UNDERDOG: The Daniel Brown Chronicles, Week 1

“I belong.

I can make a career out of playing Tight End in this league.

I mean, I rarely dream about anything. When I sleep, it’s just a midnight sky. Maybe I don’t have a good imagination.

But I do have goals.

I have a goal of starting where I left off at OTAs. I want to keep building on that progress. I exceeded my own expectations on run blocking then.

Passing has been natural for me my whole life.

But I want to continue to build on the run game.

I’m going to Baltimore today, getting there early to get my mind right. We don’t have to report until Wednesday.

We finished OTA’s and there’s this kind of vacation period for us, a not-so-vacation vacation; we have to stay in shape for five weeks and come back ready to go.

It’s time off but it’s responsible time off. You’ve gotta keep working.

I just want to get ready before reporting to the team hotel. Maybe relax a little. The hotel, it’s not your own place…but it’s kind of nice. Hey, someone cleans your room.

I even have a plan for the drive up, in case I get pulled by a police officer. It depends on the area I’m in, I’ll tell them where I’m going. If I’m in Baltimore, I’ll tell them. I wouldn’t want to use that card, but if you get pulled, you’ve got to use whatever ‘card’ is available.

Training Camp’s first week is probably physically the worst. You’re in pads, in the sun. After the first week, it gets mental. The days are long, it’s kind of the same thing every day, even after practice you’re in meetings until nighttime. And then straight to bed, up early in the morning, doing the same thing every day.

Then after three or four weeks, you’re just tired of going against your teammates every day. You’re getting towards the season where you’d rather see new faces every week, some things get testy, tempers flaring high.

It’s a grind, physically and mentally.

It’s something to be prepared for. And I have worked hard to be.

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That’s part of what I would tell rookies or UDFA’s coming in. If I ever saw any of them struggling, I would probably just try to remind them that they are here for a reason. This isn’t a league that just gives slapjobs a chance, they are here for a reason. They wouldn’t be in the organization if nobody thought they could play.

The biggest thing is, not to get overwhelmed and just trust why you are where you’re at.

I have a never-back-down, never-quit mentality. I came from a small, private school and walked on to a 1-AA school. And then didn’t get a whole lot of looks out of college until I did the tryout with the Ravens. Pretty much any obstacle that’s been put in my way, I’ve pretty much conquered. My work ethic is my biggest asset.

I will be focused on this come Camp time.

Sure, there’s the sideshow.

I can envision myself scoring, and acting as if I’m pinning on a rose from the Bachelorette rose ceremony on my jersey.

I certainly would love it if JoJo was watching. But I doubt she will. I would love it if she did, though.

But I’m really just focused on getting my mind right for Thursday.

When I made this switch to Tight End, it was for a reason. It wasn’t random.

I’m setting out to prove that I can play Tight End in this league.”

UNDERDOG: The Daniel Brown Chronicles is an exclusive COVER32/Ravens journey into 2016 Ravens Training Camp through the eyes of Daniel Brown, a 2nd year WR-to-TE convert. Check back each Wednesday for a new entry, from now until the season begins.

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