In a nutshell, that's why both are Eagles right now, rather than Raiders or Dolphins or Bengals or Giants or Cowboys. They, like many of the other free agents who have heeded the call of the All-In Gang in the last week, are here to seize the moment. They are here to win a Super Bowl.
"At this stage of my career, I'm looking at the opportunity [to win]," said Brown, who agreed to a 1-year, $1 million deal with the Eagles on Tuesday. "It's not so much the financial standpoint. It's more about winning and putting myself in a situation where I'd be on a team that made [winning] a priority. You can tell by some of the moves that [the Eagles] have made this offseason that they put winning first."
Brown, 29, could have gotten a longer deal for more money from somebody else. He could have gone somewhere where he'd almost certainly get more playing time and carries than he's going to get with the Eagles as LeSean McCoy's backup. But this is where he wanted to be.
The second overall pick in the '05 draft by the Dolphins, the former Auburn star spent six seasons in Miami. When he got there, he thought he could help turn the fortunes of that franchise around. But the Dolphins made the playoffs just once while he was there, in 2008.
"It was tough," Brown said. "Coming from Auburn, we won there. I won in high school. I wanted to be a part of turning it around there, but we couldn't get it done.
"At the end of the day, you want to win games. That's why you're here. My ultimate goal at this level is to win a championship. This is a situation where I think I can do that."
Brown is a good pickup for the Eagles. He gives them an experienced backup to McCoy, and also could line up in the same backfield with McCoy on occasion.
"I looked at it and thought, LeSean and myself are a little bit different as far as size and the way we play," said the 6-foot, 230-pound Brown. "He has a lot of catches and likes to catch the ball out of the backfield.
"Myself, I like to get downhill a little bit more and present that option. So I felt it would be a good fit. On the offensive side of the ball, they do a lot of different things to get guys involved. So I felt I would have a chance here."
McCoy had 285 touches last season - 207 rushing attempts and a team-high 78 receptions. Jerome Harrison had the second-most carries by a running back - just 40 - and 21 of those came in the Eagles' meaningless Week 17 loss to the Cowboys when McCoy was inactive.
But Brown sounded like a guy who was told that the Eagles are looking to lighten McCoy's load just a bit. Probably will handle a lot of the short-yardage duties, which will spare McCoy some punishment.
"Just the way things have gone in the NFL, it's kind of progressed to two backs and being able to utilize two guys to try and stay healthy for the long haul," Brown said.
Brown is used to a two-back system. At Auburn, he shared the ballcarrying load with Cadillac Williams, who got drafted by Tampa Bay just three spots after Brown. The last few years in Miami, he has rotated with Ricky Williams.
"Me having LeSean and LeSean having me, I think will be a great opportunity," he said. "To be able to do that and keep everybody fresh through the season and games."
Brown suffered a torn ACL in 2007 and had a foot injury in '09 that sidelined him for the final seven games of the season. He had 233 touches last year, but averaged a career-low 3.7 yards per carry.
"I feel good," he said. "The foot's a nonfactor, doesn't hurt. It didn't give me any problems last year. The knee thing, it hasn't given me any problems the last 2 years. It's actually stronger than the other leg."
Brown is looking forward to the opportunity to play with quarterback Michael Vick.
"One of the things I was looking for in this situation was the stability of the quarterbacks here," he said. "That's not a knock on Miami, but since I've been there, I think I played with maybe 12 or 13 guys at that position. So, just to have a little bit of stability is going to make a lot of difference."
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