Duane Brown - A Touchdown Machine
May 9, 2025 - Arena Football One (AF1)
Albany Firebirds News Release
When you hear the term "touchdown machine", it may sound like a little bit of a gimmicky nickname. However, for Duane Brown of the Albany Firebirds, that couldn't be further from the truth. A touchdown machine is exactly what he is and what he has been in his entire football career. A running back converted receiver, a father, a movie lover, and most definitely - a touchdown machine.
Touchdowns On Touchdowns
Duane Brown is coming off a game against Salina with five touchdowns. While that may seem like a one-off big-time performance, it's not. He has multiple touchdown games this season and is following up right where he left off last season, when he had five touchdowns in the championship game.
If you're thinking it's because the arena game moves quicker, I'd urge you to pause on that thought. Sure, the Arena Football One games do indeed move quicker, but putting up big games is routine for Duane Brown.
Looking back at his college days at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), you'll quickly see Brown is a big-time player who makes big-time plays. Through four years of gameplay, he scored a total of 50 touchdowns. He was originally a running back and scored six rushing touchdowns in his freshman year.
Fast forward to his last year of college, as a full-time wide receiver, Brown finished with 18 receiving touchdowns. On 9/10/22 against East Stroudsburg, he put up 207 receiving yards. On 11/5/22 against Clarion, he had three receiving touchdowns in one game. It has happened at every level for this young star, going all the way back to high school. In fact, one of those games is one of his favorite football memories.
"One of my favorite football memories was breaking the rushing record. I had ten touchdowns that game, but two were called back, so really it was only eight touchdowns for around 460 rushing yards," Brown said. Stating that it was only eight touchdowns just shows his competitive drive.
Injury Adversity
It hasn't all been breaking records and scoring multiple touchdowns a game. As those who play the game know, football is a physical sport, and injuries happen. Shortly before his senior year of high school, Brown tore his ACL. Amazingly enough, it didn't slow him for too long as he was back on the field in less than five months.
The unfortunate part was that some of the bigger colleges had pulled back after the ACL tear. However, that didn't stop him from continuing to push forward. After spending time at quarterback, running back, and wide receiver in high school, he went to IUP to play running back. He switched to wide receiver in his redshirt sophomore season, and things continued to pick up and progress well for Brown.
Especially during his senior year, when he had 1,145 receiving yards and 18 receiving touchdowns. That put him second in all-time receiving yards and receptions for IUP, despite starting his college career at running back. He's also second in receiving touchdowns in a season, second in all-purpose yards in a career, and second in career touchdowns.
Brown injured his MCL in the final game of the regular season in his senior year. Another bump in the road that he was ready to overcome. He could have called it then, but he loves the game of football and kept pushing forward. I asked him where that drive came from, knowing it couldn't have always been easy to keep his head up and keep looking forward.
"Staying dedicated to the process and believing that no matter what trials and tribulations I faced that I'd be able to make something happen helped. A big part of it was my support system. My support system has always kept me motivated and kept me going. Knowing that no matter what happened, they were never disappointed and were always there for me when I needed. That was huge. I'm also a competitor, and I love to compete. Football was that first love, so not having football in my life, I just couldn't think about that."
From Billings To Albany
Last year, Duane found himself playing for the Billings Outlaws. He's now closer to home for the undefeated Albany Firebirds. His love of football started way back when he was a child. As he said, football was his first love.
"I was around football a lot when I was younger. When I was a little kid, even before organized football, my cousin and I would always be in the yard with a little football. After I started organized football, it became clear that this is what I want to do," Brown said.
Growing up watching a lot of football, a player he really enjoyed watching was Tavon Austin during his West Virginia days.
"In high school, I used to watch his highlight tapes before every game. My game and his aren't really that much alike, but I always loved how explosive and flashy he was at WVU. He would turn that stadium up and make something from nothing. I always admired his game."
While Brown has enjoyed playing for both teams, he's much closer to home now and closer to his daughter, now that he's on Albany.
"Being closer has been a blessing. I'm grateful that God let all this fall into place this season to allow me to play closer to my family and to give me the opportunity to play in Albany. I give Glory to Him for this, I'm just blessed to be able to do so, especially since I wasn't able to last year. It was a long stretch, those six months."
Aside from the benefits of being closer to home, he's enjoyed his time in Albany so far. His experience on both teams has been enjoyable. You can't blame him for enjoying last year, his first season in a professional league, after helping Billings win a championship. He's working on winning a championship in his second season in a professional league with Albany now. I asked him about comparing the two teams, and I felt his answer showed excellent leadership and maturity.
"Being on both teams, you've got great talent and people who want to compete around you. We're all on the same mission - to get that championship. If I were to say there was a difference, on Billings I was surrounded by rookies, but there are a lot of vets here (Albany). So that experience and guidance around you has been big, being one of the younger guys.
When I talked to Head Coach Damon Ware about Duane Brown, he mentioned that he came in as a younger guy and worked hard, immediately gaining the respect of the veterans in the locker room. He's always at the right place at the right time, and he works hard.
"With Duane, he's a young kid, so coming through the door, there's a lot to learn on how to be a number one receiver," Coach Ware said. "He's come in with a bunch of older guys in the room and was able to get better every day in camp, learning the new system, and he just continues to get better. He's earned the number one receiver spot. He's going to be special for years to come and is a phenomenal player."
"I've never been one to focus on the fact that someone is bigger or more experienced. I've always accepted that kind of challenge," Brown said. "You're only going to rise as the talent rises around you, so I was excited to come in and compete here. Having a great group of guys around me has made it easier."
One of those guys Duane has gotten to work with now that he's at Albany is quarterback Sam Castranova. Castranova is a veteran who knows the arena game very well.
"He's one of those guys who is going to bring you up with him. He's going to help you learn the game. Having someone like that can not only make you smarter, but also better, and that's big for me as a young guy. He can throw the ball, and I love going to get it," Brown said about Castranova.
Outside The Arena
As with all football players, while football may be the job and the passion, there's life outside of football as well. Everybody has other hobbies, and one of Brown's biggest things is movies. He loves watching movies.
"Some of the guys kid me because I could sit in my room all day and watch movies, and they think I've got to be running out of movies. But there are so many movies," Brown said. I asked him his favorite movies, and Harry Potter was the first answer.
"That's usually my go-to. I've also been big into the Marvel movies. I'm really big into the Marvel multiverse right now, and any of those movies are good. However, Harry Potter, I can't get away from those. I can't wait to watch those with my daughter."
Through seven games, Brown currently leads the Arena Football One league in receiving yards with 563, over 100 more than the second-leading receiver. He's averaging the most receiving yards per game with 80.4. He's also leading the league in touchdown receptions with 20, double the second-leading receiver. He also leads the league in receptions with 40.
He's become a superhero to the Albany fans and can truly be labeled as a touchdown machine. From high school to college, to now the professional league, touchdowns are something he's always finding and will continue to find.
While he may be a fan of watching Harry Potter when he's not on the field playing football, he's showing magic when he's on the field. To accomplish what he has in just his second year in a professional league is nothing short of incredible. His competitive drive and super-skill sets are showing up, and the sky is the limit for Duane.
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