep lifting, keep doing all the stuff that makes you better, and you’ll get your chance.”
He didn’t know it at the time, but his dad was right. In the moment, it was a tough pill to swallow, but it led to what he now describes as “one of the best things to ever happen to him.”
Though he hoped to be playing FBS football right out of the gate, Brown attended the College of San Mateo for a season of Junior College in 2015. That stop taught him more than he could have ever hoped, and set him up on the right path for what was to come.
… to be continued
