Jonathan Brown

Jonathan Brown (born 29 October 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer and radio presenter.

He is the former captain of the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League.

Brown drew the attention of AFL recruiters while playing under-18 representative football for the Geelong Falcons in 1999 at the national carnival in Brisbane when he was named as an All-Australian.

Brown was selected by the Brisbane Lions in the 1999 AFL Draft under the father–son rule.

His father considered Brisbane a good option when Leigh Matthews became the senior coach, despite Hawthorn showing interest in recruiting him.

Upon moving to Brisbane, he was immediately groomed as the club's next centre half-forward.

The next year, in Round 5, he played his first senior game for the Lions as an 18-year-old against the Adelaide Crows.

His best game in his opening year came against Fremantle in the final round of the season when he had 23 disposals and scored two goals.

Playing in a team which included three Brownlow Medalists (Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis and Simon Black), Brown participated in four consecutive AFL Grand Finals and was a part of three consecutive premierships in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

Touted as the next Wayne Carey early in his career, Brown was an unspectacular but consistent contributor during his first few seasons and, at 195 cm and 105 kg, was an imposing target across half-forward.

In Round 6 of 2001, Brown kicked seven goals and amassed nine marks and 19 disposals in his first dominant performance in front of goals.

For the season, he averaged six marks, 14 disposals and 1.5 goals per game.

His season tally of 157 marks was a team-high, and his total of 38 goals was third-best of Brisbane players.

Brown was well renowned for his bravery, often putting himself in reckless situations that put the mission of the team before his own physical well-being.

An example of this was when he took the 2002 Mark of the Year by running with the flight of the ball and launching into the oncoming Hawthorn player Jade Rawlings.

In an interview with Mike Sheehan for Open Mike, Brown acknowledged he was running towards the pack blindly (i.e. with his eyes only on the ball, not the players converging on the pack) and committed fully to the attempt.

Plagued by injury and regular meetings with the AFL Tribunal during the next three seasons, Brown's development was hampered until 2004, when he had the best season of his career to that point, averaging an impressive eight marks, 16 disposals, and 2.3 goals per game.

Despite missing eight games through injury and suspension, Brown kicked a career-high 39 goals and again led the Lions in marks, with 140.

His progress was punctuated in the Qualifying Final against St Kilda when he achieved a best-afield six-goal performance.

The season, however, ended on a sour note for Brown, as he was reported for striking Port Adelaide's Josh Carr during the Lions 40-point Grand Final loss.

The report saw Brown suspended for the first five games of the 2005 season.

In 2005, Brown was promoted to the Lions' leadership group.

He made his return from suspension in Round 6 of 2005 against Essendon and immediately had a significant impact, taking 14 marks and kicking eight goals on then-Essendon defender and future Sydney Swans premiership player Ted Richards, in what was arguably the best game of his career to that point.

The following week, Brown kicked another five goals, and in Round 10 against the Kangaroos Brown had 12 marks, 27 disposals and five goals, followed by a career-high 29 disposals in round 11.

Injury again cut his season short, but 2005 was clearly Brown's best individual season as he averaged eight marks, 18 disposals and 2.8 goals per game during the 12 games he played prior to Round 17, before a severe bout of osteitis pubis prevented him from having any influence in his last two games.

In May 2005, Brown was targeted by Collingwood in a deal reportedly worth $6 million over the next four seasons, but he was quick to announce that he had no plans to leave Brisbane.

2006 was the year in which Brown first stamped his authority on the AFL competition.

Regarded during his playing days as one of the premier players in the competition, Brown is a three-time club Best and Fairest winner, two-time All Australian (2007 and 2009), one-time Coleman Medallist and three-time AFL premiership player.

Brown was born in Port Fairy, in Victoria's south west, to mother Mary and father Brian (a former Fitzroy and Essendon player).

He is the eldest of three brothers.

Brown grew up on his family's property and attended school at Emmanuel College Warrnambool.

He grew up a Fitzroy fan and began playing Australian rules at an early age, playing school football and cricket with the Emmanuel College Hawks.

Brown began playing senior football with the South Warrnambool Football Club at the age of 15.

He began senior cricket at about the same time and was a stand-out left-arm fast bowler.

He played A-Grade cricket with Wesley CBC where he was Cricketer of the Year two years in a row and played in a senior premiership.

He was also invited to play in the Victorian under-17 squad.

However, he focused on Australian rules, pursuing a dream of following Ted Whitten to represent Victoria in State of Origin.

Such efforts earned him numerous titles for courage during his career, including three Robert Rose Awards for being voted the most courageous player of the league in 2007, 2008 and 2011.

Two months later he officially signed a contract committing himself to the Brisbane Lions until the end of the 2008 season in a deal reportedly worth $2 million over three years.

Such acts of courage caused recurring injuries, especially during the past few years of his career, including four facial injuries between 2011 and 2014.