{"id":36262,"date":"2021-10-17T16:35:57","date_gmt":"2021-10-17T21:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=36262"},"modified":"2021-10-17T18:24:10","modified_gmt":"2021-10-17T23:24:10","slug":"nfl-legends-tony-dorsett-tim-brown-share-nascar-connections-at-autotrader-echopark-automotive-500","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2021\/10\/17\/nfl-legends-tony-dorsett-tim-brown-share-nascar-connections-at-autotrader-echopark-automotive-500\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL legends Tony Dorsett, Tim Brown share NASCAR connections at Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of TMS Media Relations<\/em><\/p>\n

FORT WORTH, Texas \u2013 Football legends Tony Dorsett and Tim Brown were on hand Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway to serve as co-Grand Marshals for the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500, but the duo actually enjoys a long history with NASCAR.<\/p>\n

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Tim Brown and Tony Dorsett. TMS photo<\/p><\/div>\n

Brown was part of NASCAR\u2019s Drive for Diversity program in the early 2000s with a goal of starting a racing team to attract minorities to the sport, from employees to fans to sponsors. He was able to secure a technical alliance with Roush Fenway Racing and was making progress, but his dream of becoming a NASCAR team owner unfortunately never materialized.<\/p>\n

\u201cI retired (from the NFL) in 2005 and at my retirement speech, I made the announcement that I was going to be going into NASCAR to try to start a team,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWe almost got it done. I was working with Roush Racing and it got close, but the financial crash of 2008 killed me so we stepped away.<\/p>\n

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Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 Columbia Toyota, (C) poses for photos with NFL Hall of Famers Tony Dorsett (L) and Tim Brown prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on October 17, 2021 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very happy to see the guys in NASCAR now. The minorities who are involved with NASCAR is a little bit overdue but I\u2019m glad to see these guys out here having a good time. Had a chance to meet Bubba (Wallace) today and glad to see him out here and making things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dorsett said he had been to a few NASCAR races over the years but revealed that he had been a fan growing up in Aliquippa, Pa.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been watching NASCAR racing for a long time,\u201d Dorsett said. \u201cStarted back at my home in Pennsylvania when I was a little kid. I\u2019ve been to a few races but it\u2019s always good to be someone like us taking part in such an outstanding sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dorsett and Brown had the honor of giving the \u201cGentlemen, Start Your Engines\u201d command to the 39-driver NASCAR Cup Series field and get the opening Round of 8 NASCAR Playoff race underway. Click here to watch Dorsett and Brown give the command.<\/p>\n

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NFL Hall of Famers Tony Dorsett (L) and Tim Brown give the command to start engine prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on October 17, 2021 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t get Tony started, I\u2019m trying to get on his rhythm, and he\u2019s changed it three times already today,\u201d said Brown, laughing. \u201cI heard there is going to be a cue card out there to get the words right. I thought I would have gotten the opportunity (to do the command) before, but I haven\u2019t so this is going to be great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m thrilled to be out at the track to say the words, \u2018Gentlemen, start your engines!\u2019\u201d Dorsett said. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to it. I had a chance to do it once before. It\u2019s always good to have a couple of football players crossing over to NASCAR and be out here to support the drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to sharing the command, Brown and Dorsett also are working together on a special project that is being produced by NFL Films. They are part of a group, known as H2H, of only 10 men in the history of college and pro football who have won a Heisman Trophy and been enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame; an accomplishment so rare that more men have walked on the moon.<\/p>\n

Dorsett won the Heisman Trophy in 1976 at the University of Pittsburgh, where the running back led the Panthers to a national championship. After a stellar NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys, which included winning Super Bowl XII, the NFL\u2019s 10th all-time leading rusher was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994.<\/p>\n

Brown earned his Heisman Trophy in 1987 at Notre Dame as a wide receiver and returner before embarking on an outstanding NFL career with the Los Angeles Raiders that included being named to the NFL\u2019s All Decade Team of the 1990s. Brown, who ranks among the top 10 in NFL history in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Perfect 10\u201d tells the life story of Dorsett, Brown and the eight other men and the collective group\u2019s rare accomplishment. \u201cThe Perfect 10\u201d is planned to air next fall in conjunction with the start of the 2022 college and NFL seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2015 when I was literally on my way to my induction speech, a buddy of mine came up to me and said, \u2018Do you know you\u2019re only the ninth guy to be inducted (who won a Heisman)\u2019 and I said there must be 30 guys to be inducted, not only nine,\u201d Brown recalled. \u201cLiterally on the bus to the enshrinement I googled it and had to look it up. Google only had eight guys because I was the ninth. I was a little surprised by that so we got together afterwards and thought what an incredible legacy we left on the field, let\u2019s see what we can do off the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Media center interviews:<\/h3>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/NCSTMSBrownDorsett101721.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of TMS Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas \u2013 Football legends Tony Dorsett and Tim Brown were on hand Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway to serve as co-Grand Marshals for the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500, but the duo actually enjoys a long history with NASCAR. Brown was part of NASCAR\u2019s Drive for Diversity program in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":36263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,540],"tags":[16,21,855,853],"class_list":["post-36262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-texas-motor-speedway","category-raceday","tag-nascar","tag-texas-motor-speedway","tag-tim-brown","tag-tony-dorsett"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/NFLlegends.jpg?fit=1200%2C782&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-9qS","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36262"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36285,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36262\/revisions\/36285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}