After being waived eight times by five different teams since 2010, Andre Brown has become an expert on the cruelty of NFL transactions and cutdown day.
"A bad expert," he said today.
But Brown believes tomorrow will be different. He is confident his impressive performance last night against the New England Patriots and work throughout training camp and the preseason has earned him a spot on the Giants' roster entering the regular season. He and everyone else in his position will learn their fate tomorrow, when all NFL teams must pare their rosters from 75 to 53 players by 9 p.m.
"I feel more comfortable," Brown said. "I feel that other than the one fumble that I had, I feel as though I put a solid game together. I'm sure I'm capable of playing in the league. I know I'm going to be here or if it's not here, I'm going to be somewhere and I know that I still believe that it's going to be my year."
Last night was his night. He led the Giants in rushing with 55 yards on 14 carries in a 6-3 victory over the Patriots. Brown also caught two passes for 13 yards. He did fumble once, on the Giants' nine-yard line in the fourth quarter. Bear Pascoe recovered for the Giants, who soon punted.
"I only had one bad play and that was the fumble," Brown said. "I was thinking about the distance and I've got to remind myself to hold it up tight and keep going. I dropped it. I was about to shift in there and I saw that hole outside and I was like, 'Oh my goodness. This can be it, the big run we were looking for.' I'll continue to keep working on keeping the ball high and tight and ready to go."
Brown finished second on the Giants with 94 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries. But Brown knows numbers alone guarantee him nothing. He led the Giants in rushing yards in the 2010 preseason and was waived in final cutdown. That season, Brown was with Denver, Indianapolis, Carolina and Washington and each team waived him. Last year, he re-joined the Giants, who selected him on the fourth round of the NFL draft in 2009, when he spent the season on injured reserve after rupturing his Achilles tendon. But he was released again and spent the season on the practice squad.
Ahmad Bradshaw and rookie David Wilson are locks to make the roster, so Brown is competing with D.J. Ware and Da'Rel Scott for a roster spot.
"I feel very good with my ability and that I came out there and I produced what I did," Brown said. "I was out there on special teams. I did pretty good there. On offense, I picked up my blocks. I was solid in my protection and I feel as though I put my best foot forward and I put in a good solid resume."
Will it be enough? Brown will find out tomorrow. No news is good news, so if he doesn't get called in, he'll return to the Timex Performance Center on Saturday to begin preparations for the regular season opener.
"I'll probably go watch a movie or something," Brown said. "I'm going to be looking at the phone and just hope and pray that I'm coming in here and getting ready for Dallas
