10/8/2003 - Football
Shalimar Brazier: Straight Out of Motown

Straight out of Motown comes defensive back Shalimar Brazier.

It's hard to miss the Detroit, Mich., native's bright smile and sunny demeanor off the field. On the field he can shake, rattle and roll with the best wide outs on the East Coast, as a key four-year starter for the Mids.

?Shalimar is one of those happy-go-lucky guys, always joking and giggling,? Navy linebacker and best friend Eddie Carthan said. ?Off the field, everybody loves to be around him. He's just a fun person to be around. But on the field, he's almost a complete opposite. He is completely quiet and always focused, concentrating on what he has to do. He just goes out and makes plays.?

?He's a great guy to be around,? Navy defensive coordinator Buddy Green echoed. ?He's very quiet and well liked by his teammates. He is also very responsible when it comes to his class work and the duties that he has in the Hall.?

Brazier's formula for success is an easy one.

?I just listen and do what the coach says,? Brazier said. ?I think that's one of my strengths as a player, listening and paying attention to detail.?

Despite a quiet presence on the field, Brazier leads by example. His lead-by-example demeanor has made Brazier one of the most experienced Navy defenders on the field. He has been in the lineup (28 starts) since the Rutgers game of his freshman season when he earned his first-career start in 2000.

After spending Navy's first-six games of the season on the junior varsity squad, Brazier was called on to start against the Scarlet Knights. He was up to the challenge.

In the first quarter, Brazier donned his Navy blue No. 16 jersey for the first time. You'd never notice the nerves that come with playing, much less starting, in his first varsity game. Brazier proceeded to record an amazing three pass breakups in his first-15 minutes of action.

?(The first start) was a lot of pressure and nervousness, but I was also ready at the same time,? Brazier said. ?Up until that point, I was disappointed that I didn't at least get to dress because I was No. 3 on the depth chart. One week coach said, ?Brazier, you're starting.' I pretty much exploded.

?In the game against Rutgers, they were picking on me because they knew I was fresh out of the gate. That's the only reason I think I got three pass deflections. They stopped throwing my way after that.?

Since then, it's been a match made in heaven for Brazier and the Navy defense. But he's come a long way to wear the Navy blue and gold.

Brazier grew up minutes from downtown Detroit in a rough neighborhood with his mother and his older brother and sister, Jaimare and Cassandra Robinson. While riding bikes everyday with his friends was the norm, his mother stressed being active to her three children in order to avoid the pitfalls of inner city life.

?Being active was her way of keeping us out of the street,? Brazier said. ?When I grew up, she started my brother off bowling and then I started bowling. Then when he went to football, I went to football, so I got an early start on everything he did because I am four years younger than him. It was basketball, baseball, martial arts and everything just to stay out of the streets.?

While growing up just behind Jaimare and Cassandra, Brazier developed a pair of role models in his brother and sister.

?I followed his steps in everything I did,? Brazier said. ?As soon as he graduated from high school, I took his number on the team. Then when he went to Illinois State to play football, I decided I wanted to play football in college.

?I also looked up to my sister because she was successful, going through college to get her Master's of Business Administration and then attending law school.?

Out of Martin Luther King High School in Detroit, Brazier was tempted with offers to other Division I schools such as Notre Dame, Northwestern, Toledo and Hawai'i. But one thing was more important than just playing in New Year's Day bowl games or under Touchdown Jesus.

?My mother stressed getting a good education,? Brazier said. ?Football isn't going to be there your entire life. I knew I had a good opportunity to come here and still play Division I football against some of the powerhouse teams. It would still be the same except with a better education.?

So former defensive backs coach Brian Norwood successfully recruited Brazier to the Naval Academy to play football and run on the track team, another sport the senior stars in as a sprinter for the Mids and head track coach Steve Cooksey.

?My visit to the Academy was great,? he said. ?They buttered me up with all the engineering buildings. I was looking at the labs and hydrotank and all the other stuff. I went to classes and it was just a good learning environment. I liked the education, what the Academy brought to the table and what it would set me up for in the future.?

Upon choosing Navy football, he found another close-knit family to be a part of his church family on the team.

Every Thursday night a group of 25-30 players meets on the Yard for a bible study with Pastor Bill McKinney from Mariner's Church in Annapolis. Since the group first started meeting at the beginning of the season, attendance has increased each week, thanks in large part to Brazier.

McKinney, a former three-year starter at linebacker for Navy and 1970 team captain, also sponsors Brazier and the two have developed a close friendship through a common bond.

?Shalimar is a real gentleman,? McKinney, who also had three sons attend the Academy, said. ?I think he has a great smile and one of the greatest laughs of all time. He's a guy who is more concerned about other people than himself. He is just the kind of kid that you dream about.

?He always thinks about other people and that's indicative of his relationship with the Lord. How Christ lived to do things for other people, he is the same way. When you talk to him, there isn't a proud bone in his body. I think that kind of humility is what helps build a strong team. What you see is what you get and he is the real deal.?

?I'm very close to him,? Brazier said. ?I think of him as one of my best friends. I can talk to him about anything and the team can talk to him about anything.?

McKinney said he's fortunate to be involved in the life of such a special young man and the close friendship works both ways.

?Shalimar has experienced some tough things and I think he's quick to call on us when needed,? McKinney said. ?My wife, Barbara, and I are always there for him and we feel honored that he would call on us when he needs us. The thing about Shalimar is I know he'd be there for me. We consider him like one of our boys. It is so great to have guys like him continue to fill our house with laughter and joy.?

Along with McKinney, Brazier has forged a tight friendship with Carthan. The two are almost inseparable and the comrades do everything together away from football, studying, playing video games and attending the weekly bible study.

?Shalimar is my best friend on and off the field,? Carthan said. ?If I'm out somewhere and not at my sponsors, I'm usually with him. To study, we usually get together and find his room or my room. We alternate going back and forth and one of us always has to supply the snacks and food. We have our schedules set up almost exactly the same, so we're always pretty much identical with our study hours.?

Brazier, who can carry a conversation in Japanese, said he and Carthan work as a team to finish up daily assignments, as they each march toward a degree in economics.

On the field where Coach Green and head coach Paul Johnson do their share of coaching, Carthan is quick to help out his best friend, too.

?Along with Coach Green and Coach Johnson, Eddie is one of the biggest coaches to me,? Brazier said. ?Even if it's something small, it means so much to hear from one of your teammates.?

With his senior year under way, football has gotten off to a grand start for Brazier. Through Navy's first-three games, Brazier is tied for eighth on the team in tackles with 13 and is seeking his first interception since the 2001 Notre Dame game. In addition to his duties of smothering opposing receivers, Brazier has also made his mark as a gunner on the punt coverage unit.

In Navy's 39-7 victory over Eastern Michigan Sept. 20, Brazier was selected as the Mids' Special Teams Player of the Game by the coaching staff. Navy had to punt on its second series of the game, but Brazier got down field and forced EMU punt returner Chris Roberson to cough up the ball that was ironically recovered by Carthan. Six plays later, the Mids would punch the ball in for their first touchdown en route to the win.

?Shalimar has shown strong leadership and effort in the first-three ball games,? Green said. ?He's also been really disciplined and aggressive when he's had the chance in one-on-one coverage. He just takes care of his job and that's what a good corner has to do. I think he's paid attention to detail, really studied hard and taken a lot of pride in getting better.?

Having been around the block with a wealth of experience as a four-year starter, Brazier said he's learned one thing as he's grown and matured at the Academy.

?Patience. I've learned just to be patient with everything from school work to everything else in life. Let things happen, be coached, study hard and listen to your teachers. Even if you don't get a good grade, it will happen.?

While Brazier's family will be in the stands today for the first-of-three games this season (they'll also be at Notre Dame and Army), he believes the winning start Navy is off to will continue and the past struggles of the program are indeed the past.

?I definitely think this is THE year,? Brazier said. ?We have a team that believes and a team that wants to win. The team is now totally into the whole concept that we have to win, that we have to play good and go to a bowl. We have goals we set and we're going after them.?

And what better way to go out, closing the book on a humble career?

?We only want one loss, to beat Army, Air Force, Notre Dame and to go to a bowl game,? Brazier said. ?That's the perfect way.?