The Rutgers football team unveiled and moved into its new locker room on Tuesday to much excitement from the players. The renovations were made possible thanks to a $4 million gift from Greg and Anna Brown made last summer.
Greg Brown, is a member of the Rutgers Board of Governors and 1982 graduate and Anna is a grandchild of Henry and Anna Starr, who created the Rutgers University Psychological Clinic in the late 1920s.
It isn't the first time the Brown's donated money to the school as in 2009, he pledged $2.5 million to name the Brown Football Recruiting Pavilion and Welcome Center inside SHI Stadium in the middle of the student section and in 2012, Greg was honored by Motorola with a $1.5 million gift to establish the Gregory Q. Brown Chair in Cell Biology and Neuroscience at Rutgers.
"Last night most of you guys probably saw on social media. We just had a great event and a great moment for our football team when we opened The Brown Family Locker Room. It was awesome to see the energy and enthusiasm from our players when we added this piece to our facilities here," Rutgers football head coach Chris Ash said in his press conference.
"I can't thank enough the people that worked every single day on this project.I want to thank Pat Hobbs for his persistence in trying to push this thing along. Also want to thank all the facility people, the development team, the workers that were there every single day tearing out the old locker room and building the new one. There's so many people that put in a lot of time and effort and energy into getting that thing done and they did it first class."
"Obviously I want to mention a huge, huge thank you to Greg and Anna Brown for their continued support of just Rutgers university overall. The projects they have done at this university, not only for the football program but athletics too is just amazing. They are helping to try and make this place the best that it can be. Last night was just an awesome moment for our team and for them and for everybody else that was there. So I want to thank them all."
On Wednesday at the Scarlet Knights' annual local Media Day, TKR chatted with a number of players and coaches and got their reaction to the new locker room.
RUNNING BACK AARON YOUNG: "I was very impressed compared to the last locker room. Millions of dollars were spent and I'm extremely thankful for the Brown family for giving it to us. The biggest difference is how open it is and spread out."
RUNNING BACK RAHEEM BLACKSHEAR: “It’s amazing. There’s new technology and everything. They did a great job. It’s amazing. My favorite part is how they put the waterfall block ‘R’ in there. It’s crazy.”
OFFENSIVE GUARD ZACH VENESKY: "Phenomenal. Going into my fifth and last year, I'm just happy I get to experience this. The biggest thing I like about it is the more space in the showers and as a big dude, you need your space in the showers."
OFFENSIVE TACKLE RAIQWON O'NEAL: “Man, it’s sweet. The Brown family they did it. They did it for us. I love it.”
DEFENSIVE END MIKE TVERDOV: "It was absolutely amazing. I was in awe when they showed it us for the first time. The Brown family was very generous for doing that and we are all extremely grateful. That was something that we are going to appreciate the rest of our time here. It is a first-class facility and we are very fortunate that we have it here at Rutgers."
LINEBACKER TYSHON FOGG: The locker room is crazy, man. I'm still walking around and looking at it saying, 'This is ridiculous (in a good way)'. It's a major difference from last season to now. The main difference is the space. There's air within the locker room and the feeling of it. After a long day, it is a nice spot to relax and chill."
LINEBACKER OLAKUNLE FATUKASI: “They are amazing. It got me thinking like we man, we need to create new memories for this upcoming season. There’s a lot more room.”
CORNERBACK TRE AVERY: Oh yeah, the locker room is nice. It’s one of the best I’ve seen since I was being recruited and all of the locker rooms I’ve been in. We definitely appreciate it. There’s more room. There’s a lot of places where I can put different things.”
DLINE COACH COREY BROWN: “It’s awesome. It really is. It’s first class. It’s nice to have and we thank the Brown family for it.”
CORNERBACKS COACH JAY VALAI: “I love the new locker room. It’s awesome to see what it was to what it is now. It’s another tool for success. The trending line we’re on is going up. It’s going to be fun.”
