Chris Christie and Baltimore Ravens coach Randy Brown have one thing in common: Christie is governor and Brown wants to be.
Randy Brown, the Ravens’ kicking consultant, is also the mayor of Evesham Township, New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia, an elected office he’s held since 2007. The mayor/coach has admitted that he is mulling a run for governor of the state when Chris Christie steps down after his presumed second term.
Under New Jersey law, a governor cannot serve more than two consecutive terms in office.
According to the Baltimore Ravens website, “Brown has over 20 years of coaching and consulting experience that spans NFL, college and high school.”
The Wall Street Journal caught up with Randy Brown during media day at the Super Bowl in New Orleans:
‘ ‘I checked — the governor can’t run again in 2017, so that seat’s around,’ said Brown, a 45-year-old Republican. ‘I would never close my eyes to it. I’m a Republican with some name I.D. in New Jersey.
” ‘The way that our party is, they’re going to look for candidates who are similar to what Christie’s done, and I’ve done it on the local level,’ he said. ‘At my age, you keep all your options open. As of today, I’ve got two jobs I love to go to. I love being mayor, and I coach in the NFL.’ “
The Philadelphia Inquirer has more on Randy Brown’s background:
“An all-state kicker for Cherokee High School [in Evesham Township] in the 1980s, Brown made all-American at Catawba College in North Carolina but never landed a placekicker job in the NFL.
“So he did the closest thing. He coached college and university punters and place kickers, then graduated to the NFL’s Chicago Bears and the Eagles before joining the Ravens five years ago.”
The Ravens meet the San Francisco 49ers in tomorrow evening’s Super Bowl, and if it’s a close game, kicking could form a significant part of the outcome. Ravens rookie kicker Justin Tucker has a 91 percent field goal completion record this season.