You probably didn’t know who Mekhi Brown was before last Monday night. The sophomore linebacker entered the College Football Playoff Championship Game with six tackles, most of them on special teams.
But then he became momentarily famous -- or infamous -- for a third quarter stretch in which he punched Georgia player Wyatt Payne, got into a physical altercation with a coach on Alabama’s sideline, then re-entered the game and made a clothesline tackle.
Brown’s star as a Crimson Tide burned bright on Monday night, and now it has reportedly burned out.
According to a report from The Tennessean on Monday, stating Brown has transferred to Tennessee State. Before you start connecting any Nick Saban-sized dots, the paper reports that Brown had applied and been accepted to Tennessee State before Alabama even won its way into the title game. He has already moved into his dorm and begun attending classes at TSU. However, the paper reports, Brown will have to hit certain behavorial benchmarks before he can join the Tigers’ football team as a result of the events of Monday night.
“I really felt like a jerk,” Brown said after the game. “That’s not how I am. I wanted to win, that’s what it was. I did something stupid. I could have cost us the game.”
A 6-foot-5 pass-rushing specialist, Brown was a 4-star prospect out of Columbus, Ga.