Former Moc a Vienna pro

Football can take you to a lot of places. From high school to college, college to the pros -- whether that's the NFL or one of the lower-profile leagues in the United States, Canada or abroad.

Neil Brown never imagined that football would take him to Austria. But that's where the former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga defensive end is -- living in one of the world's great cities, Vienna, and playing for the Danube Dragons.

"It's a long way from Chattanooga, but this is my first time in Europe and it's been a great experience so far," Brown said during a recent phone interview.

He first made contact with European teams through the Web site Europlayers.com, and said he had offers from several. The Dragons, who are 3-0 this season, play in the Austrian Football League and in the European Football League, which is the tournament featuring the continent's top-level teams.

After spending his freshman year at Auburn, Brown transferred to UTC and amassed 147 tackles and eight sacks in his three seasons (2006-08). He said he's averaging about a sack and five tackles a game this season, and he said the level of play in the AFL is close to the NCAA Football Championship Series.

Along with playing for the Dragons, Brown spends some of his time coaching young players in Vienna, and he's also helping with an English class at a local school. He's also spending a lot of his time exploring the city, which was founded around 500 B.C.

When asked what Vienna was like, Brown spoke nonstop for about five minutes, discussing the castles and museums, the world-famous architecture, the parks and everything else that he's found so captivating.

"If I could pack up and move anywhere, I'd probably just stay here," he said. "It's that beautiful."

The only SoCon players picked in the 2010 NFL draft were Appalachian State's Armanti Edwards and The Citadel's Andre Roberts, who went in the third round Friday. The Mocs haven't had a player drafted since Richmond Flowers and Terdell Sands were selected in the seventh round in 2001.

While wideout Blue Cooper signed a free-agent contract with the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday, other former Mocs are hoping for a chance to play professionally, including Southern Conference defensive player of the year Josh Beard, SoCon kicker of the year Craig Camay, second-team all-conference linebacker Joseph Thornton, wideout Justin Buckhalter and defensive tackle B.J. Taylor.

Mocs coach Russ Huesman said several of his players when he was the defensive coordinator at Richmond played in Europe. UTC defensive ends coach Marcus West played in Amsterdam in the old NFL Europe league.

Opportunities abroad are there, Brown said, but not all situations are the same. He is one of four Americans playing for the Dragons, and the players from the U.S. are the only ones getting paid to play, he said.

Brown moved to Vienna in February, and if all goes well the Dragons' season will stretch into July. Without giving specifics, he said the pay was good, and he said he would recommend the experience to all the Mocs who want to keep playing.

"I'm having a great time," he said. "It's great to still be playing football and to have the opportunity to see and do the things I've been able to do since I've been here."

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