Chad Brown needed to vent and explain and share his perspective in a platform beyond social media.

Last Sunday, the mass public debated Tom Brady’s comments on football devolving into mediocrity with Alex Smith as the tip of the spear. And, out of the blue, I received a text. The longtime NFL linebacker Brown wanted to chat about this all. It’s hard to imagine a more qualified voice. Out of Colorado, in ‘93, Brown immediately joined the bloodthirsty “Blitzburgh” gang in Pittsburgh — Brown previously shared stories from those days with us for this piece on The Steelers Linebacker.

His career lasted 15 seasons and 188 games, from 1993 to 2007. Brown totaled 79 sacks and 17 forced fumbles, earning three Pro Bowl bids. He also finished fourth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting in 1996.

After that run alongside Greg Lloyd, Kevin Greene and co. in Pittsburgh, Brown played for the Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots and the Steelers again.

But his perspective stretches beyond his career as a player. Brown has been inside the league offices. Brown has worked with modern coaching staffs. He’s familiar with every side of this debate and, these days, works in sports media. There’s a good chance you’ve heard Brown on the national radio airwaves.

What’s the future of football? He’s got a lot to say.

Man, I loved this conversation.

Audio is above. Video is below. You can also access the Go Long Podcast on Apple, Spotify and everywhere you get your pods.

Also, I’ll share the written Q&A of our conversation later today.

Go Long covers pro football through a longform lens.

Our aim? To lift up the curtain on how this sport truly works.

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