Two former Bulldogs, D.J. Shockley and Thomas Brown, know their roles with the Atlanta Falcons

June 27, 10:45 AMAtlanta Falcons ExaminerDaniel Cox

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D.J. Shockley at May's minicamp, photo courtesy of Greg Martin

Every professional athlete's worst fear is an injury.

In the NFL your next hit could be your last. The game is a violent one and while it's rare a hit is delivered with the intent of ending a career, the sheer ferocity of it can.

Injuries are all too common in sports and they're one of the many things the Atlanta Falcons' D.J. Shockley and Thomas Brown have in common.

They're both Georgia natives, earning scholarships to the University of Georgia after prep stardom.

And after finishing standout college careers as Bulldogs, they were drafted by their hometown Atlanta Falcons.

They've also both experienced the agony of laying on a football field, knowing your season is over and possibly your career.

After spending his 2006 rookie season as the third-string quarterback, Shockley was part of an open competition in 2007 with the Falcons, following the suspension of former quarterback Michael Vick.

His play in the '07 preseason was encouraging before a fourth-quarter scramble against the Buffalo Bills found the seventh-round draft choice on the ground and ultimately carted off the field.

"I had made that cut probably 40 or 50 times in my life and never thought anything of it," Shockley told the Associated Press following the injury. "At that particular moment, I felt it as soon as I made the cut. Once I hit the ground, I knew I wasn't getting up. I knew the situation was going to be worse than I ever could have imagined."

Few thought he'd be able to beat veterans Joey Harrington and Chris Redman for the leading role, but looking back at how the season progressed, the College Park, Georgia native likely would have had an opportunity to play valuable minutes in a forgettable season that saw three different starting quarterbacks.

Brown was already familiar with injuries, sustaining a broken leg as a senior at Atlanta's Tucker High School, a torn ACL in 2006 as a junior at Georgia, and a broken collarbone as a senior.

He's also familiar with fighting back and overcoming some less-than-favorable odds.

As a freshman at UGA he was sixth on a depth chart of seven running backs. But he'll be quick to tell you it's not so important where you start, but where you finish. He ended the 2004 season as the team's leader in rushing (875 yards) and scoring (8 touchdowns).

It was an attitude like that that would not allow the sixth-round draft choice to give up after an illegal horse-collar tackle injured his groin and ended his rookie season in 2008 in the final game of the preseason.

“It was extremely frustrating, but I’m a person of faith,” Brown, the son of a minister, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently. “I just believe that everything happens for a reason. I just took it for that. I just tried to take all of the positives I could from that and put it all behind me.”

Both young men know they may never be the superstars that the players they back up are. However, they do recognize they still have roles to fill with the 2009 Atlanta Falcons and are only an injury or two, something about which they know all too well, from even larger roles.

The two Georgia alumni spoke with Atlanta's AM 790 (The Zone) this past week about how they see themselves fitting in with this year's team.

Brown and Shockley both feel they benefit from the coaching and scheme consistency that exists with the Falcons now.

For Shockley, it's his second season in the offense, spending a healthy 2008 watching and learning as the team's third-string quarterback. His comfort level and familiarity with the system showed at May's minicamp. His passes were crisp and he showed an improved accuracy.

His lost 2007 season made him mentally tougher and more prepared for a larger role. In addition to his rehab, he attended as many film sessions and meetings as he could.

"You have to get smarter with this game," the 26-year-old said. "The game grows and when you're out of the game for a year, you've really got to fine tune your skills if you're not even on the field."

Brown will be entering his second preseason, fully recovered from last season's injury and a season removed from the stress and confusion of his rookie season.

"I'm not a nervous wreck," he said with a laugh, describing the difference from one year to the next.

Before his injury last season, Head Coach Mike Smith said the 23-year-old running back was in position to win a job with the team.

A year later and healthy again, Smith recently told the AJC he'll be in the discussion again this season.

"He’s a very hard working guy, and I think he’ll be in the mix when we start to talk about our 53-man roster,” Smith said.

Brown said that like Shockley another year in the offensive system has given him confidence but he knows his work on special teams could be the determining factor on whether or not he has a roster spot with the Falcons.

With the Falcons possibly looking to expand running back/kick returner Jerious Norwood's role in the offense, the job of returner could be Brown's to lose. He showed his potential also as a backup running back at minicamp, flashing a mix of speed and elusiveness while also running with power and authority.

Standing at 5'8", short by NFL standards, he packs a punch not only as a returner, but also potentially on the coverage team (he says he's one of the strongest guys you'll ever encounter) and that's just the kind of attitude he knows will help him find success in the professional ranks.

"Special teams is a very physical job and a lot of people kind of look down upon people who play special teams," Brown said. "But there are guys who play special teams for 10-to-12 years in the league and make a lot of money and have been very successful off just special teams, so I know it's a very important part of the game."

With the emergence of rookie quarterback Matt Ryan, Shockley knows his role is more supportive in nature, adding competition to the quarterback corps and to the team in general.

"Once we get onto the field, it's more like we want to succeed. We all want to make each other better so in practice we're always competing against each other as far as completions and reps," Shockley said. "...Once another guy is on the field, we're always an extra eye for them as far as watching what they're doing."

Winning jobs as backups and special teamers may not have been what they had in mind growing up around Atlanta while visions of NFL stardom juked in their heads. But after injuries almost cost them their careers, they're happy to have the chance to continue to play.

Their track to the league isn't an uncommon one. From underneath the Friday night lights to between the hedges of Georgia's Sanford Stadium to the Georgia Dome, accolades and stardom have followed.

But all of it came through hard work and patience. Shockley sat for four years (he redshirted his fresman season) at UGA behind the NCAA's all-time winningest quarterback, David Greene, before being handed the keys to the Bulldogs offense in his senior season.

Brown, as mentioned, was buried on the depth chart as a freshman before rising to the top. Throughout his college career he didn't just battle injuries, but also a crowded backfield that continued to accept new, younger, and highly-touted running back recruits.

They've both stayed patient throughout their careers, waiting for their chances to make a coach's decisions even more difficult. Those chances came and they made the most of them.

They'll continue to wait for their opportunity in the NFL, but until then they know the best role for them with their hometown team is that of a role player.

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