Alabama A&M quarterback Quad Brown, the 'Unc' of HBCU pig skin, believes he has extra left to show

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When Alabama A&M quarterback Cornelious “Quad” Brown IV took his first faculty snaps, greater than a 3rd of his present teammates have been in elementary college, NIL didn’t exist and the switch portal was nonetheless in its infancy.

Brown, 26, is in his eighth year of faculty pig skin. He has confronted adversity, skepticism and loads of questions on why he’s nonetheless taking part in when most of his friends within the 2019 recruiting class — such because the Washington Commanders’ Jayden Daniels — have gone on to the NFL or in any other case graduated and entered the workforce.

Brown, whose teammates affectionately name him “Unc,” has seen the criticism on social media. But after being granted a medical waiver in April to sequence pig skin this year, he believes he’s not achieved but.

“I don’t care what those people got to say, because at the end of the day, they can say what they want, but they still have to face me, and you still have to line up and play against me,” Brown stated.

“I’m fulfilling my purpose. I’m going to continue to do that until God tells me, ‘All right, it’s time to put the football down.’”

Brown is seeking to benefit from his final probability to sequence faculty pig skin.

Four video games into the Bulldogs’ year, Brown has thrown for 1,111 yards and eight touchdowns whereas finishing 67.4% of his passes. Alabama A&M (3-1) will face Florida A&M (1-3) on Saturday within the Bulldogs’ first Southwestern Athletic Conference matchup of the year.

Although that is his eighth year on paper, Brown hasn’t spent eight years on the sphere.

As a real freshman at Georgia State in 2019, he appeared in simply 4 video games, permitting him to protect his redshirt standing. He broke out in 2020 as Georgia State’s starter, throwing for two,278 yards and 17 touchdowns and speeding for 301 yards and 7 extra touchdowns. He capped his year by main Georgia State to a LendingTree Bowl victory over Western Kentucky, incomes MVP honors.

As Georgia State’s beginning quarterback in 2020, Quad Brown threw for two,278 yards and 17 touchdowns and rushed for 301 yards and 7 extra scores.Grant Halverson / Getty Images

The following 12 months, Brown appeared in 5 video games for the Panthers in a lowered position. Seeking extra taking part in time, he transferred to the University of Tennessee at Martin for the 2022 year, taking part in in seven video games however by no means fairly discovering his footing.

Brown landed at Alabama A&M in 2023 however performed in solely two video games resulting from setback. He put collectively his most full year as a Bulldog in 2024, throwing for 1,666 yards and 12 touchdowns over 11 video games whereas speeding for 147 yards and one other landing.

Four video games into final year, Brown tore ligaments in his ankle that required surgical procedure, bringing a untimely finish to what he initially thought can be his closing 12 months of faculty pig skin.

“I always take things for what they are. … I knew I was going to face some physical adversity at some point because we all do — football’s a violent, physical game,” Brown stated. “So when I [got hurt], I’m like, ‘OK, dang man!’ I’ve never played a football season where you don’t get bumped up and bruised. So I said, ‘OK, well, the adversity came a little early this year.’”

His slew of truncated seasons — 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2025 — are central to why Brown continues to be taking part in in 2026.

The NCAA’s COVID-19 eligibility waiver gave him and each different athlete impacted by the pandemic a further year past the standard eligibility framework, which beforehand restricted athletes to 4 seasons of competitors in a five-year interval. After navigating the transfers from Georgia State and UT Martin and two season-ending accidents, Brown had appeared in a complete of 43 video games, lower than 4 full seasons of faculty pig skin. (The faculty pig skin common year is 12 video games per 12 months.) As of June, Division I guidelines now permit student-athletes 5 seasons of competitors over a five-year interval.

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“I don’t think [critics] understand the fact that I’ve only played two full seasons of football,” Brown stated. “I don’t assume they perceive … I’m doing this to place myself ready to have success sooner or later.

“God has really gifted me with some talents, and I have an opportunity to play football at the next level in the National Football League. … I’m not going to quit on that.”

After the 2025 year, as Brown rehabilitated from surgical procedure, he questioned whether or not the NCAA would grant him a medical waiver, permitting him to return for an eighth year.

Brown stated his household steadied him because the circumstances round his pig skin profession stored altering. His father, specifically, stored reminding Brown of the imaginative and prescient he had for him lengthy earlier than the setbacks started — that his son was able to taking part in professional pig skin.

The elder Brown’s personal expertise as a Division I basketball participant at Arkansas State influenced his steering.

“Adversity is a part of playing high-level sports, and one of the things that I did for him was telling him as he was growing up that he’s gonna have to be able to deal with the adversity that comes with the game,” Cornelious Brown III stated.

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Brown credited his father’s encouragement with retaining him upbeat amid the uncertainty.

“He’s never lost confidence in the vision that I had for myself and the vision that he’s had for me,” Brown stated. “Of course it’s easy to believe whenever the Saints, Packers, and Vikings [scouts] are coming to practice. But you know, whenever I’m on the surgery table, he asked me, ‘Do I believe?’ … He has always believed for me.”

In April, the NCAA granted Brown a medical hardship waiver, permitting him to compete throughout the 2026 year.

The uncertainty surrounding Brown’s eligibility compelled Alabama A&M to arrange for all times with out him.

The Bulldogs introduced in switch quarterbacks Bekkem Kritza and Mac Armstrong, and likewise returned two quarterbacks who had been on the roster the earlier year, loading their quarterback room with further expertise whereas ready for the NCAA’s choice.

Alabama A&M passing matchup coordinator Jason Mai stated Brown dealt with the scenario maturely, embracing the chance to compete for the beginning job whereas concurrently serving to the opposite quarterbacks.

“He said, ‘Coach, if I get the opportunity to play again, I’m going to step in and I’m going to compete with those guys as if it’s not my [starting] job, and if I do come out on top, then I’m going to develop those guys.’ He’s done that,” Mai stated. “Since January, he’s gone in and made it a point to kind of help [our quarterback room] develop, so that when he leaves somebody else can be ready to step in that void.”

According to Mai, Brown’s management extends past the quarterback room. Throughout the offseason and through preseason exercises, Brown organized player-only conferences to assist encourage his teammates. Off the sphere, he invitations them over to his residence for haircuts.

“When he talks, the guys listen. At the end of every practice, he comes out and he gets up in front of the team and he leads them to the breakdown,” Mai stated. “He is a very vocal leader and does a really good job of trying to hold guys accountable. But at the same time, he’s young enough to where they enjoy hanging out with him.”

Junior offensive lineman Elias Cloy was a highschool freshman when Brown started his faculty profession in 2019. He stated Brown’s expertise has helped speed up his personal growth, in addition to the event of the youthful gamers on the roster.

“He can get everyone on the same page like that, and he can control the room like he has been doing it for years,” Cloy stated. “Even on the sphere, he’s gotten higher and higher since I’ve been right here. I’ve seen him develop, and actually he’s helped me get by means of some rising pains of my growth. He has that impact on individuals.

“His leadership isn’t like just yelling at you until you get it right. He will be hard on you sometimes, but he builds you up.”

Brown’s connection to Alabama A&M runs deep. He grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, lower than two hours away from campus, and his sister and grandparents attended the college.

In his 4 years at Alabama A&M, Brown has earned a Master of Business Administration. He stated the traditionally Black college has given him the liberty to be himself.

“Just in my four seasons here, just seeing how far the program has come, especially after Coach [Sam] Shade got here, is just amazing,” Brown stated. “The light that’s shined on HBCU football and the pride that these HBCU fans have — I really never understood what it was until I got here.”

Brown stated he has grown each on and off the sphere over his lengthy collegiate profession.

His judgment has improved, and off-the-field distractions now not enchantment to him, he stated. Brown additionally recalled feeling the necessity to pressure large performs as a younger beginning quarterback; now he’s extra affected person within the pocket and focuses on studying the protection.

He stated it’s a bonus his years taking part in and observing from the sideline have given him.

“On the field, you know, there’s not a defense that I haven’t seen,” he stated. “I know how to read through every play that we run because I’ve run it for three different universities. … There’s nothing that a defense coordinator can throw at me that can fool me.”

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Cloy stated he appreciates Brown’s strategy to the matchup.

“There have been ups and downs in his career and even mine, but he knows how to get back up on his two feet every time with a smile,” Cloy stated. “He has a lot of hate coming his way, especially now, but he just shrugs it off and plays his game like the way he does.”

Brown’s listing of targets for his closing year is so long as his profession has been. He needs to earn first-team All-SWAC honors whereas breaking Alabama A&M passing data. But his greatest targets are to carry the Bulldogs to a 10-win year, earn the convention title and end the year on the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta.

Those targets now have a place to begin: Alabama A&M’s first SWAC matchup of the year Saturday. Everything he needs to perform begins with navigating the convention schedule and placing the Bulldogs in place to compete for the SWAC chip.

“[This season] has been great because we’re so much better than we were the year before,” Brown stated. “If we just continue to take things day by day, we’ll walk into our goals without even having to think about them.”

Mia Berry is the senior HBCU author for Andscape and covers the whole lot from sports activities to student-led protests. She is a Detroit native (What up Doe!), long-suffering Detroit sports activities fan and Notre Dame alumna who randomly shouts, “Go Irish.”