He’s tough, uncompromising and incredibly courageous.
But the manner in which he plays his football has been questioned this week after another sickening head injury.
Former teammates Alastair Lynch and Brad Scott this week raised concerns about Brown’s style of play and suggested that he needed to change the way he plays - not only for his own safety but that of his teammates.
In his weekly column on afl.com.au, Brown's former coach Leigh Matthews likened Brown to a warrior.
"Watching Brown is like watching a gladiator in the Colosseum - exhilarating for the spectator, but often raising the question of when courage and bravery becomes reckless and dangerous," he said.
Lynch, Scott and Matthews know Brown better than most and their concern for his health is genuine and certainly well placed.
Brown’s injuries have been horrific. Timely reminders of the risks players accept when they go into battle.
Courage, bravery, recklessness or even dangerous, call it what you like. The fact is, that’s the way Brown plays whether you like it or not.
Brown’s attack on the football is without peer. The disregard he has for his own safety is his trademark.
It’s why we love watching players like Brown, and before him Glenn Archer.
Lynch, Scott and Matthews are among a chorus of respected football figures imploring Brown to change his ways.
But asking a player like Brown to change his ways is like asking someone to change their DNA. It won’t happen.
In the same way Wayne Carey did many times, Brown instinctively runs back with the flight of the ball knowing there could be a collision and still goes anyway.
There’s no doubt Brown’s courage was a contributing factor in his latest injury.
But it's unfair to suggest that courage alone was the sole reason behind his injuries. Brown has been incredibly unlucky on both occasions.
Against Fremantle in round one, Brown was in a marking contest with Antoni Grover. After out positioning Grover, Brown took the mark but Grover’s teammate Luke McPharlin was closing from behind.
As Brown fell to the ground, McPharlin was unable to avoid contact and made contact to the side of Brown’s face with his left knee, resulting in a serious injury.
It was a more a case of wrong place, wrong time.
Against Geelong, Brown’s courage saw him once again take off with the flight of the ball. He was again out of luck.
As Brown closed in on the ball, Geelong’s Harry Taylor pushed his opponent Mitch Clarke into the path of Corey Enright and as a result Clarke was buffeted into the path of Brown.
This time, Brown contributed to his injury by running back with the flight. But replays clearly show he was unlucky in that Taylor’s actions also contributed to the end result.
While I support those people encouraging Brown to change his ways, I don’t believe he can.
You can’t change your football DNA. You’ve either got it or you don’t.
Leigh Colbert was cut from the same cloth.
Colbert’s courage was admired and revered. He played in a manner very few do. Like Brown he was courageous, brave and sometimes reckless.
If people expect Brown to heed the warnings and change his style, they need only look at Colbert to see that for players like this, it’s almost impossible.
Colbert seriously injured his pancreas against Richmond in round 11, 2003. The seriousness of the injury meant Colbert wasn’t expected to return for the rest of the year.
After missing only eight weeks, Colbert surprised everyone when he returned to the side for the round 20 match against Hawthorn.
Archer remembered seeing what his teammate went through in hospital recovering from his injury and had grave concerns for his teammate.
Archer realised how dangerous it would be if Colbert got hit in the same spot again. It was a potentially life-threatening situation.
In a pre-game conversation, Archer quietly suggested to Colbert that if a ball went over his head perhaps this time he should let it go.
Archer was imploring his teammate not to do what he had done so many times before. He didn’t want Colbert to get hit in the same spot again.
It wasn’t long before Colbert was back to his old ways. His defining moment arrived with 13 minutes left in the second quarter.
The ball was kicked high and long towards Hawthorn’s forward 50 in the direction of Jade Rawlings. As the ball sailed over his head, Colbert instinctively took of with the flight of the ball and took the mark.
Players like Colbert and Brown are rare. Neither deliberately go out to hurt themselves or their teammates, but both are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice if it means the team wins.
In my experience, players like this don’t think about consequences. It’s a quality reserved for a special few. It’s what sets them apart from the rest.
It’s who they are, it's what they do.
Jonathan Brown has made a name for himself because of his uncompromising approach to the game.
His bravery and courage are fundamental to his game in the same way his marking and kicking for goal is.
But as much as people wanted Colbert to change, and as much as those close to Brown want him to as well, I don’t think it's possible.
I don’t believe he can change his game.
However, I do hope that the next time Brown plays he has a bit of luck.
