Or so he thought.
Even after playing 20 straight matches without incident this year, Brown’s now infamous head clashes still seem to raise questions about his on-field behaviour.
While no person would ever dispute Brown’s courage, some - including his own father Brian - believe some of his actions have been a tad ‘reckless’.
The three-time Club Champion himself admits that the second incident probably could, and should, have been avoided.
“There’s probably only been one reckless incident - in Round 17 against Geelong last year,” Brown told SEN.
“The old man was pretty dirty with me that time.”
“I took off probably 30m away thinking I could make the contest at a critical time of the game, and the last thing I can remember was thinking with about two steps to go ‘geez, I’m going to be a bit short here’.”
“But by that stage, it was too late to pull out.”
Brown is quick to point out that it was his only so-called ‘reckless’ act throughout his long and illustrious career.
“I’ve had one reckless incident in the 13-odd years I’ve been playing footy,” Brown said.
“The other two serious facial injuries came from accidents that weren’t my fault - I was either hit by teammates or opponents.”
Fortunately for Lions fans, Brown refuses to change the way he plays the game and vows to continue putting his body on the line (when appropriate) for the Club and his teammates.
