By Adam Stoker
From the time Curtis Brown was a young boy, his mother, Cheryl Brown, tried to strengthen him spiritually by sending him to religious schools. This preparation opened the door for Brown to find religious peace in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
While growing up, Brown developed a talent for running with a football. After graduating from high school, he was recruited heavily by many major schools, including Washington State; Miami, Ohio; BYU and a couple of Texas schools.
'Those are just the schools who really pursued me,' Brown said. 'I received letters from everywhere.'
Finally, after looking at all of the schools, Brown chose BYU. At BYU, he would find the home of a recent Doak Walker award winner and a definite chance to play.
When he arrived here, he found that his athletic journey would lead him to begin a religious journey as well.
Brown's exposure to the LDS church was limited during his first year at BYU. One of his roommates was a member of the church but the other two weren't.
Brown also had a girlfriend from his hometown of Palmdale, Calif. A lot of his attention was given to her during that year.
All of his life, Brown was accustomed to just hanging out with friends on Sundays. Here at BYU, he noticed that on Sundays the streets were empty. He got into the habit of doing his laundry on those days.
A couple of people began to talk to Brown about the church. The first was George Curtis, the head trainer for the BYU football team.
'All you have to do is get baptized and you can marry my daughter,' Curtis always said.
Curtis also frequently told Brown stories of other BYU athletes who had converted to the church.
Curtis said he was calm about bringing up the church with Brown because he talks about the church all the time. He was also very impressed with Brown from the moment they met.
'I really think Curtis was a Mormon from the first day I saw him,' Curtis said.
Just before his sophomore year, Brown broke up with his girlfriend back home and had a little more time to investigate the church. He also moved into an apartment where all his roommates were members.
One of those roommates was BYU quarterback Matt Berry. After they had been roommates for a short time, Berry invited Brown to attend church. Brown said yes and they attended the Edgemont Singles Ward.
After that visit, two Sundays passed before Brown went back to church. Finally, he asked Berry why he hadn't invited him to church again.
'Matt Berry played a huge role,' Brown said.
During this time, Brown also told Curtis that he wanted to learn more about the church. Curtis arranged for the missionaries to meet in his home with Brown.
When Brown listened to the first discussion, he was impressed that the missionaries invited him to pray about the truthfulness of the church.
When he prayed, he felt a great desire and willingness to know more. After much prayer, Brown felt like he had his answer.
'Why deny this feeling,' Brown said. 'It's not coming from nowhere.'
He discovered the feeling was coming from his heart.
It wasn't easy for Brown to make the decision to join the church. All of his friends back home weren't members.
'The only thing holding me back was what other people thought,' Brown said.
At first, his mother was skeptical because Brown had already been baptized in the Catholic Church.
After Brown explained how he felt and that this was the best decision for him, his mother was supportive.
Cheryl Brown wrote a letter to Total Blue Sports a week later discussing her feelings on her son's baptism.
'My son Curtis Brown, a running back on the BYU football team, was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints last Saturday in Provo. His father, brother and sister and I are not LDS members, but we were thrilled with his decision and would not have missed it for the world,' she wrote.
She, along with his father and brother and sister, came to Provo for his baptism in February 2004. More than 150 people were in attendance to support him and his decision.
Brown asked Berry to perform the ordinance.
'It was an honor when he asked me to baptize him,' Berry said.
Since Brown was baptized, he has embraced his new religion. According to Berry, within a month of his baptism, Brown gave his first fireside and has given around 30 since.
Now that Brown is a member, George Curtis jokingly asks Brown why he hasn't dated his daughter.
Brown says he is currently dating a member of the church and has been for about eight months.
When asked what advice he could give someone else going through the same situation, Brown said, 'Do what's best for you. After BYU, you'll move on. Make sure you know for yourself that the church is true.'