PRO WRESTLER MONTY BROWN TO MAKE NATIONAL TV APPEARANCE

Former FSU Football Standout To Be A Guest On The Best Damn Sports Show Period

Former Ferris State University Football All-American and current professional wrestler Monty Brown will be in the national spotlight this Monday, Aug. 9, when he makes a televised guest appearance on Fox Sports' Best Damn Sports Show Period.

The show airs at 10:30 p.m. (EDT) on Fox Sports Detroit and is hosted by Chris Rose along with regular show members Tom Arnold and John Salley.

Brown is presently a superstar wrestler with Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling and wrestles under the name "Alpha Male". He's made a tremendous impact in the ring since returning this year and has proven to be a formidable opponent.

Brown produced a distinguished football career as a middle linebacker at Ferris State from 1989-92, garnering both first-team All-America honors on the field and in the classroom as a senior in 1992. The Bridgeport, Mich. native earned 1992 All-America First-Team plaudits from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Don Hansen's Football Gazette, Associated Press and C.M. Frank, who also tabbed him as its Defensive Player of the Year. Brown became Ferris State's second national finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy as the nation's top NCAA Division II Football player and finished fifth in the 1992 voting while having the distinction of being the only defensive player on the final ballot. He also attained first-team All-Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference (MIFC) kudos twice (1991-92) and was the league's co-Player of the Year in 1992 as a result of finishing the campaign with 187 tackles (100 solos) and five interceptions in 13 outings.

As a junior in 1991, Brown recorded a career-high 202 tackles (90 solos) to go with four pass thefts and sacks apiece after notching 109 hits (69 solo) the previous season. In his 1989 freshman season, he was chosen as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's (GLIAC) Freshman of the Year as a result of totaling 86 tackles (53 solo) to go with three interceptions. He presently ranks among FSU's all-time leaders in several statistical categories, including second in tackles with 584 career stops (312 solos), second in interceptions with 16 for 62 yards and 11th in pass sacks with 17.5 for a loss of 108 yards. In the classroom, Brown received first-team Academic All-America recognition by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) in 1992 and also was selected the NCAA-II College Scholar Athlete of the Year by the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame (Detroit Chapter). He was also a three-time (1990-92) MIFC All-Academic Team honoree and a NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship recipient.

Following his Bulldog career, Brown signed with the National Football League's (NFL) Buffalo Bills in 1993 and played in Super Bowl XXVIII during his rookie campaign. He then joined the New England Patriots in 1996 as a free agent and started in seven games at outside linebacker as the Patriots competed in Super Bowl XXXL. Brown had a free-agent tryout with the New York Jets in 1997 before announcing his retirement due to an injury. While in the NFL, he was named to the American Football Conference's (AFC) All-Strength Team in 1995 and also was selected as one of the top five physical specimens in the NFL. With is NFL retirement, Brown proceeded to focus his attention in the professional wrestling ring and became an official member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).