A Man With Designs : Brown Believes CSUN’s Tailback Job Is Tailor-Made for Him

Richard Brown believes a person ought to have style on and off the football field. So when the Cal State Northridge tailback isn’t slicing through the line like George Rogers, he designs clothes like Giorgio Armani.

“There’s a lot of patterns you can’t buy in the store,” Brown said one day recently before practice. “I try to be stylish. Original.”

Brown, whose mother is a seamstress, said he began designing and manufacturing shorts and baggy trousers as a sophomore at Loyola High.

“My family wasn’t in a situation where I could buy the kinds of things I wanted,” said Brown, who is one of eight children. “At one point, my mother was making us clothes. But I guess she just got fed up. She said, ‘If you want something, you’ll make it yourself.’ Then, she taught us how to sew.”

Brown didn’t know it then, but the patience he learned sitting at the sewing machine would come in handy in college.

An explosive runner with great open-field moves, Brown had the misfortune of arriving on campus a year after Mike Kane, who would go on to become the school’s all-time leading rusher.

Brown, a muscular 5-11, 190 pounds, spent his freshman year at fullback, blocking for Kane while the Matadors operated out of the I-formation.

In his sophomore year, the CSUN coaching staff installed a run-and-shoot offense and moved Brown to wingback where he caught 47 passes and scored four touchdowns.

Last season, under new Coach Bob Burt, the Matadors went back to the I-formation and Brown became Kane’s backup.

“I’ve made a lot of transitions since I’ve been here,” Brown said. “Coaches like to see a player that can deal with adversity. A player that realizes his shot may not come until later. When it comes, you do what you can do.”

During the spring, Brown worked as the team’s No. 1 tailback and began to exhibit the speed, elusiveness and strength that he said had eroded because of all the position switches he made in the previous three years.

But spring workouts for Brown ended abruptly when he contracted chicken pox.

Brown came back stronger for fall workouts and seemed to be leading freshman Albert Fann and sophomore Lance Harper in the battle to start in CSUN’s season opener Sept. 12 at Boise State. Two weeks ago, however, he again was slowed when he sprained his right ankle.

“Richard has had a chance to reach his potential, but he’s been dinged up a little bit,” Burt said. “He’s got to come to the forefront, take charge and show what he can do. He has an awful lot of untapped ability at this point.”

Brown agrees. Thus far, his career at CSUN has been marked by two noteworthy plays--one he’d like to remember, the other he has tried to forget.

Brown was a sophomore the day he darted and dashed his way into the Cal State Northridge record book with a 99-yard kickoff return against St. Mary’s in 1985.

That same year against Santa Clara, Brown was stopped short of the goal line on a two-point conversion attempt, preserving a 21-19 victory for Santa Clara. David Cichoke, a linebacker who had tried to tackle Brown, died of a brain hemorrhage 36 hours after the game.

Initially, Brown felt he was somehow responsible for Cichoke’s death. Game films revealed, however, that Cichoke never made contact with Brown. But the memory of Cichoke’s death left Brown timid for a time.

“For the latter part of that season, I dealt with it a lot because reporters were asking me how I felt . . . so it was hard to get out of my mind,” Brown said. “I’ve tried to not let it affect me because looking at the films I can see it wasn’t caused by us colliding.

“It’s just been a matter of dealing with it and letting it go. I’m sorry it happened, but I’ve moved on.”

Brown predicts a big season for the Matadors and for himself. He feels the team is capable of winning the Western Football Conference and that he can rush for 2,000 yards if he stays healthy.

“My ability hasn’t been lost; it’s just been stuck in the closet for a little while,” Brown said. “Now, it’s my turn to come out and let the university and fans know what I’m all about.

“It may come slowly, but it’s going to be there. When it does come, all I can say is, ‘Watch out.’ ”