Ben Brewton often found his way to the Riverwalk last spring to watch University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football practices.
He was supposed to be out there with the team, one he’d been with since 2018 after signing with previous Mocs head coach Tom Arth, but he had been left off the spring roster after what he called “some decisions that affected the future for me at that time.”
“That was a hard time for me. It was hard being away from football,” Brewton said prior to Monday night’s practice at Finley Stadium. “It was a mental state for me. Going through mental challenges, it kind of helped me out. Seeing the guys everyday but not being around them every day, taking time for myself, finding out who I am and who I want to be.”
Coming off consecutive All-Southern Conference seasons — first team in 2021, second team last season — Brewton was expected to be one of the leaders on a line that otherwise suffered just one loss, albeit a big one in three-time Football Championship Subdivision All-American Devonnsha Maxwell.
But there were things he had to handle. He needed to find himself, and that time away gave him an opportunity to do just that.