Merrillville safety Warren Brown III doesn’t give his size a second thought.

The 5-foot-7, 145-pound senior simply makes plays.

“My father always told me it’s not about the size, it’s about the heart,” Brown said. “I’ve carried it since Pop Warner. I’ve been the smallest guy out there, but I have the biggest heart. I just have to show you’re not too little to do anything. You’re not too little to come down and make a play.

“It just shows how much heart you have, how much you’re willing to put in and what you’re willing to do for the team.”

Brown, who became a starter at safety midway through his sophomore season, has been a standout at the position.

“You see an undersized safety, and most people don’t want to play safety. It’s a scary position,” he said. “But you come down and make plays, it’s the best position.”

Brown has 44 tackles with five for loss and a team-high two interceptions for the Pirates (5-2, 4-1), who are ranked No. 6 in Class 5A in the state coaches poll. He also returned a punt 97 yards for a touchdown during a Duneland Athletic Conference win against Michigan City.

“I’ve been training hard and trying to uplift the guys,” Brown said. “I’ve been starting since I was a sophomore, got experience on varsity as a freshman. I’m trying to get these young guys to get a feel of how it really is out here. They’re learning. I try to tell them it’s just like practice. Just take it one play at a time, and you’ll be OK. Just go hard, and every opportunity you get, you have to make the most of it. Grab any chance you can get.

“I’m just striving for success. Hopefully I’m on track this year to keep doing it and really push our guys to our limits. It’s my senior year, so it’s really do or die for me. I’m putting everything on the line for our guys.”

This season has been a little different for Brown, who had a team-high 86 tackles last season with two for loss and two interceptions and also had a punt return for a TD.

“I don’t get the ball run to me as much,” he said. “I don’t get that much action anymore. It’s like people run away from me. But this year, it’s better because I have opportunities to chase down the ball, run across the field to make a play instead of a play coming to me. It shows me attacking to the ball and showing how I can get downhill and fly across the field.

“I like coming downhill and making a play.”

Merrillville coach Brad Seiss initially wasn’t sure that Brown could that.

“The coolest thing for him, he’s not big,” Seiss said. “But he’s a really good tackler. He’s all over the field. We had some fears when he played as a sophomore, would he come down, fill the alley on a big back, and he’s answered the call every single year. He’s been a really good player for us.

“Any time you have multiple-year starters, they help with the leadership and just getting guys in the right position. He’s a really instinctual, smart football player. When he gets the ball in his hands on defense or in the kick return game, he’s very explosive.”

Indeed, Brown has eliminated any reservations.

“He’s always been a little guy,” Seiss said. “But he’s been a really good little guy. He bucks the trend a little bit of everybody thinks you have to look a certain way or be a certain size, and he gets the job done.”

Brown has also excelled in wrestling and track. Last winter, he was a state qualifier in the 132-pound weight class after winning conference, sectional and regional titles. In the spring, he was part of the Pirates’ 1,600-meter relay that qualified for the state meet, and he also reached regionals in the 300 hurdles.

“Those other sports factor into football,” Brown said. “Wrestling helps me tackle better. In track, it’s my stamina and speed to get to the ball.”

As this season speeds along, Brown likes the direction the Pirates have been headed. They’ve advanced to a semistate in five of the past six seasons.

“We can go all the way this year,” he said. “We say it every year, and this year’s really the year. We’re young, and we’re back on track now. We had two hard losses back to back (to Loyola of Illinois and Crown Point), and it really shaped us to open our eyes to see who we really are as a team and where we need to stand. Overcoming that adversity and hump at the beginning of the season really pushed us for motivation. To go all the way down and cap it off with a state title, I’m looking forward to that.

“I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. It’s almost over with. It went by fast this year. I’m looking forward to getting after it for those last couple of weeks I have out here. It’s do or die. I’m ready to put everything on the line for the team to go out with a big bang.”

Brown has been doing his part.

“He’s a leader,” Merrillville senior offensive lineman Jamaal Cherry said. “He brings energy. If we’re down, he always has high energy. He’s just a great guy.

“He’s good at what he does. He’s explosive and powerful.”

Brown, who intends to study architecture, hopes to continue demonstrating those traits in college.

“I just need an opportunity to go out there and ball,” he said.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/07/football-merrillville-warren-brown-iii/