Daily Dose of Crimson Tide: Johnny Mack Brown

Need your fix of Alabama sports? BamaCentral has you covered with Johnny Mack Brown

Bryant Musem

If one title best exemplified Johnny Mack Brown both on and off the playing field, it would have to be "leading man."

As a back, he helped propel Alabama to its first conference title in 1924, and to the Rose Bowl a year later for one of the most important football games in region history.

Down 12-0 at halftime, Coach Wallace Wade changed his offensive strategy, which worked and led to three touchdowns in the third quarter, including two touchdown receptions by Brown. The first was a 59-yard catch from Grant Gillis (although how far the pass actually traveled remains unknown because statistics weren’t precise), with the other a 30-yard pass.

With Brown making a clutch open-field tackle of Washington standout George “Wildcat” Wilson in the waning moments, Alabama held on for a dramatic 20-19 victory.

“Johnny Mack Brown has the sweetest feet I have ever seen,” the head linesman was quoted as saying. “The way he managed to elude Washington tacklers in his long runs was marvelous. He has a weaving elusive style that is beautiful to watch.”

Not only did the victory put Southern football on the map, but Alabama finished off a 10-0 season that included eight shutouts and claimed its first national championship.

For Brown, who was named the Rose Bowl’s most valuable player, the trip to Pasadena also gave him a glimpse into his future as was one of the first collegiate standouts to seriously pursue a career as an actor in motion pictures, and became one of Hollywood’s most popular western stars.

Brown had numerous minor roles until 1930, when he was cast as the lead in “Billy the Kid,” one of the earliest widescreen films, and directed by King Vidor. That same year, he played Joan Crawford’s love interest in “Montana Moon,” and he later was paired with Greta Garbo and Norma Shearer. 

He was being groomed by MGM to be one of its feature headliners, but some studio executives didn’t think his Southern accent was becoming of a Hollywood marquee attraction. He was replaced on a film in 1931, with all of his scenes re-shot with Clark Gable.

However, Brown’s love for football seemingly never diminished, and in 1934 when the Crimson Tide returned to Pasadena to play Stanford, he served as an advance scout for the team and provided information on players, formations and game plans. Alabama dominated, 29-13, to win its fourth national title.

Brown’s acting career extended four decades and he appeared in more than 160 movies, in addition to a few television shows. Consequently, he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6101 Hollywood Blvd.

Some of this post originated from "100 Things Crimson tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die," published by Triumph Books