Dan DeWitt, Times Columnist
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Jerome Brown’s NFL career ended prematurely when he was killed in a car crash in 1992.
The Red Mule Pub was one of Jerome Brown's favorite hangouts, and co-owner Tim Jinkens was one of his best friends, which required tolerance and a sense of humor.
Rather than eat the pub's sandwiches, Brown would bring in jumbo-size bags of Captain D's fish and chips, which he devoured while sitting just inside the front door.
"He'd be telling customers, 'You got to get some of this fish,' " Jinkens said.
"Then he'd say, 'Timmy, did you ever get that rat problem taken care of?' "
Jinkens told me this at his Brooksville pub just before the start of the excellent hourlong documentary, Reggie White and Jerome Brown: A Football Life, Thursday night on the NFL Network.
I took my 14-year-old ...