Rhodes Athletic Hall of Fame
In 1976 when Southwestern hired Memphis soccer legend Sepp Huber to be the college’s first varsity men’s soccer coach, he met with students interested in being on the team and asked them to introduce themselves. One of the first players to stand up was Rickman Brown, and Sepp went, “Wow.” Sepp had just met the first center/forward of the new Southwestern soccer team. The 6’4” center/forward was a standout high jumper and star high school basketball player. Maybe starting a college soccer program wouldn’t be so hard after all!
The Auburn Tigers visited Fargason Field in 1975, not for a football game, but for a club soccer game. With President Daughdrill and other administration officials in the crowd, the Lynx stunned the Tigers 2-1 on a goal and assist by Rickman Brown. Shortly after this great win, varsity status was conferred upon the men’s soccer team.
During his senior year, Rickman was named captain of the first varsity soccer team. With his athleticism, height and jumping ability, Rickman was a dominant presence around the goal. He opened the season with a string of goals and continued on a hot scoring pace throughout the season. By the end of the year he was the leading scorer for the team and in the College Athletic Conference. The highlight of the first season came at Sewanee, which had sponsored men’s varsity soccer for several years. Thinking a win over this new Southwestern team was a mere formality, a raucous Sewanee crowd was silenced when Rickman scored two goals in a dramatic 2-1 Lynx win.
Rickman was not only a prolific scorer, he was also an outstanding student and writer. He was the editor of Ginger, the college’s literary magazine, a member of the Publications Board, and he wrote for the Sou’wester. Rickman went on to earn his law degree and is now one of Atlanta’s most prominent attorneys.
For the past 33 years hundreds of Rhodes students have played varsity women’s and men’s soccer. They can thank Rickman Brown and his teammates for being the pioneers of today’s soccer programs. In recognition of his scholarship, passion for soccer and contributions to his alma mater, Rhodes is honored to induct RICKMAN POSTAL BROWN into the Rhodes Athletic Hall of Fame this 23rd day of October, 2009.
