This thing we enjoy called sports can make you cynical and beat the joy out of you in a hurry, if you let it. You don’t have to look far to find a wide variety of jerks, crooks and assorted scumbags who are the farthest thing from role models you can imagine.

But then you come across people who do it the right way, who walk the hard and winding road to success, and your faith in humanity is restored. People like Ben Brown and Nick Anderson.

Here in Warren County, we’ve known them for a long time. Brown played high school football at St. Aloysius and Anderson at Vicksburg High, and they went to be stars at Ole Miss and Tulane, respectively.
Now, other people are starting to find out about them.

Brown was signed by the New England Patriots off the Las Vegas Raiders practice squad three weeks ago, was thrown into the fire as the starting center, and immediately locked down the job.

Brown has quickly become a sensation and a fan favorite in New England. It might be because the Patriots are 1-6 and right now anyone who plays well for them is celebrated. Or it could be because he’s a good and humble person with an interesting back story — he was an undrafted free agent, the Patriots are his fifth team in three seasons, and he’s making the most of his big break after hanging in against the odds. He’s a guy who is easy to root for.

Anderson has had a similar journey. He signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2023, was cut at the end of training camp, and sat out that entire season hoping for an NFL contract offer. None came, so he headed north to play in the Canadian Football League with the Edmonton Elks.

Heading into Friday’s regular-season finale, Anderson was leading the CFL with 106 total tackles and is a top contender for the league’s Most Outstanding Rookie award.

Like Brown in New England, Anderson’s performance and positive attitude have made him a popular player in Edmonton. Anderson has always embraced things like doing commercials and community outreach events, not just to build his brand but because he’s keenly aware of his status as a public figure and the platform it can provide to do good work beyond football.

Anderson won several awards for his community work at Tulane, and was a fan favorite during his brief time with the Saints.

“I’m always available. Anything they need from me, whether it’s in the community or with the media, I always try to make myself bigger than just being a football player,” Anderson said last week, when he returned to Vicksburg during the Elks’ bye week. “I try to just be a good person who has that character everybody wants to depend on. That’s been my role.”

Ben Brown and Nick Anderson have both had moments where it looked like the pro football career they’ve dreamed of all their lives were over before it started, and then pulled themselves up to keep going. Both are now enjoying the benefits of perseverance.

Knowing them like we do here in Vicksburg, it’s not hard to cheer on their success as hometown boys who made it. More than that, though, they are two guys we can definitely be proud to root for and claim as our own because of how they made it and how they carry themselves off the field.

Here’s hoping this is just the start of a great chapter in both of their stories.

•

Ernest Bowker is the sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com