Most freshmen never get on the field during their first season in a major-college football program.

Mark Brown laughs at the prospect of sitting out the 2003 season at Kansas University.

“I really don’t want to be red-shirted,” he said with a chuckle. “I really want to start playing, but if they feel that’s the best decision, I’ll do it. But I feel like I’m ready to play.”

When Brown was forced to sit out his senior season last fall at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Okla., it was no laughing matter.

Lost season

As a junior, Brown helped the Hornets reach the Class 5A state semifinals. He had 20 receptions for 437 yards and six touchdowns as a wide receiver and 22 tackles and three interceptions as a cornerback.

Even more was expected of the two-way standout as a senior. The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder was considered one of the elite prospects in Oklahoma and was being recruited by numerous major colleges, including Oklahoma, Kansas State and Kansas.

“I could have been one of the nation’s top defensive backs,” Brown said.

He never had the chance.

Washington High played Hale High Aug. 29 at the All-City Preview. Brown was blocking for a teammate near the Hale sideline on a play that went out of bounds. A scuffle ensued, and Brown ended up pinned against a fence by Hale assistant coach Curtis Westbrook.

Mark Brown, a Kansas University football signee, was suspended from the football team for his senior year at Tulsa (Okla.) Washington High after he was involved in a fracas during a game. He fought the suspension in the courts and was allowed to participate in the basketball season, but he's eager to get back in pads this fall.

It was the last play of Brown’s high-school football career.

“The referee came over and told me he saw a coach come over and throw Mark against the fence, and he put that in his report,” Washington football coach Antwain Jimmerson said. “It was such a bad deal.”

Despite the fact that there were varying accounts of what happened on the sideline and who started the fracas — influenced greatly by which school a witness happened to be from — the report by the neutral referee wasn’t enough to stop Tulsa Supt. David Sawyer from suspending Brown from school and athletics Sept. 6.

“I didn’t want this gentleman representing Tulsa Public Schools, period,” Sawyer later testified.

Another neutral observer, Tulsa County Deputy Sheriff James Asberry, said in a court document that the fight began when Brown and a Hale player got up from the field holding each other’s jerseys.

“At that point, a Hale High School assistant coach grabbed the Booker T. Washington student by his jersey and began to shake him,” Asberry wrote. “The student’s arms were flailing. The coach then slammed the student into the fence and pinned him there with his forearm between the student’s neck and chest. … Throughout the incident, the coach appeared to be the aggressor.”

Brown suffered six cuts on his arms, but the emotional scars were much worse. The senior’s future was about to be thrown into limbo.

Washington High supporters were livid about the way Tulsa Public Schools handled the investigation, especially the fact that Principal Debi Boyles was left out of the process. That fact may have hurt Brown’s cause in the short term, but it would prove to be a great help to him later.

Limited options

As news of Brown’s suspension spread, college coaches who had been hot on the senior’s trail suddenly gave him the cold shoulder. Oklahoma’s phone-call frequency diminished significantly, and Kansas State dropped out of sight entirely. The number of letters he received from schools such as Alabama, Nebraska and Colorado also dwindled.

Kansas defensive coordinator Bill Young gave Brown hope.

Before his suspension, Brown had been leaning toward signing with Oklahoma. Suddenly, KU had gone from his second or third choice to his best option.

“A lot of schools backed off, like I was a bad kid or I did something wrong,” Brown said. “But KU stayed there with me through thick and thin, and that’s what I liked about them. They didn’t go off what they heard. They came and talked to me and asked me questions. I felt it was my best decision to come to KU. I wanted to get away from home.”

A long road back

Brown’s academic suspension was short-lived.

Washington’s suspension review committee saw a “hole in the assistant coach’s story” and noted that Westbrook contradicted reports by the referee, deputy sheriff, a security guard, a Tulsa World reporter and a coach from a third school.

Tulsa Washington's Mark Brown (21) shoots over Tulsa Memorial's Lamont George in the second half of the Class 6A state semifinals. Memorial won at the buzzer, 53-51, March 14 at the University of Oklahoma's Lloyd Noble Center. Brown averaged 12 points a game as a senior.

Brown was reinstated as a student Sept. 11, but his athletic suspension was still in place.

He wasn’t about to give up his senior year, or his college dreams, without a fight. Brown filed suit Oct. 25 in Tulsa County District Court, seeking an injunction that would allow him to rejoin the Hornets football team.

“It made him sad a lot of times,” his mother, Renee Brinkley, said. “His friends were out there playing, and he knew he should be out there, too.”

By the time his hearing — which had been moved to federal court at the school district’s request — started Nov. 26, the football season was winding down.

U.S. District Judge Sven Erik Holmes criticized Tulsa Public Schools for failing to follow its own rules in Brown’s case, specifically in failing to involve Washington’s principal in its investigation.

Brown’s case was scheduled to continue Dec. 6 — one day before Washington was to meet Guthrie in the Class 5A state championship game. But Brown and Tulsa Public Schools settled the case Dec. 5.

Brown wasn’t allowed to play in the football title game, but he was cleared to play basketball.

“It felt real good,” Brown said. “I cried that day. It was so emotional. I didn’t get to show my skills in football, but now they were going to let me play basketball.”

As part of his settlement, Brown had to write a letter of apology to Westbrook, who claimed Brown struck him during the sideline brawl.

The coach faced no disciplinary action.

“It’s something that got out of hand that should have been dealt with a lot better,” Brown said. “It was something that went way out of proportion. I just wished I’d never been in that situation.

“I think people think that I have a bad attitude, but I’m not like that. I’m a good kid.”

Staying focused

During his suspension, Brown wasn’t allowed to practice with the Hornets. Instead, he lifted weights and trained on his own, hoping he would be able to play again someday.

“A lot of people thought I was going to fall off and get into bad things and do bad things,” said Brown, who watched all of Washington’s football games from the stands. “It didn’t happen like that. I stayed focused. I kept my grades up. I was working out. I was trying to get back on the football team. I didn’t let anything get me down.”

Washington did fine without Brown. The Hornets cruised through the regular season and playoffs and were 13-0 before suffering a 16-13 loss to Guthrie in the state final.

Guthrie scored both of its touchdowns on pass plays, and Jimmerson couldn’t help but wonder what might have been.

“He definitely would have made a difference,” Jimmerson said of Brown. “He was the missing ingredient at corner. He’s the kind of cornerback that can shut down a team’s best receiver. We could trust that he’d never let his man get open. He was definitely missed.”

Brown wasn’t able to play in the state football playoffs. The state basketball tournament was another matter.

Final season

Brown had averaged 10.4 points per game as a junior when the Hornets were undefeated state champions, and he was eager to return to the court.

Coach Nate Harris, who had seen athletes such as Wayman Tisdale, Ryan Humphries, R.W. McQuarters and Aaron and Kevin Lockett pass through Washington’s football and basketball programs in his 20 years there, was eager to see Brown suit up as well.

“I’ve had some good ones,” Harris said. “I’ve had some great ones, and he’s certainly up there with those kids.”

Though the suspension didn’t hurt Harris’ program, he was furious about the way it was handled.

“He should have played football,” Harris said. “That’s the bottom line. That’s all there is to it. No discipline should have been given to him at all.”

Instead, Brown spent the basketball season under close scrutiny. As part of the settlement with Tulsa Public Schools, he had to meet restrictions on his grades, attendance and behavior. One technical foul would have ended his season.

Brinkley scoffed at those guidelines, saying her son carried a 3.0 grade-point average.

Harris said he had no discipline problems with Brown during the swingman’s four years in the program.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “They hurt him. It’s a shame.”

Brown said nothing could make up for losing his senior year of football. That doesn’t mean he didn’t try.

Brown led a balanced Hornets’ offense with an average of 12 points per game. He also averaged five rebounds, two steals and one assist while making 40 percent of his three-point shots for Washington, which finished 23-4.

Brown scored 25 points in the state semifinals, but the Hornets lost to eventual state champion Tulsa Memorial High on a last-second shot.

“He worked very hard, extremely hard,” Harris said. “We never had to ask him to put out. We never had to get on him about his work ethic.”

A clear choice

Once Brown’s name was cleared, many of the same colleges that had abandoned the cornerback started calling and writing again.

Brown wasn’t interested.

“KU was my No. 1 choice,” he said. “My mind was set. I already had my mind made up that I was going to KU. Those other schools had put me on the back burner. I want to come to KU and make something happen.”

That didn’t stop many recruiters from trying. After all, why would a blue-chip prospect want to play for KU — which had just finished a 2-10 season — when he could play for a perennial bowl team such as Oklahoma or Colorado?

“A lot of people got in on him late and wanted him to come,” Jimmerson said. “Bill Young did a great job recruiting him and staying in touch with him. He didn’t want to go anywhere else.

“They’re getting a great kid. He’s going to go in there strong and with a good work ethic and a great attitude.”

Brown and his family visited KU in late January, and Brown’s mind was made up.

But OU coach Bob Stoops called one day and talked to Brinkley while Brown was out of the house. Brinkley scheduled a visit to Norman for her son.

Big mistake, mom.

“He said, ‘I don’t want to go to OU. I know where I’m going,'” Brinkley said. “I told him it wouldn’t hurt to visit. We wanted him to go to Kansas, but we wanted it to be his decision. He said, ‘I don’t want to. KU stood by my side, and that’s where I’m going.’ They were relentless. They never stopped at all.”

Brown canceled the campus visit to OU and another one to Colorado and signed a letter of intent with Kansas Feb. 5 in an emotional ceremony at Washington.

“He shed a whole lot of tears,” Brinkley said. “Mark doesn’t usually wear a baseball cap, but he did that day. He kept putting his head down, and I saw him rub his eyes. I thought his allergies were acting up. He was absolutely overwhelmed. He cried like a baby.”

Brown said he “proved a lot of people wrong” that day. He hopes he can reward KU’s coaches for their loyalty. While some schools shied away from the controversy, Kansas never wavered.

“Bill Young did an excellent job of turning over every stone related to Mark Brown,” KU coach Mark Mangino said. “My conclusion is that he paid his debt. Nobody had anything bad to say about him. We had to fight off some pretty strong schools the last weekend to hold on to his commitment. I’m pleased with Mark Brown. If I didn’t think he’d fit in here, I wouldn’t have taken him. He’s a good young man that needs a chance.”

Second chance

Brown will graduate Thursday from Washington High. He hopes to spend his summer in Lawrence so he can work out with the Jayhawks.

If he’s one of those rare freshman ready to play in the season-opener Aug. 30 against Northwestern, it will be his first chance to participate in organized football in more than a year.

“He’s working real hard,” Jimmerson said. “He’s real motivated. In fact, he works out at 7 a.m. He’s excited about going to KU and getting a second chance.

“It’s helped him a lot. He’s grown up. He realizes he has another opportunity. He’s excited. We know everything is going to work out for him.”

Harris said people in Lawrence should have no reservations about embracing the freshman defensive back, and he hoped his success at KU proves people wrong in Tulsa.

“When they see Mark Brown the person, Mark Brown the kid, Mark Brown the student, he’s going to make an awful lot of adults look bad,” Harris said.

Brown just wants to play — badly. But he’ll sit out another year if KU coaches decide to red-shirt him.

“They don’t have a cornerback with Mark’s size and speed, so we’re confident he’ll get to play,” Brinkley said. “If he doesn’t get to play, it won’t be like last time when he was being disciplined for something he didn’t do.”