If there was a definition of a globe trotting ambassador of football, Micah Brown would fit the description.
From Tampa, Florida to Rome, Italy. From Marburg, Germany to Halifax, Nova Scotia. From Basel, Switzerland to Helsinki, Finland to Gdynia, Poland plus untold stops elsewhere along the way, Brown has been carrying the football banner as a quarterback, coach and trainer, holding it high for everyone to see.
He has proudly spread the gospel of football through his on-field exploits and off field activities his entire adult life.
This past fall, he along with wife Kelly, landed back in Marburg, Germany, in a return of sorts (Brown played for the Marburg Mercenaries in 2013/2014), to spend time preparing to coach and serve as strength and conditioning trainer for the Mercenaries, and anyone else who needs it through his own BATLX organization. They’ll also be helping reorganize the administration of the club.
“I just felt an ideal time. I’m excited about this opportunity. The team needed an offensive coordinator and since the season in Germany in 2021 will be shorter, only four months, I am able to fit it into my schedule. I came here in the fall to set things up in preparation for next year.”
The a 10 game GFL season stretching from June to October instead of April to October, is intended to ease the burden on the clubs. According to Carsten Dalkowski, president of the Marburg Mercenaries and also chairman of the GFL, Brown’s return is important on several different levels:
“There are several reasons why Micah Brown is now coming back to Marburg. First of all his personal connection to Marburg should be mentioned. He lived, worked, studied and played here for more than two full years and knows the club and the city of Marburg from inside out.”
The 34-year-old native of Tampa, Florida who now calls Halifax, Nova Scotia home, is a veteran of football in Europe and has played in and won multiple championships throughout Europe including an upset win over the heavily favored and unbeaten Wroclaw Panthers in the 2015 Polish championship game while playing for the Gdynia Seahawks. He then went on to win back-to-back Finnish championships with the Helsinki Roosters in 2015 and 2016.
Juha Hakala was his coach and back then had already noticed his intent on giving back to the game while helping teammates improve:
“Mic was with us in Roosters half of 2015 season and full 2016 season and I also got him to come in Lazio with me in 2017. The two situations were different. With the Roosters we needed a QB that could do his job and he surely did by helping us to win two championships. But during the 1 1/2 seasons with Roosters I noticed that Mic wanted to also give back to the game and help make players around him better and teach the game. When I signed with Lazio I wanted a guy with me that I could trust and be a leader for the offense.”
“His best traits as a quarterback is his will to always outwork his opponents and find ways to win. But as a person he wants to always do things as good as he can and he doesn’t want to settle for less and he wants also all others around him to do their best and is willing to help them to reach their goals too which makes him a good leader.”
In between stints as a player, coach (he is an assistant coach with St. Mary’s University in Halifax) and trainer, somehow Brown has found time to form his own enterprise, BATLX (Brown Athletix) a high-performance training company that also focuses on the development of young athletes, together with Kelly who he describes as the “brains behind the operation”.
“I wanted to offer athletes individual, one-on-one training at the high school and college levels while the camps and clinics are geared towards younger kids. For instance, for toddlers aged two to four, we just teach them how to use their bodies. We start introducing organized football when kids get up to eight years old, not before.”
In Halifax, the camps took off and have become so popular that they have to place a limit of 40 kids per camp. The individual sessions have been successful with the likes of Canadian offensive lineman Justin Stevens turning to Brown for help and earning a scholarship offer from Michigan State.
In between, he has launched a developmental team for athletes 17 and up, the Halifax Harbour Hawks, giving him a team of his own to coach. The Hawks play in Canada’s Maritime Football League. Still the urge to take everything he has learned somewhere else and prove he could help another organization has never left him, hence the move to Marburg.
Carsten Dalkowski:
“Micah brings everything to the table a coach needs today. His understanding of the offensive game is outstanding, his working ethic and his energy are incomparable. He is well connected and known all over Europe. Also he brings new ideas to the table and his athletic approach with the players (BATLX) is very convincing.”
Together with business partners he has in Marburg, Brown will open up a BATLX branch in the southern German city. He will work with the Mercenaries to provide year-round support for the players, regardless of age. And he’ll serve as the team’s offensive coordinator.
“This is pretty exciting for both Kelly and I. The fact that Marburg has entrusted us with helping them grow and develop their club and organization while we are also helping athletes regardless of age to learn and get better is truly gratifying and fulfilling. And I’ll be helping the Mercenaries aim for a German title too.”