By DAN HOEHNE
daniel.hoehne@newssun.com
AVON PARK - He had plenty of choices, Red Devil three-sport standout Dylan Brown.
Some of those choices even included the chance to continue in two of those sports.
But while deciding between offers from the likes Augustana in South Dakota, Minot State in North Dakota and Southeast Louisiana, Brown opted for Walsh University.
"The biggest thing is that they had the best financial package," he said. "That would provide the best situation for me and my family."
Which is, of course, a big consideration.
But for a high school football player looking for a place to play, it is sure hard to argue with a university in Canton, Ohio.
A university whose football team plays its' home games on the official field of the NFL Hall of Fame.
"Today is the culmination of a lifelong dream for him," Brown's father Mike said. "He's worked tirelessly for this, put in all the extra hours, even beyond practice, not to mention maintaining a 3.5 GPA."
Heady stuff indeed, and all that hard work helped pave the way to a fifth-place finish on the medal stand at least year's State Wrestling Final.
But with the focus now on football, Brown will be working hard toward getting ready.
"From now until I head up there, I'll be getting in better shape, getting bigger, faster, stronger," he said. "I want to gain 30 pounds or so of muscle, and without having to worry about cutting weight for wrestling, and a with a few buffet lines, I'll be able to put it on."
For the Cavaliers, that weight will be needed as Brown will be playing noseguard in the trenches of the defensive line, up against Division II college competition.
And he'll be learning under a new head coach with both a distinguished track record and a last name legendary in NFL circles.
That coach is Ted Karras Jr., who most recently finished a seven-year tenure at Marian University with the school's first-ever NAIA National Championship and marked the team's fifth winning season in six years.
The name Karras also brings to mind Alex Karras, the long-time enforcer for the Detroit Lions, who is an uncle, while father Ted Karras Sr. also spent some time in the NFL, with the Chicago Bears during the era Mike Ditka's playing days.
Walsh plays in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference South Division.
And while football will be a primary focus, as Brown has shown, his growth in the classroom won't fall behind as he plans to pursue a degree in Business.
"I'm excited to experience the college life," he said. "It might be hard, in some ways, to be leaving home and being so far away. But it's the next step. I see this as a chance to meet new people and become my own man."
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 - www.newssun.com/WED-2-13-13-DylanBrown