Augustana University Athletics

Tom Brown excelled in two sports at Augustana because of his speed and good hands. Once he got a grip on them, it was difficult to separate Tom from a football or a baton.

During his football career at Augustana, he claimed 130 receptions for 2,421 yards and 20 touchdowns. All were career school records; his receiving yards and 20 touchdowns remain current school records. He was All-NCC in both 1984 and 1985 and had tryouts with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1986 and the Cincinnati Bengals in 1987.

Tom says that his biggest game was against Morningside as a senior; he caught nine balls for 217 yards and four touchdowns. His four touchdown catches then are another record, as well as ten catches for touchdowns in that 1985 season. That same year, the Vikings upset UNO at Viking Days, another memorable game.

In track and field, he was a member of two school record relay teams. In 1984 he, Todd Hernandez, Jeff Gross, and Daryl Watson ran the 400-meter relay in 41.39 seconds, and he, Hernandez, Gross and Brian Smith ran the 800-m relay in 1:26.69. The Drake Relays were another day to be remembered for Tom, as Jeff Gross won the 400 and the relay team placed. Overall, in track, Tom was All-NCC in 1984, 1985, and 1987 and an All-American in 1985, and competed at nationals four times.

Tom graduated from Augustana in 1987 and earned his master's degree in Exercise Science from the University of Iowa in 1991. As a graduate assistant for the Hawkeyes, he was part of the team that won the Big Ten in 1990 and played against Washington in the 1991 Rose Bowl.