When he first started playing football, Jason Brown saw it as a business decision. He wanted to get a scholarship to college so that he would not be a financial burden for his parents.
Brown received a full ride to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he excelled on the football field. He got drafted to the Baltimore Ravens and later played for the St. Louis Rams. Brown played professionally for seven seasons and was well poised to continue playing and padding his bank account.
But on his 27th birthday, something snapped. Several years earlier his 27-year-old brother was killed serving in the military in Iraq, and as Brown reflected on the beginning of his 27th year, he felt disappointed in himself. He did not think his football career amounted to anything when compared to his brother’s sacrifice.
Two years later, Brown hung up his pads and bought 1,000 acres of land in Franklin County, where he opened a farm that grows crops to give away. Host Frank Stasio talks to Jason Brown about First Fruits Farm, and why he left football for a farm field.
