His coach calls him the quiet assassin, but it’s not because you can’t hear him coming.
On the contrary, the loud clops of Antonio Brown’s cleats before he delivers a pad popping stroke are very much audible.

It’s the junior’s talk, or lack thereof, that has given Vicksburg’s quiet two-way star the nickname that so aptly defines his personality.

“He has that laid-back demeanor, but on the field he’s a dog,” coach Marcus Rogers said. “Every (college) coach that came through here in the spring … I told them this is the guy that y’all need to target.”

Brown may be shy without pads on but his play this season has been anything but. The hybrid linebacker/running back put in the game of his life last week in a 37-12 Vicksburg win over South Delta. After forcing a fumble and attaining some much-needed momentum for his team, Brown promptly went out on offense and thundered for a 31-yard rushing touchdown before halftime. In the second half, he recovered a loose ball on defense and took it 71 yards to the house to seal the victory.

What started this barrage of point scoring for Vicksburg’s shining star? His anger at what was transpiring on the field, of course.

“I had got mad, got pumped up and I went out there and forced a fumble,” Brown said. “We got the ball back and then we had got the ball on the offensive possession. I got the ball and scored right up the middle to the end zone.”

Getting angry is a big motivating factor for Brown, who channels his on-field rage into a ferocious tenacity that is evident in his seemingly never-empty tank of energy — one that allows him to play heavy minutes on both offense and defense.

“He makes it easy calling plays. Every time the defense comes off the field and I call my personnel packages, he runs out there on offense first,” Rogers said. “He doesn’t get fatigued. He brings it every play, and I have to take him out because I know, in crucial moments, I’m going to need him.”

His head coach attributes most of that to a dedicated strength and conditioning schedule in the spring and summer, even if his time did get cut short due to injury. It’s something that has made Brown’s performance in 2014 even more impressive.

“The kid works hard and it’s a testament just to the will of him and his family,” Rogers said. “He broke his collarbone in the spring and missed the whole summer, missed all the 7-on-7s and didn’t come back until late July. You would never know it. He’s out there racking heads. I think he’s finally hit his groove now, and I’m just happy to have him on my team.”

With Vicksburg set to play crosstown rival Warren Central tonight, the Gators know how important Brown is to their team’s chances at winning — a chance some in the Mississippi high school football world believe to be pretty slim.
Rogers relayed a prediction from an armchair quarterback to Brown that didn’t sit well with the junior. The first-year head coach, who admits he doesn’t get involved in the dredges of fan message boards, said a fellow teacher showed him an analysis that predicted Vicksburg would lose 38-0.

“That makes me mad,” Brown said quietly.

And we all know what happens when he gets mad.