Tuesday, November 23, 2021 | Football, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — So the next few weeks figure to be awfully satisfying, humbling and nostalgic for Lomas Brown.
The greatest offensive lineman in University of Florida history was inducted into the College Hall of Fame's Class of 2020, but the in-person ceremony was canceled due to COVID. As a makeup, the National Football Foundation will hold a banquet Dec. 7 in Las Vegas honoring the classes of both '20 and '21. As part of that NFF tribute, Brown will be recognized with a salute between quarters Saturday during Florida's rivalry showdown against Florida State at Spurrier/Florida Field. Lomas Brown
And as long as Brown's in town, he might as well take his turn as the game's honorary "Mr. Two Bits," right?
"Oh man!" said the always-engaging and personable Brown, now 58. "That's the biggest thing about me coming back, man. I get to do, 'Two bits! Four bits! Six bits! A dollar! All for the Gators stand up and holler!' Are you kidding? What a tradition that is. Seeing 'Mr. Two Bits' at Gators game was a staple, man. An institution at the University of Florida. For us football players, seeing up there was as much a part of game-day as putting on your uniform."
And nobody who ever put on a UF uniform did the offensive lineman's thing better than Brown, an imposing 6-foot-4 and 286 pounds in his day.
Brown signed with Florida out of Miami Springs High and went on start 34 games as an offensive tackle. In 1984, Brown was a first-team All American and was the most decorated player of an offensive line — alongside Phil Bromley, Billy Hinson, Crawford Kerr and Jeff Zimmerman — that was dubbed "The Great Wall." The unit blocked for quarterback Kerwin Bell on his way to setting Southeastern Conference passing records and graded the rushing lane roads for tailbacks Neal Anderson and John L. Williams on their way to being first-round draft picks.
"I was the last one to complete 'The Great Wall,' " Brown said. "There was criteria to be a member. You had to bench-press 400 pounds and leg press 700 pounds. All those guys, they were bulls. Really strong. Every one of 'em except me had done it. Eventually it was my turn. We were down there in the weight room, the whole locker room in there cheering me on, with 400 pounds on that rack — and I did it. I put the last brick in the 'Wall.' It was awesome."
The '84 Gators went 9-1-1 and captured the first SEC championship in program history, only to have it stripped by conference presidents seven months later due to a multitude of NCAA sanctions levied against the program.
Brown played 18 seasons in the NFL, the first 11 as a stalwart left tackle for the Detroit Lions.
That decision came about a month after the Detroit Lions selected Brown with the sixth overall pick in the 1985 NFL Draft. He started all but one of the 164 games he played for the Lions, a period of his career he gladly regales with tales of blocking for Barry Sanders, "hands down, the greatest ever," according to Brown.
"People will say I'm biased because I blocked for Barry for seven years, but the people that say that only ever saw the highlight plays," Brown said. "I used to sit in the meeting room on Mondays and just say, 'How the hell did he do that?' He had two-yard losses that were the greatest two-yard losses in NFL history; better than some dudes' 50-yard runs. He was stronger than anyone could imagine. Humble, too."
Brown played 11 seasons in Detroit, a run that included seven straight Pro Bowl appearances. In time, he played three seasons in Arizona (1996-98), one with the expansion Cleveland Browns ('99), two with the New York Giants (2000-01), including a trip to his first Super Bowl, and his final season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002), with whom he won the Super Bowl playing as a reserve.
For big events, he wears his Super Bowl ring. Think this weekend will qualify?
"It's the first and only thing I ever won; high school, college, pros, anything. It was my last year and it means a lot to me," Brown said. "When I see kids or do appearances now, all those years in the NFL and all those Pro Bowls, they don't matter. All they care about is the jewelry."
Brown huddles with members of the high school team he coaches now in MIchigan.
Brown, after 18 seasons and 263 games (all but 12 of them as a starter), is retired with his wife Wendy in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., where he has helped coach a high school team for the last decade. They have five children and four grandchildren. He's only been back to Gainesville once since leaving football, but longtime Gators know what he meant to the program.
The ones that don't will have a better idea Saturday.
"Look, I never lost to Florida State, including hanging 50 of them one game," Brown said, referencing a 53-14 home blowout win in 1983. "That's the only way to finish a season out, man. You can't lose to your rival. That's like a slap in the face."
