'Let's play football': How famous XFL moment still personifies Louisville coach Jeff Brohm
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Jeff Brohm was taken to Memphis Memorial Hospital after he was knocked out of an XFL game in 2001. He was taken to a local hospital in Memphis.
For almost 22 years, Jeff Brohm has been unable to escape three words.
His “Let’s play football” mic drop on March 10, 2001, before an XFL game, has become a rallying cry at all three of his coaching stops, including his alma mater Louisville after he was hired to take over the Cardinals in December.
Gimmicks and antics made the Vince McMahon-founded XFL what it was. And years later, Brohm admitted to SB Nation that the pregame interview was “a little staged, so to speak.”
But to his coaches and teammates, the comment and days leading up to it were what made Brohm the competitor he was.
“Jeff had that — I hate to even use the term — ‘it’ factor,” said Mike Kelly, who was Brohm’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Orlando Rage. “I don't think the players ever saw Jeff flinch. Maybe with other quarterbacks that are talented, you see that momentary chink in their armor. Jeff would never let that appear.”
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Taking the hit
In the inaugural season of the XFL, the Orlando Rage was 4-0 when it traveled to Tennessee to play the Memphis Maniax. Brohm, the No. 4 pick in the XFL draft, led the charge.
“When he spoke, everyone listened. He commanded the room and the huddle in that way,” former Rage wide receiver Dialleo Burks said. “I thought he was a quiet jokester. He wasn't going to walk in the room and tear the roof off, but he was the one that would jab, jab, jab and you were like, OK, man, you just gave it to me in a fun-loving way. He was a relational guy.”
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Brohm was hit by Maniax defensive end Shante Carver in the first quarter as he was throwing a pass — a 23-yard touchdown to Mario Bailey.
He had to be carted off the field and taken to a local hospital in Memphis, according to the XFL broadcast, and was later diagnosed with a concussion and cervical sprain.
Before the fourth quarter ended, he was back at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium sporting a neck brace. Kelly called Brohm's return an adrenaline rush for the team, which remained unbeaten with a 21-19 victory over the Maniax.
"I thought to myself, 'Hey, this is a guy that I guess you have to break him in half to keep him from playing,'" former Rage running back Derrick Clark said. "... He just had a heart of steel. It just let me know that we have a real leader on this team. That's just the way he presented himself, from Day 1, to us."
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Brohm called Carver’s tackle a “good, hard hit” in a postgame interview and said he’d be back.
Less than a week later, he was and became an XFL legend in the process.
Brohm was interviewed on the sidelines before taking on the Las Vegas Outlaws and was asked how he was able to start six days after the hit and concluded his answer with his now-famous “Let’s play football.” The Rage responded with a 27-15 win to move to 6-0.
“We felt every bit of that,” Burks said. “That's his personality and who he is and that's what kind of catapulted us in the position that we were in. … For him to rally the troops in that comment, that's it. 'Let's play football.' That's pretty much what we (said). We don't care about anything else but the check and playing football.”
Orlando’s winning streak — and Brohm’s playing career — came to an end the next week. He separated his right shoulder after being sacked during the Rage’s 31-6 road loss to the Los Angeles Xtreme. Orlando went 2-2 over the final four games without him.
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But more than two decades later, Brohm's sideline interview and the three words he can't seem to escape continue to bring people together.
“If it's gonna get his kids rallied around him and they understand that they're dealing with a guy that understands the toughness of the game and how it should be played properly, then good on them," Kelly said. "Run with it.”
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville football coach Jeff Brohm 'Let's Play Football' XFL moment
