Bridgette Brown - Part 2

A couple years ago I met Bridgette Brown at Starbucks for an interview in anticipation of doing a featured player article about her for the Outlaws website.  Lots of things changed after the interview so the profile never got written, much less published.   She impressed me by her unassuming quiet manner.  Even at the young age of twenty-five she had experienced more than her fair share of difficult times in her life.  Her dealing with personal challenges reveal an internal strength and character that won both my admiration and respect.

Her mild manner in the coffee shop belied her ferocity on the football field.  I had first noticed her when I saw opponent runners suddenly stopped and dropped when they had the misfortune of encountering Bridgette. 

This is becoming a photo blog.  I want to write a profile on Bridgette but a whole lot of her story comes through in photographs.  I posted some shots Friday.  Today some more.

If you have the football, chances are you'll be meeting Bridgette.
She ranges all over the field, making open field tackles...

It takes something special for a large (210 pound) tackler like
Bridgette to run down and grab a smaller, presumably quicker
ball carrier.  But she does it over and over and over.

And when she catches the runner, the runner is going to go down.

If Bridgette gets to the runner first, she probably won't need help.

But if it a gang tackle, she's more than willing to be in the center
of things, sometimes sacrificing herself by pulling the runner
down on top of her.

Blocker in the way?  No problem.  Just run over her.

And another runner hits the earth.

In still photos it is difficult to portray just how much strength
is being employed in making tackles on the field...  But let's
try.  This photo is the first of two.  Check out the second...

Bridgette's tackle lifts the runner off the ground (before putting her on the ground). 
Note both of the runner's feet are in the air.

This is a different runner, a different tackle.  Notice again, even more clearly, the runner is airborne -
briefly.  She's about to collide with the ground.  Once Bridgette gets hold of  you, you are going down.

Is this the quiet shy young woman I interviewed in Starbucks that day?

So quiet in the coffee shop, so fierce on the football field.  Such a devastating tackler.  In the earlier posting about Bridgette, the final photo is her helping another runner go airborne before going down.  Bridgette is powerful.  Bridgette works hard, covering the entire field, the open areas and the trenches. 

If I started a football team Bridgette would be in my starting lineup.