'A special moment': London, Ont. high school football coaches in stands for Chase Brown’s first NFL touchdown

After the game of his life, NFL rookie Chase Brown shared a special moment with his former coaches from South Collegiate in London.

“He came over to give us a high five and we said, ‘No! You're coming up,’” said Mike Stenning, Brown’s former coach for two years with the South Lions. “We yanked him up and got a chance to you know get a pic with him.”

When asked after the game if he had family in attendance, Brown replied, “Those are my, like peewee coaches from Canada. The fact that I scored my first touchdown while they were in town, it just makes it so much more special.”

The game was memorable for Brown after scoring his first NFL touchdown on a 54-yard screen pass from Jake Browning in the Cincinnati Bengals 34-14 win over the Indianapolis Colts at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, OH.

“I knew as soon as I got the ball I was going to score,” Brown told reporters after the game. “I’m making the most of the opportunity when it’s there. The [screen game] has been explosive and off of what we were doing last week, we knew there would be opportunities there and they all hit big.”

Brown has been getting his number called by coaches in recent weeks. He had nine carries for 61 yards on Dec. 4, 2023 against Jacksonville, and then 11 more touches for 105 total yards against Indianapolis.

David Martin (left) and Mike Stenning pose for a photo outside the Cincinnati, OH. apartment of NFL rookie Chase Brown after the London, Ont. running back scored his first NFL touchdown on Dec. 10, 2023. (Source: David Martin)

After their high school football season ended with an OFSAA championship, Stenning and David Martin decided they needed to book a trip to see either Chase or his twin brother Sydney Brown, who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles.

The schedule made it easier to see Chase play just about six hours away from home.

They met up with Chase and his girlfriend Jazz Brock prior to the game for dinner, and stayed in a nearby hotel.

They couldn’t have picked a better game to attend.

“Talking to Chase before the game and reading the articles he kind of knew that he was going to get the ball,” said Stenning. “As soon as he came on the field we all puled our phones out and we were filming and watching. It was just it was a surreal moment.”

Martin said they went to Ann Arbour, MI. to see Chase play for the University of Illinois last year.

“We saw them last year at Michigan and he scored two touchdowns,” said Martin, who coached Chase for multiple years in minor football and at South. “That was pretty special and now seeing his first NFL touchdown was a great feeling.”

David Martin (left) holds the game ball received by Chase Brown after he scored his first NFL touchdown on Dec. 10, 2023. Martin and Mike Stenning (right) went to the game along with two others from London, Ont. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

Chase is the third Londoner to score an NFL touchdown in the last 30 years. Tim Tindale (Saunders S.S.) scored for the Buffalo Bills in the 1995 AFC Wildcard game against Miami, and Ryan Thelwell (CCH) caught his only touchdown pass for San Diego in the 1998 season.

Next Gen Stats said Brown reached a top speed of 22.05 miles per hour, the second fastest time in the NFL this season behind DK Metcalf of the Seattle Seahawks. Brown was faster than both Tyreek Hill and Devon Achane, who have reputations as being uncatchable in the open field.

“You get to know the people that you sit around and you know some people were sitting behind say, ‘Oh, you guys must be really proud,’” said Stenning. “We were like we’ve seen this before. We know we knew it was there, it was just a case of you know him waiting his time and being patient and getting that opportunity to go out there.”

It is a tradition in football that after a victory, the head coach will hand out game balls to the stars of the day. Brown received one from Zac Taylor for his first NFL touchdown, and that ball is now in the hands of Martin.

“When he came out to the parking lot to the family tent afterwards — which we were very lucky to be a part of — he gave us all a hug and flipped me the ball and said, ‘This is for you coach,’” said Martin. “It was a pretty special moment, especially for a couple of old football coaches from South High School.”