Temple University Athletics
Jake Brownell
Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University
Jake Brownell Blog: Dec. 15
12.15.09 | Football, Owl Bowl
Persisting through Adversity
Senior kicker Jake Brownell (Thorofare, N.J.) is concluding his career at Temple University. Over the next two weeks, members of the Senior Class will share their thoughts as their final season of wearing the Cherry & White winds down and they gear up for their first bowl appearance.
December 15, 2009
Persisting through Adversity - Success is Measured in Many Different Ways
My story as a Temple Owl travels back over five years ago-- not at Temple, but rather at another institution that Temple University Football has been familiar with over the last few seasons, the United States Naval Academy.
After arriving in Annapolis during the grueling hot summer months two weeks after I graduated high school, I entered into perhaps what is considered the most challenging 12 weeks of anyone's life, “Plebe Summer.” Plebe Summer is a physical and mental demanding boot camp-style orientation that transforms incoming 'civilians' into men and women of distinguished traits that embody a naval officer.
As a scholarship football player, I had great support and encouragement from the football staff to 'stick it through' and finish Plebe Summer. Even though the 12 weeks seemed like an eternity, I had successfully completed a seemingly impossible journey and found out that the limits of possibilities can continually transcend our personal perceptions and abilities of oneself.
After Plebe Summer, I was a certified sailor and had acquired basic skills in seamanship, navigation, and signaling. I had earned a 'sharp shooter' and 'expert' ranking in the infantry realm, shooting both a 9 mm pistol and an M-16 rifle. I had taken classes on integrity, honor, and character. I had completed obstacle courses that were a hundred feet off the ground in trees!
Ultimately, I was taught that whatever adverse conditions, circumstances, and physical duress one could be put through, you can not only raise yourself to meet them but also temper one's mind, body, and spirit to a toughness that would last a lifetime. Even though I felt a tremendous amount of pride and confidence course through my veins, I still felt that there was something missing in my life. I felt empty in my most inner core.
After a difficult time explaining to my football coaches that my heart was not committed to the Naval Academy, I left one of the greatest opportunities a high school student-athlete could ever wrap their dreams around. As I went through countless interviews through the dismissal process, the Commandant of Midshipmen asked me a simple question: “What are you going to do with your life?” That question and interview lurks and resonates in the back of my mind still to this day. I replied that I was going to go to Temple University and pursue my dream of becoming a doctor.
I arrived on Temple's campus on September 5, 2005, the last possible day to register and become officially accepted, and had my head spinning in a million different directions. I was leaving a family legacy behind and venturing into a path of uncertainty. Having been recruited and given a scholarship by Temple football's previous staff when I was a junior in high school, I was ready to start my life over and never felt so determined in my entire life. When the coaches were dismissed at the end of a winless season in 2005, I felt that maybe I made the wrong decision. However, that all changed when new head coach Al Golden stepped in to Philadelphia with a vision and a plan.
Throughout the last four years, I have not only seen a substantial growth in football statistics and the scoreboard, but more importantly have seen a growth in the type of men our program has been producing. It has taken a special group of guys to endure the ups and downs throughout the last few seasons and a persistent determination to continue to do the right things on and off the field so that when our time comes, we will be ready. This time is now. It is this season!
As the seniors have alluded to in past blogs, our first few seasons were not the type of win/loss ratio we had hoped for. However, as our team full-heartedly trusted the coaches and their vision, even though at times we weren't able to see it yet, we embraced exclusively into the program and have yet to look back. Winning nine games in a row has been a lifting experience that has not come too soon.
A special moment for me this year was the win against the Naval Academy with a thrilling end of the game touchdown. Here I am four years later, standing on the Navy-Marine Crops field but this time wearing cherry and white. I had symbolically traveled full circle as our senior class took our picture on the sidelines after the victory. It was a rewarding and fulfilling time, a prophetic moment where it was explicit evidence that God has led me in the right direction. Temple University and Temple Football was and is the place I should be!
This is the first time I have publicly shared my experience at the Naval Academy and feel it is the right time as a Temple graduate of both academics and football. As the season concludes with one final game, I feel enormously blessed to have been a Temple Owl in one of the greatest turn-arounds in college sports history.
As a Temple graduate with a B.A. in biology in Temple's Honors Program, a three-year starter, and a man who knows how to win on and off the field, I know that my decision five years ago was the best decision of my life. As I conclude my first semester as a graduate student in Religion with the expectations of a 4.0, I am excited to implement and utilize this all-encompassing foundation I have received at Temple to my dream I set out five years ago in the Commandant's office; to become a doctor.
Being a devoted member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) has been one of the greatest rewards as a Temple Owl. FCA has served as an efficacious vehicle to not only strengthen my faith, but to reach out to the local community and make a difference in young athletes' lives. Terry Hill, Temple Football's Chaplain and Multi-Area Director of the Greater Philadelphia for the FCA, has been a great supporter of our program and has greatly influenced me to continually challenge myself to stay true to my morals and live a life with purpose. I would encourage all current and future athletes at Temple University to be a member of the FCA. I really believe it will make a big difference in your lives.
Coach Golden has demanded elite excellence as a student, an athlete, a volunteer in the community, and as a man. There is a winning formula here that the senior class has embraced from Coach Golden and cultivated as our own. Coach Golden has left an indelible mark on all of the seniors. I am confident in saying that each of us is fully equipped and prepared with the adequate tools to tackle any form of adversity as we venture out in the real world. Whether it is the NFL or becoming a business man, the senior Temple class will excel and make Temple University extremely proud. This 'winning formula' that Coach Golden has brewed will never falter or subside, but will remain in each of our hearts and souls forever! I know this formula will not only resonate, but will flourish and grow as the next senior class continues a new standard of excellence here at Temple University.
Where to go from here? This is not the end for the “First Class” of seniors, but instead is a promising beginning to the next chapter of our lives. We truly understand what it means to be winners in life. In the words of Winston Churchill, "Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm,” and that is just what this senior class did. I will forever bleed cherry and white and cannot wait to step on that field for our last game in the EagleBank Bowl game.
I would like to sincerely thank my mom and dad for helping me grow into the man I am today and for never letting me settle for mediocrity. I would like to thank my brother and sister for all their love and support. I would also like to thank all of my friends, teachers, and coaches that have been a part of my life. Last but not least, I would like to thank my girlfriend Michelina Hobbie for putting up with me over these past three years and for all her love and support. I hope to see all of our fans and supporters down in Washington, D.C., on December 29th and for the Temple Owl family to have an unforgettable experience at the bowl game. GO OWLS!
- Jake Brownell
December 15, 2009
Persisting through Adversity - Success is Measured in Many Different Ways
My story as a Temple Owl travels back over five years ago-- not at Temple, but rather at another institution that Temple University Football has been familiar with over the last few seasons, the United States Naval Academy.
After arriving in Annapolis during the grueling hot summer months two weeks after I graduated high school, I entered into perhaps what is considered the most challenging 12 weeks of anyone's life, “Plebe Summer.” Plebe Summer is a physical and mental demanding boot camp-style orientation that transforms incoming 'civilians' into men and women of distinguished traits that embody a naval officer.
As a scholarship football player, I had great support and encouragement from the football staff to 'stick it through' and finish Plebe Summer. Even though the 12 weeks seemed like an eternity, I had successfully completed a seemingly impossible journey and found out that the limits of possibilities can continually transcend our personal perceptions and abilities of oneself.
After Plebe Summer, I was a certified sailor and had acquired basic skills in seamanship, navigation, and signaling. I had earned a 'sharp shooter' and 'expert' ranking in the infantry realm, shooting both a 9 mm pistol and an M-16 rifle. I had taken classes on integrity, honor, and character. I had completed obstacle courses that were a hundred feet off the ground in trees!
Ultimately, I was taught that whatever adverse conditions, circumstances, and physical duress one could be put through, you can not only raise yourself to meet them but also temper one's mind, body, and spirit to a toughness that would last a lifetime. Even though I felt a tremendous amount of pride and confidence course through my veins, I still felt that there was something missing in my life. I felt empty in my most inner core.
After a difficult time explaining to my football coaches that my heart was not committed to the Naval Academy, I left one of the greatest opportunities a high school student-athlete could ever wrap their dreams around. As I went through countless interviews through the dismissal process, the Commandant of Midshipmen asked me a simple question: “What are you going to do with your life?” That question and interview lurks and resonates in the back of my mind still to this day. I replied that I was going to go to Temple University and pursue my dream of becoming a doctor.
I arrived on Temple's campus on September 5, 2005, the last possible day to register and become officially accepted, and had my head spinning in a million different directions. I was leaving a family legacy behind and venturing into a path of uncertainty. Having been recruited and given a scholarship by Temple football's previous staff when I was a junior in high school, I was ready to start my life over and never felt so determined in my entire life. When the coaches were dismissed at the end of a winless season in 2005, I felt that maybe I made the wrong decision. However, that all changed when new head coach Al Golden stepped in to Philadelphia with a vision and a plan.
Throughout the last four years, I have not only seen a substantial growth in football statistics and the scoreboard, but more importantly have seen a growth in the type of men our program has been producing. It has taken a special group of guys to endure the ups and downs throughout the last few seasons and a persistent determination to continue to do the right things on and off the field so that when our time comes, we will be ready. This time is now. It is this season!
As the seniors have alluded to in past blogs, our first few seasons were not the type of win/loss ratio we had hoped for. However, as our team full-heartedly trusted the coaches and their vision, even though at times we weren't able to see it yet, we embraced exclusively into the program and have yet to look back. Winning nine games in a row has been a lifting experience that has not come too soon.
A special moment for me this year was the win against the Naval Academy with a thrilling end of the game touchdown. Here I am four years later, standing on the Navy-Marine Crops field but this time wearing cherry and white. I had symbolically traveled full circle as our senior class took our picture on the sidelines after the victory. It was a rewarding and fulfilling time, a prophetic moment where it was explicit evidence that God has led me in the right direction. Temple University and Temple Football was and is the place I should be!
This is the first time I have publicly shared my experience at the Naval Academy and feel it is the right time as a Temple graduate of both academics and football. As the season concludes with one final game, I feel enormously blessed to have been a Temple Owl in one of the greatest turn-arounds in college sports history.
As a Temple graduate with a B.A. in biology in Temple's Honors Program, a three-year starter, and a man who knows how to win on and off the field, I know that my decision five years ago was the best decision of my life. As I conclude my first semester as a graduate student in Religion with the expectations of a 4.0, I am excited to implement and utilize this all-encompassing foundation I have received at Temple to my dream I set out five years ago in the Commandant's office; to become a doctor.
Being a devoted member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) has been one of the greatest rewards as a Temple Owl. FCA has served as an efficacious vehicle to not only strengthen my faith, but to reach out to the local community and make a difference in young athletes' lives. Terry Hill, Temple Football's Chaplain and Multi-Area Director of the Greater Philadelphia for the FCA, has been a great supporter of our program and has greatly influenced me to continually challenge myself to stay true to my morals and live a life with purpose. I would encourage all current and future athletes at Temple University to be a member of the FCA. I really believe it will make a big difference in your lives.
Coach Golden has demanded elite excellence as a student, an athlete, a volunteer in the community, and as a man. There is a winning formula here that the senior class has embraced from Coach Golden and cultivated as our own. Coach Golden has left an indelible mark on all of the seniors. I am confident in saying that each of us is fully equipped and prepared with the adequate tools to tackle any form of adversity as we venture out in the real world. Whether it is the NFL or becoming a business man, the senior Temple class will excel and make Temple University extremely proud. This 'winning formula' that Coach Golden has brewed will never falter or subside, but will remain in each of our hearts and souls forever! I know this formula will not only resonate, but will flourish and grow as the next senior class continues a new standard of excellence here at Temple University.
Where to go from here? This is not the end for the “First Class” of seniors, but instead is a promising beginning to the next chapter of our lives. We truly understand what it means to be winners in life. In the words of Winston Churchill, "Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm,” and that is just what this senior class did. I will forever bleed cherry and white and cannot wait to step on that field for our last game in the EagleBank Bowl game.
I would like to sincerely thank my mom and dad for helping me grow into the man I am today and for never letting me settle for mediocrity. I would like to thank my brother and sister for all their love and support. I would also like to thank all of my friends, teachers, and coaches that have been a part of my life. Last but not least, I would like to thank my girlfriend Michelina Hobbie for putting up with me over these past three years and for all her love and support. I hope to see all of our fans and supporters down in Washington, D.C., on December 29th and for the Temple Owl family to have an unforgettable experience at the bowl game. GO OWLS!
- Jake Brownell
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