Running Back Journey Brown Could Miss 2020 Season

Running back Journey Brown, Penn State's breakout star of the Cotton Bowl, is being treated for an undisclosed medical condition.

Penn State running back Journey Brown, the breakout Cotton Bowl star who broke Saquon Barkley's bowl rushing record, could miss the 2020 football season because an undisclosed medical condition.

Penn State announced the news Monday night, five days before the team is scheduled to begin the 2020 football season at Indiana. The website Lions247 first reported the story.

"Journey Brown is being treated for a medical condition discovered during the off-season and will potentially miss the 2020 football season," the statement said.

Brown's potential loss is significant to a Penn State offense that planned to feature its gifted group of running backs under new offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca. Brown, a redshirt junior, averaged 118.6 yards over the last five games of 2019, punctuating the finish with a 202-yard performance against Memphis in the Cotton Bowl.

Brown became the first Penn State player to rush for 200 yards in a bowl game and topped the former postseason record of 194, set by Barkley in the 2017 Rose Bowl. The Lions now will play without both the offensive and defensive MVPs of the Cotton Bowl. Linebacker Micah Parsons, who opted out in July, decided not to return when the Big Ten restarted the season.

This season appeared poised to launch Brown into the elite level of college backs. Brown had bulked up to 220 pounds without losing any of the speed that made him a Pennsylvania scholastic sprint champion at Meadville High. Brown trained in California during the shutdown and said he always planned to return this season, if one happened.

Though he considered his options, Brown said he never officially spoke with running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider about them, explaining that "I wasn't even going to consider leaving without talking to him."

"Well, yeah, everything crosses your mind," Brown said earlier this month. "You've got people in your ear, talking to you, and people try to convince you to do stuff and people telling you, 'Oh, you can make money,' that sort of stuff. I'm one of those guys that, I understand kind of how life works, you know. I take a step back. And I know that money is going to come. I'm going to make money regardless. ... But I never can play college football again."

Teammates had exceptionally high hopes for Brown, who is among Penn State's most popular players. Running back Noah Cain said Brown has become the father figure of the position room, and tight end Pat Freiermuth said he thought Brown was especially motivated.

"I'm so proud of Journey," receiver Cam Sullivan-Brown said earlier this month. "... He's just matured and grown so much. I mean, he came in behind Saquon and Miles Sanders, so he had huge shoes to fill. And he and he basically filled them and I'm so proud of him and what he's doing. I can't wait for this season and to see how much he grows."

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