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NOT A tear, not a sniffle, not a red eye.
Could Jonathan Brown's retirement announcement have happened any other way?
It's for more complicated footballers than Brown to wobble publicly in the emotion of stepping away from the sport that has been a life's focus and be confronted by a life without it.
The toughness and resilience with which Brown has lived his football career, despite a week of soul searching about whether he was capable of playing again, would not allow him to falter like other men. It's just not in his make-up.
Trying to find a word to describe Brown, who retired yesterday after 256 games for the Brisbane Lions and 594 goals, Leigh Matthews settled on "unique''.
Brown after Brisbane's 2002 Grand Final win over Collingwood. Source: Getty Images
Matthews, the Lions football director and coach of Brown's three premiership sides, said the club wanted Brown to be involved next year in whatever off-field role both parties can agree on.
But Matthews feels Brown's main focus as a career is most likely to be "doing what I'm doing'', working as a well-paid television analyst for one of the television networks.
Brown's reference points for future employers are many of the same attributes as from his playing career and include the renowned toughness which we were fortunate enough in Brisbane to see in so many games over 15 seasons.
But he was so much more to the game and to the Lions.
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His ability to withstand the pressure of a set shot from 50m out late in a game, such as his goal to get a draw with Sydney in 2009 with three seconds left, were also the measure of the man.
The way he sought to teach the latter Lions teams of his career of the ethos of his triple premiership teammates was one of his legacies. Across Queensland, he gave the Lions and his code of football an authentic, "good bloke'' face to promote them both in this state.
Players who achieve a 10th in their sport as Brown has could consider how humbly he announced the standard retirement press conference about how he wanted to be remembered.
"As a better player that what I probably think I was, or in reality what I am, because I played in a premiership,'' Brown said.
Brown with then Lions skipper and former coach Michael Voss. Source: Getty Images
"Your reputation has been enhanced because I've been a premiership. And that's all of us.
"I was never blessed with great speed and I had to use my physical force and my attack on the ball. I just tried to give my all, at training. I tried to enjoy myself along the way, but I tried to train and prepare myself as hard as I could.''
"Yeah,'' said Matthews a few minutes later.
"Unique. Jonathan was a very talented player, but that will be the legend that will grow over the years _ the ability to keep his eyes on the ball in every circumstance.
"It was a byproduct of wanting the footy and not caring who was likely to come from another direction.
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"I used to (as Lions coach) say to Browny, `I don't know about you running back with the flight of the ball like you do'. Part of the basis was his teammates didn't know what he was doing either.''
Toughness can take many guises in Australian football.
I remember watching at the Gabba one night in 2010 when Bulldog Brian Lake, an incumbent All-Australian defender, stood Brown.
Brown hardly got a touch for three quarters, but kept making Lake run and run to track his long, hard leads.
An exhausted Lake lost the ability to keep running so hard, hunched over in the last quarter, a virtual white flag. Brown kicked two critical goals and the Lions won.
Brown constantly united the Gabba. Picture: Mark Calleja Source: News Corp Australia
Three years later, Lake was good enough to be voted best afield in Hawthorn's grand final win. That's how good Jonathan Brown was, that night in 2010.
Loyalty was a big factor in Brown rejecting a second chance to join Collingwood for the 2009 season and also will be a reason why he will continue to work with the young Lions forwards Michael Close, Jackson Paine and Jonathan Freeman.
"I want to be involved in the club going forward, probably not in a full-time basis, post 2014,'' Brown said.
"I can't go cold turkey on the footy club and I'd like to be part of the ride that's being created here. Hopefully there will be success not too far around the corner.''
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