Jason Brown has always made his living on a field.In 2009 he was the best-paid center in the NFL in the prime of his career.Brown was given a huge contract to join the RamsGettyThree years later he had packed it all in and found his true calling.Brown was rocked by a personal tragedy in his junior season at North Carolina when his brother Lunsford Bernard Brown II was killed in service in Iraq.“When he died, I was in the middle of my junior season at North Carolina. It was a breakout season for me on the football field, but man, that rocked me. It rocked me to my core,” Jason wrote in The Athletic.“I thought about quitting football and dropping out of school. But I told myself I could honor his legacy by trying to be the best person I could be, trying to be the best football player I could be.”NFL Weekly Newsletter - SIGN UP!talkSPORT is your home for NFL in the UK as we launch our biggest year of coverage yet!2026 promises to be an epic year for NFL on talkSPORT – and we want you to join us for the ride.MORE INFO & SIGN-UP HERE!This season will be our biggest ever with live commentary of 90+ games, including behind-the-scenes access to international games and all three London fixtures, plus bumper coverage of Super Bowl 61 at SoFi Stadium.Exclusive interviews, hard-hitting opinion, latest front-office drama and top breaking news – all delivered straight to your inbox each week.Brown graduated in communications and joined the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft.He entered free agency in 2009 in demand and earned a five-year deal worth $37.5 million to become the highest-paid center in the NFL.It would be many men’s dream, but something was not quite right for Brown who described having a mid-life crisis of sorts when he turned 27 — the his brother was when he was killed.“I said to myself that day: ‘There’s more to me, and there’s more I could do to give back.’ I did a lot of soul searching, and I prayed,” he explained in his column.Two years later, Brown was released in a brief phone call from then-Rams coach Jeff Fisher.Just like that. The NFL is a brutal arena.He was cut just three years laterGettyFisher broke the news over the phoneGettyJason Brown explains decision to retire from NFLBrown faced the biggest decision of his life and ultimately decided that his journey led away from the gridiron.“There were three NFL teams I always wanted to play for more than anything,” he explained. “The first was the Carolina Panthers, my home team. The second was the Baltimore Ravens, who drafted me. I never wanted to leave Baltimore; I loved Baltimore. And the third team was the San Francisco 49ers. My wife, Tay, is from the Bay Area.”All three were interested in Brown’s services, but the O-lineman walked away and took up farming, despite having no idea what he was doing.The answer was apply the work ethic and dedication years of pro football had given him.“When I played football, I watched countless hours of film before every game,” he said. “I did the same thing with farming. I watched countless hours of YouTube videos, trying to emulate what I saw and transfer it to the farm field, the same way I transferred game film to the football field.”“Our very first year, we had a huge, better-than-expected yield of sweet potatoes. That gave me confidence to keep going.NFL's Greatest......Ranking the top 10......Quarterbacks of all-time – Can anyone better Tom Brady?Wide receivers of all-time – Does Randy Moss or Jerry Rice come out on top?Running backs of all-time – Stacking Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith and moreTight ends of all-time – How does Travis Kelce compare?“Every single day, I focus on the simple things. Collecting eggs. Taking care of the crops, the fruit and nut trees, the perennials. We call them our farm chores. The fundamentals.”Brown talks about farming the way athletes talk about their craft, and the end of the day it is all about putting the hours in and teamwork.“I don’t have to force it on my children to teach them discipline, work ethic and responsibility. It’s built into the farm culture,” explained Brown.“When I see them connect the dots, I feel like a coach seeing a player executing a play perfectly. I remember that twinkle in my coach’s eye and the sound in their voice when they saw me get it.”Brown’s First Fruits Farm acts as a non-profit Christian ministry and has grown over two million pounds of food, which is donated to help those in need.The former pro earned around $25 million on the football field. What he found off it is priceless.