Braves' essays win new football cleats

The Manalapan High School football team will have new Nike cleats for the 2009 season. That will be the Braves' prize after being selected as the overall winner in an essay contest promoted by Donald Brown.

Brown is a former Red Bank Catholic High School standout who went on to an outstanding college football career at the University of Connecticut. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the recent NFL draft.

In trying to give something back to the Shore Conference, Brown recently held the first Donald Brown Player-to-Player Leadership Conference at the Downtown Café in Red Bank. High school players were invited to submit essays of between 200 and 250 words to describe the person who has had the greatest impact on their lives.

The players were invited to attend the conference, which was organized by Brown's agent, Jamey Crimmins, and his company, Intuit. At the event, Brown talked to those in attendance about his path to the NFL.

The Manalapan High School football players won the team prize of 50 pairs of Nike cleats by having the most respondents to the essay contest, 70, and winners, 19.

However, the contest was about more than cleats. The 19 Manalapan players who were invited to attend the conference came away with added motivation to work hard and to do it the right way. Brown is someone the teenagers can relate to, someone who has gone through what they are experiencing and knows all about the pitfalls. He stands as proof that dedication and hard work has its reward and he shared it with the players.

Skylar O'Connor, who chose his father, John, as the person who has inspired him the most, said Brown was the ideal spokesman for scholastic players.

"We could look up to Don and all the hard work he put in," said O'Connor, who will be a senior in the fall and plays tight end and linebacker for the Braves. "He's a great example of how a high school football player should act and train. Academics are very important to him. Every single person took something from the conference."

As to why O'Connor chose his father as the subject of his essay, "My father has been through a lot of things in his life," said the Manalapan player, who explained that although his father was born with clubfoot, that did not prevent him from playing high school football.

John Connor, who is a pressman for The New York Times, has also worked as a drug and alcohol counselor.

Jim Danella chose his sister, Kristina, who starred at Red Bank Catholic before earning a basketball scholarship to the University of Massachusetts, as the subject of his essay.

Danella said his sister is more than just a great athlete.

"She's good at sports, helps out in the community, is a hard worker and still finds time for family," he said.

Speaking about the event, he said, "It was an honor to meet (Brown). He's a great guy. He has influenced me to work hard. If he can do it, anyone can."

Danella will be a sophomore in the fall and plays center and linebacker for the Braves.

Danella said he remembers going to RBC football games and watching Brown play for the Caseys.

Manalapan High School football coach Tom Gallahue, who encouraged his players to write the essays, praised Brown for what he is doing.

"I really thought this was something special that Donald Brown did," he said. "During the most exciting and hectic time of this young man's life, he took time out to address and meet high school players. It is a testament to his character and sense of purpose that he would do this out of true benevolence."

As an English teacher, Gallahue had an ulterior motive.

"They (football players) got to do something academic as a team, and they got introduced to someone who is just a terrific person and who shared important life lessons with them," the coach said.