A Modern-Day Rudy: Mickey Brown Walks On to the Fighting Irish Football Team

In an interview with The Express News Group’s Cailin Riley in 2019, Rudy Ruettiger, the central figure in the 1993 movie “Rudy,” told a story in which he met Kobe Bryant, who credited him with inspiring him to push on in what eventually became an NBA Hall of Fame career.

“There’s a Rudy in everybody,” he said at the time.

Mickey Brown may be Southampton’s modern-day Rudy.

After a highly successful wrestling career at St. Anthony’s High School, Brown, who calls Southampton his home, left an acceptance letter from West Point on the table, much to the chagrin of his parents, to pursue a long sought-after dream of one day playing football at the University of Notre Dame — in Rudy Ruettiger style, by walking on to the team. Brown, like Rudy, didn’t make the team on his first try. But as down as he was, he persevered.

In February, as a sophomore, Brown, who admittedly knows every line in the movie, tried out again for the famed Fighting Irish. And this time, he made it.

Born To Wear the Jacket

After completing his intermediate school years in his hometown Southampton School District, Brown attended St. Anthony’s High School in Huntington, where he lettered on both the football and wrestling teams. Brown admitted that wrestling was his top sport. He wrestled on Southampton’s varsity team for two years in seventh and eighth grades before heading to St. Anthony’s, where he’d go own to be a two-time New York State Catholic High School Athletic Association champion and four-time finalist.

When it came time to choose a college in his junior and senior years of high school, Brown was almost sure he’d go to West Point where he would, of course, wrestle. Following a nearly two-year process, Brown was eventually accepted into West Point. But something didn’t feel right.

Brown grew up as a huge Notre Dame football fan, and even though wrestling was a passion at a young age, he’d still tell everyone that he was going to go to South Bend one day to play football. His father, Barry Brown, admitted that he may have “brainwashed” his son into falling in love with the revered program. They would watch games together every Saturday. Barry Brown has a Fighting Irish logo tattooed on his arm.

“He even has his rejection letter still from Notre Dame, I think,” he quipped about his father.

So playing football at Notre Dame was a long-time goal of Brown, and it was something he was going to achieve, whether he had the backing of his family or not. After getting in to West Point, despite the urging from his family, including his father, Brown decided he wanted to chase his dream and opted to attend Notre Dame, instead, where he’d attempt to walk on to the football team.

“The day he had to officially sign to West Point, he goes, ‘I’m thinking about going to Notre Dame,’” his father recalled. “I said, ‘Are you crazy?’ Even though I loved Notre Dame — and I never tell my kids that they can’t do something — I think I may have said something like, ‘Don’t be stupid.’

“He did what he wanted to do.”

Brown said he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he didn’t at least give it a try.

“Wrestling was a huge part of my life. I love that sport,” Brown said. “But I felt like I never really gave my all into football, so I wanted to see what I could do if I did.

“As it got closer to decision day, I knew I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t give my all into achieving a dream I had since I was 4 or 5 years old, which was playing football at Notre Dame.”

Turns out, Brown was able to get the best of both worlds. He is a cadet in Notre Dame’s Army ROTC program, a four-year program that includes a scholarship. Once he graduates, he will serve as a second lieutenant in the United States Army for five years.

Making a Tough Decision

Having graduated from high school at 140 pounds, Brown started to bulk up as soon as he learned he’d be attending Notre Dame, in order to prepare for his first tryout as a freshman. Things didn’t go his way, he admitted, and he didn’t make the team.

“That was a super tough time,” he said of being cut. “I didn’t know if I wanted to transfer somewhere else, stick it out here for the academics, or just stick it out in general. But I kind of went back to my original plan and said I came here to give it my all. So I kept getting bigger, faster, stronger — and I do have to say, I felt a lot more prepared the second time out.”

While sitting in his probability math class a few weeks after try outs in February, Brown got a text from the football team’s director of player personnel who asked him to give him a call when he could. He immediately left class, made the call and got the answer he had been waiting for his entire life.

“I would say it was the best moment of my life,” Brown said. “I still remember it very vividly. I just remember breaking down and sobbing in the hallway, calling my dad.”

“Oh, it was amazing,” his father said of sharing that moment with his son. “It’s like his lifelong dream. When your kids achieve something that they’ve dreamt about for that long, it’s emotional as a parent.”

Achieving His Dream

Having trained with the team in the weeks since finding out he made the team, Brown got his first real taste of Notre Dame football when the program held its 93rd annual Blue-Gold spring game on April 20, which streamed live on Peacock. Brown, as a cornerback donning the number 35, played on the Blue Team, which won, 28-21.

“That was the coolest 48 hours of my life,” Brown said of the game weekend. “It was a super cool experience. I learned a ton, I met a ton of great people, and it all culminated with the spring game. I had all of my family out here. It was super cool. I walked through the tunnel with the jersey on. To see that as a kid and to be there making some plays, I loved it.”

Brown played safety in high school, and even though cornerback is in the same realm of defensive backs, they are two very different positions. As a corner, Brown will be expected to cover some of the top wide receivers in the nation, and this is all after not playing the position in high school.

Brown said he was chosen as a corner based both on his size — he’s now listed at 5 feet 9 inches, 180 pounds — and the needs of the team.

“It was a little challenging at first,” he admitted of playing corner in the spring game. “All of my coaches and teammates were super supportive and it made me feel good going into training in the summer.”

The schedule has died down some, Brown said, with the spring game now in the rear view, but he still needs to conform to a pretty rigorous training schedule as well as stay on top of his academics. But after all, this is what he wanted.

Notre Dame’s first game is set for August 31 at Texas A&M.

“I knew exactly what I was signing up for, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be in the spot that I’m in,” he said. “I know at times it’s going to be a lot, but I kind of go back to just how proud 7-year-old me would be now.”