Jeff Wood is absolutely right! Craig Brown was/is/and forever shall be, one of the best athletes I've ever seen! Always proud to call him friend and team mate. From Cee football when, on the last play of the game against Pasadena, with us trailing by a few points, Craig caught a pass from Billy, broke about 38 tackles, and sped to the end zone, winning the game for us! It was, I guess, my introduction TO Craig, but I realized we had OUR star! He was ALWAYS a good guy to have on your side. He was classic: a humble, nice guy, somewhat soft spoken--but, absolutely ferocious on the football field. A story that says so much about Craig--when the gun went off at the end of the championship game on December 17, 1971, it was pure elation for everyone on the team as we converged on the field. I remember looking over and seeing Craig, standing by himself and crying--his eyes red and tears running down his face. His humility was front and center. I've never forgotten that moment.. Losing Craig was like losing one of our heroes--he was a good guy.
I knew Craig from early days at Emperor Elementary. He was always kind hearted even at that age and it stayed with him always. He was a natural athlete, a born running back and it seemed to come so easy to him. He would set up his blockers so well. If we did a POWER play (sweep) you could immediately know he was behind you as you turned the corner in how he'd set up the defensive backs for you. His senior year they had him play linebacker as it was a hole we needed filling. He was a good linebacker but it paled in comparison to his skills as a running back. We had good running backs on the team but none like him. You'll recall our senior year all of our backs got hurt and they had to call up his brother Rick from the "B" team to fill the gap. If they would have used Craig as an offensive back I'm sure he would have been all CIF and well known in the local football world. I believe he was called upon to sacrifice a career at the next level for the team. He played some at PCC but it was my understanding they never really gave him a chance to shine. Finally, and I'm going way out on the limb here but he used his head alot as a linebacker and I've always wondered if that was a part of the reason he died early. (CTE?) We were all taught to use our helmet/head in those days and there are a bunch of us who have issues as a result of such. I look forward to our meeting again in the next game...
Beyond being the best athelete, who carried us on his back in so many sports, Craig was my best friend, the best man at my wedding and gave Nancy & I the honor of being Godparents to his beautiful daughter Kelly. He & Kathy also raised two sons Cody and Kyle, and yes they were badass athletes of course. I have hundreds of stories I can tell about Craig, so many of them evolving around his great athleticism on the field of competition. But some of our best memories were made on a road trip we took the summeer of '72, in his Dautsun Pickup, when we drove Danny Clause home to Stubenville Ohio, spent a few days, and then Craig & I took off and drove another 6,000 miles around the country. We took $300 each, and looked up every relative we could find for a free place to stay & a free meal. The experiences along the way were unforgetable, and some are best embedded in our memories forever....... Danny has been sworn to secrecy...... Miss you "Berney", save me a spot on the team up there!
What Jeff, Ted, Gary and Robbie said…Craig was an exceptional athlete! He was also an inspiration to his teammates, both on and off the field in his own understated way. On a personal note, I had been struggling as a sophomore in varsity wrestling and it wasn’t until sometime later that I began to turn things around. Craig wasn’t on the wrestling team and I had no idea that he was even aware of what was going on with me. Though after I began doing better, it was Craig Brown who came up to me the next day in woodshop, smiled and said “the wrestler’…then walked away. That verbal pat on the back from Craig Brown meant the world to me. Although Craig was not on the ’72 PCC football team, had he been, he would have been a star just like he was everywhere else!
Jeff Wood
One of the best athletes I've ever played with, and so much fun! Whaaaa!
Jeff Wood
Theo (Ted) Moreno
Jeff Wood is absolutely right! Craig Brown was/is/and forever shall be, one of the best athletes I've ever seen! Always proud to call him friend and team mate. From Cee football when, on the last play of the game against Pasadena, with us trailing by a few points, Craig caught a pass from Billy, broke about 38 tackles, and sped to the end zone, winning the game for us! It was, I guess, my introduction TO Craig, but I realized we had OUR star! He was ALWAYS a good guy to have on your side. He was classic: a humble, nice guy, somewhat soft spoken--but, absolutely ferocious on the football field. A story that says so much about Craig--when the gun went off at the end of the championship game on December 17, 1971, it was pure elation for everyone on the team as we converged on the field. I remember looking over and seeing Craig, standing by himself and crying--his eyes red and tears running down his face. His humility was front and center. I've never forgotten that moment.. Losing Craig was like losing one of our heroes--he was a good guy.
Gary Lineback
I knew Craig from early days at Emperor Elementary. He was always kind hearted even at that age and it stayed with him always. He was a natural athlete, a born running back and it seemed to come so easy to him. He would set up his blockers so well. If we did a POWER play (sweep) you could immediately know he was behind you as you turned the corner in how he'd set up the defensive backs for you. His senior year they had him play linebacker as it was a hole we needed filling. He was a good linebacker but it paled in comparison to his skills as a running back. We had good running backs on the team but none like him. You'll recall our senior year all of our backs got hurt and they had to call up his brother Rick from the "B" team to fill the gap. If they would have used Craig as an offensive back I'm sure he would have been all CIF and well known in the local football world. I believe he was called upon to sacrifice a career at the next level for the team. He played some at PCC but it was my understanding they never really gave him a chance to shine. Finally, and I'm going way out on the limb here but he used his head alot as a linebacker and I've always wondered if that was a part of the reason he died early. (CTE?) We were all taught to use our helmet/head in those days and there are a bunch of us who have issues as a result of such. I look forward to our meeting again in the next game...
Robbie Jones
Beyond being the best athelete, who carried us on his back in so many sports, Craig was my best friend, the best man at my wedding and gave Nancy & I the honor of being Godparents to his beautiful daughter Kelly. He & Kathy also raised two sons Cody and Kyle, and yes they were badass athletes of course. I have hundreds of stories I can tell about Craig, so many of them evolving around his great athleticism on the field of competition. But some of our best memories were made on a road trip we took the summeer of '72, in his Dautsun Pickup, when we drove Danny Clause home to Stubenville Ohio, spent a few days, and then Craig & I took off and drove another 6,000 miles around the country. We took $300 each, and looked up every relative we could find for a free place to stay & a free meal. The experiences along the way were unforgetable, and some are best embedded in our memories forever....... Danny has been sworn to secrecy...... Miss you "Berney", save me a spot on the team up there!
John Cambianica
What Jeff, Ted, Gary and Robbie said…Craig was an exceptional athlete! He was also an inspiration to his teammates, both on and off the field in his own understated way. On a personal note, I had been struggling as a sophomore in varsity wrestling and it wasn’t until sometime later that I began to turn things around. Craig wasn’t on the wrestling team and I had no idea that he was even aware of what was going on with me. Though after I began doing better, it was Craig Brown who came up to me the next day in woodshop, smiled and said “the wrestler’…then walked away. That verbal pat on the back from Craig Brown meant the world to me. Although Craig was not on the ’72 PCC football team, had he been, he would have been a star just like he was everywhere else!