By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Dodge City seemed like a foreign land to Larry Brown, a native of the roughest part of Pittsburgh, Pa.
Kansas Sports Hall of Fame 2025 inductee Larry Brown earned NFL Most Valuable Player and All-Pro honors for the then-Washington Redskins. [Submitted photo/Kansas Sports Hall of Fame]
In 1965, Brown traveled by train halfway across the country following one of the few offers he had to play college football.
“When I got off the train and I looked up and saw Gunsmoke Avenue and the Wyatt Earp Hotel, I got down on my knees and cried, thinking ‘What have I done?’ '' Brown recalled.
Induction to the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame would have seemed equally foreign to Brown in 1965. But what seemed impossible will come true for Brown on Aug. 2. He is one of 10 new members who will join the hall in a ceremony at Washburn University.
In Dodge City, Brown found a poorly-funded program in a community with few African Americans. With no other options, he chose to stick it out and made an ally in coach Leroy Montgomery.
“It went extremely well because I developed a good friendship with the coach,” Brown said. “He would pull me in when there was a problem with any of the minority players who I had a closeness with. He trusted me, and I helped resolve some issues with the minorities that he felt uncomfortable doing.”
Despite not having a scholarship initially and buried on the depth chart, Brown fought his way to a starting position. He became known for a tenacious running style and ability to endure a beating. After two seasons, he earned a couple of offers from small colleges. He was pondering those options when the Dodge City coach popped back into his life.
“I received a letter from Montgomery that said he had taken a position at K-State and he wanted me to join him,” Brown said. “So, I went back to Kansas.”
Brown joined another downtrodden program – the Wildcats had not won a game in two seasons – once again at the bottom of the pecking order. He was assigned to the scout team. But as he had at Dodge City, Brown showed a fierce relentlessness that eventually earned him playing time. His senior season was played in Kansas State’s new football stadium.
“Adjusting to K-State wasn’t a major problem because I knew coach Montgomery and was glad to be part of the team,” Brown said. “I was rejoined with my familiar coach and things went well. Playing in the new stadium was a great experience. It felt a little like being in the pros with a stadium that was built to resemble many of the pro stadiums I eventually played in.”
Larry Brown was a standout running back at Kansas State before becoming a star in the NFL. [Submitted photo/Kansas Sports Hall of Fame]
A solid if unspectacular senior season got Brown drafted in the eighth round by the Washington Redskins (now Commanders) in 1969. As at his two college stops, Brown had to earn everything the hard way in the NFL. And he had to earn it under the critical eye of legendary coach Vince Lombardi, who had just been named the team’s head coach.
“When Vince Lombardi took the job with the Redskins, I knew that I had to prove myself to this coach,” Brown said. “He was very tough and we didn’t get along initially, but I warmed up to him, and he warmed up to me when he realized that I had some talent. I remember he used to point his finger at me and call me ‘Mister Brown’ so much, I started to think that my first name was ‘Mister.’”
Against all odds, Brown rose up the depth chart to become the Redskins’ featured back in his rookie season.
“A lot of the things that I learned at K-State helped prepare me for my role in the NFL,” Brown said. “My blocking technique, my catching technique – I had the opportunity to use those things because Vince Lombardi wanted a complete back. I figured if I was going to make the team, I had to demonstrate that I was a complete back, and a lot of those things that I learned at K-State were a great help to me.”
Over the next three seasons he played through a litany of injuries, becoming one of the league’s best backs. He was the NFL’s leading rusher in his second season.
Then came the 1972 season. The Redskins had gradually improved and were ready for something special. With Brown leading the way, the team won their division, then defeated the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys to reach Super VII. Brown was named MVP of the league; the highest professional honor ever accorded a Kansas State alum.
Brown earned tremendous respect for the physical abuse he endured. But the beating took its toll eventually. He retired at 29, having played in four Pro Bowls, twice with first-team All-Pro honors.
Brown worked for EF Hutton for several years, then spent more than a decade working for Xerox.
“I was lured away from the brokerage business to Xerox, where I was a general manager for community affairs, making decisions about where the company’s presence was needed in the community,” Brown said. “My experiences while playing football were a great help. During my playing career I was familiar with a lot of these (charitable) organizations.”
Brown then spent more than 20 years working for a real estate company, finally retiring in 2016 to face yet another obstacle.
“Since then, I’ve been trying to get over Parkinsons,” Brown said. “It’s a major challenge. They don’t have a cure for it. I have a regimen that I go through every day. I’m trying to beat this thing.”
The rugged, relentless runner is attacking the disease like he did 1970s defenses.
“Even though he’s going through this latest challenge, another challenge in his life, you can’t count him out,” said Brown’s daughter, Laurin. “He still has that mentality that he can get through something. It’s been a part of his life, but he does not allow it to stop him.
“I learned from him that resilience that we can get through anything if we have our mind on something. It might be tough. It might not happen right away. But we will do it. I can definitely say I learned that from my father.”
Brown and several family members plan to attend the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Tickets for the ceremony and lunch at the Washburn University Union Ballroom at 1700 SW College Ave. are available online at kshof.org.
