American Life League’s Hugh Brown Delivers Pro-Life Culture as Coach on the Gridiron
Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312.422.1333, tc@tcpr.net
(October 24, 2024 – Fredericksburg, Virginia) “Football is the vehicle, Christ is the destination” at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic High School in Fredericksburg, Virginia. According to Warriors head coach Hugh Brown, whose day job is executive vice president at American Life League, it’s a way of life that transforms lives. Along the way, he has stopped a dispirited youth from dropping out of school, helped a trio of brothers make their late mother’s wish a reality, and long ago, he unknowingly saved a gifted football player from being aborted by his teenage mom.
American Life League is known for an uncompromising view of the sanctity of life. Hugh Brown applies that philosophy to his coaching style. As the son of American Life League cofounder Judie Brown, Hugh holds a pro-life worldview that informs everything he does. Brown’s goal is to help mentor good men and turn them into faithful Catholic and Christian husbands and fathers.
Brown, who helped launch the Catholic high school, founded St. Michael’s football program in 2017 and assumed the reins as head coach in the spring of 2018. It was not long after that, Brown recalled, that he received a phone call. The call came from the grandparents of a successful and accomplished football player at a Division I university. What they told him stopped Brown in his tracks.
Flashback 35 years. Brown, a young high school underclassman, was assigned to present a persuasive speech. So the son of Judie Brown gave a pro-life talk, exposing the truth about abortion—with photographs. At the time, Brown was not aware that his words were heard by a pregnant teenager—a girl whose parents had decided that she should get an abortion. Armed with Hugh Brown’s information, that young lady went to her parents and fought for the life of her child.
That child grew up to be a stellar football player at a Division I university and the light of his grandparents’ lives.
Brown hopes that one day he will be able to meet the young man who shares his passion for football and whose preborn life he helped save.
Brown seeks to instill the kind of faith that equips players to withstand life’s storms. The team begins or ends each workout, practice, and game with prayer. Team life includes Masses, character classes, a team chaplain, and a Christian “life coach.” Coaches and players participate in community service and are held to a high standard of Christian witness and accountability, both on and off the field.
St. Michael’s football team is composed of 28 players—43 percent of the small Catholic high school. The Warriors could easily be dubbed “the little team that could.”
In 2018, the Warriors took the conference championship, and they have been state champs in their division twice. In 2021 Coach Brown and Saint Michael the Archangel Catholic High School were inducted into the Sports Faith International Hall of Fame after being nominated by the McCaskey family, owners of the NFL’s Chicago Bears.
Brown has a 100 percent graduation rate among his players, and St. Michael’s football athletes carry an average team GPA of 3.1.
As Brown spends much of his day heading up the national pro-life education operations at American Life League, he is conscious of the opportunity he has to model those values to the boys he coaches.
“Being pro-life comes from understanding and living your faith,” shared Brown. He offered the example of Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, who has received national attention for his staunch proclamation of Catholic faith and pro-life values. “Butker is a positive role model I can hold up to my players,” he said.
Brown spoke about one of his team members, with a challenging home life, whose has suffered some serious injuries.
“As an 18-year-old football player, he thinks life is not fair,” explained Brown. “And he’s right, life isn’t fair, but as a result of all this, his faith can grow stronger. God is building him up. He took a full year to recover from his last injury. He was going to drop out of high school and hang out on the street with friends, but he’s actually learned a lesson in facing adversity. He’s overcoming it. He’s a work in progress. Like other team members who have faced some tough stuff, he’s learning day by day to value life.”
The Warriors also carried one another through tragedy when the “team mom”—the mother of two players on the team and one former Warrior—was tragically killed in an accident four days before the championship game. Sorrow overwhelmed the team. The woman who died had told Brown the previous year that her dream was to “see my three boys on the same field at the same time,” even though she realized that their age separation made that impossible. Brown took the unusual proposal to the league founder, who agreed to allow the older, alumni son to take the field with his brothers in honor of their mother. Brown shared this news in person with the family, and he stated that the joy that arose in that moment “was like literally watching the shadow of death depart their home.” Against a team that had earlier that season defeated the Warriors by 30 points, the Warriors stood strong and won the championship game in memory of the dearly departed mother.
Brown is still deeply moved when he relates the story. He knows that it is part of what makes his football team different, like family. After all, Christ is the destination, Brown is just the coach.
About American Life League
American Life League has been part of the pro-life abortion debate from its inception. Since 1979, American Life League has committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to death with a pro-life integrity that stands up for every innocent human being whose life is threatened by a culture of death. For more information visit all.org.
