Bronco Safety Asantay Brown no longer a secret
By Alan Gerould, senior writer
KALAMAZOO -- Western Michigan University junior safety Asantay Brown migrated down from Muskegon, Mich. with an eye on a career in engineering and a chance to play football in Waldo Stadium. When he leaves WMU, Brown may pursue a career in the secret service and could very well hold some career records for tackles for the Broncos.
Brown is no longer a secret around the Mid-American Conference, leading the Broncos with 103 tackles last year with 56 of them being solo.
"I don't think of myself as a violent person, but I do like to hit people when I get the pads on" said Brown.
Brown is also effective in pass coverage having returned two interceptions for 63 yards and having critical pass break ups and passes defended throughout the season. Brown gave University of Toledo star wideout Alonzo Russell fits in the final regular season game before Brown left the game prematurely after a hit from Russell.
"I was pursuing the play and ended up seeing stars. You have to keep your head on a swivel," said Brown, who was taken off the field in an ambulance and spent the night in a Toledo hospital
The combined effort earned Brown a third team All-MAC selection. If you have to go up against the leading pass catching tandem in Corey Davis and Daniel Braverman plus one of the most efficient passers in the nation in Zach Terrell every day in practice, you are bound to get better.
"I really can't take credit for all that," Brown said. "Coach Pinkham and the other coaches put us in a position to be successful. Plus having Buck (Atkins), Ronald (Zamort) and Darius (Phillips) back there with me takes some of the pressure off."
Atkins and Zamort are gone but Brown is confident that the Broncos have the players to fill the void.
"I trust and believe in Coach Fleck's vision for this program," said Brown. "The coaching staff is constantly changing its best all the time and that includes recruiting better players all the time."
You can't argue the results as the Broncos have had the top recruiting class in the MAC in each of Coach Flecks four years in Kalamazoo. WMU is currently ranked in the top 20 nationally for commitments for the 2017 class.
So what makes Fleck such an outstanding recruiter? Part of it may be his commitment to look in depth for football talent closer to home. WMU has signed kids from Florida, Texas, Oklahoma and New Jersey, but a good portion of its players are from within a six hour radius of Kalamazoo including Muskegon, long a hotbed for athletic talent.
According to Rob Beuerlein of WMU media relations 65 of the 75 players on the current roster (86.7%) are from within that umbrella. That compares with seven years ago when there were more players from Florida then there were from Michigan but Brown thinks it is so much more than that.
"Coach Fleck talks the talk but he absolutely walks the walk," said Brown. "The coaching staff really is invested in each of us as men. They help us to be better football players, but they really want to make sure that we are the best men that we can be. The F.A.M.I.L.Y. mantra is not just a catchy slogan for us, it's a way of life. When recruits come to visit campus we relay that this talk and this jargon which some may see as hokey, is totally sincere and the coaching staff and the university administration is all in. We are truly Broncos for Life."
Brown is as excited as anyone to "get this party started." He is in Kalamazoo, as are a good portion of his teammates, this spring and summer, taking some classes and working out, staying sharp and changing their best.
"I really am excited to get back to competing again. We have a lot of confidence in ourselves and each other that we can do great things together," Brown said. "We feel that we can win every time we set foot on the field and I guarantee we will show up. Our motto this year is gROW h16her."
WMU will show up but not sneak up on anyone this season. The Broncos and their super safety Asantay Brown are no longer a secret and it's his goal for the defense to protect the goal line. Who knows, Brown may eventually end up protecting other things in the secret service.