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For much of the spring and early summer, former Lassiter football standout Kerry Brown has been spending a lot of time between his residence in Boone, N.C. and Ashburn, Va. just outside Washington, D.C.

Brown, a 6-foot-5, 305-pound offensive lineman, who won three NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) titles at Appalachian State, signed an undrafted rookie free agent contract with the Washington Redskins in April and has since been practicing with the team at the Redskins Park training facility.

"I've been going back-and-forth between there and Boone participating in practices with the team," Brown said. "I went to mini-camp right after the draft. Then we had two weekends of Organized Team Activities (OTAs) and then another three weekends of OTAs. It's been hectic, but worth every minute."

Brown has survived NFL mini-camp and OTAs to remain on the Redskins roster. He will climb his toughest hurdle beginning today as the team opens training camp at Redskins Park.

"I'm definitely excited about training camp," Brown said. "For me, anytime to play football is exciting. It's camp; it's the start of a new season. It's such a different league of players and expectations than you would find in college or high school. It's a whole new experience and I'm happy about going.

"I'm also a little nervous because I'm leaving this college town that I've lived in for so long. Packing up things for what I hope will be an extended stay."

Brown mentioned that he won't have a problem living in Ashburn because it reminds him a lot of Marietta.

"I'm a hunter," Brown said. "And you can see deer along the road at night because of the developing going on in the area. Overall, though, it's a nice place that's only 10 minutes from farmland. Ashburn is like what Marietta was 10 to 15 years ago."

Much like the suburban city comparisons, NFL training camp will have some comparisons to Brown's college spring and early season practices.

"I feel like I'm the freshman again trying to adjust," Brown said. "The learning curve will be more intense, but we'll still go through blocking and conditioning drills and learning the plays. Practice is practice and you work as hard as you can."

Heading into his first professional NFL training camp, Brown has no illusions about what to expect.

"There will be lots of questions regarding how (new Redskins) coach (Jim) Zorn will tailor things. We'll follow a schedule and and I'll get reps in with guys that have been here for several years. Camp will be more intensive than what we've done so far and it will be more time consuming. We'll study the playbook and learn the fundamentals."

Brown also noted that one of the biggest differences between his college and pro camps are the players.

"Adjusting to the age gap in the pros has been interesting. In college, you have a four or five year difference between seniors and freshmen. In the NFL, there are guys here that are more than 10 years older and playing along side me.

"I just try to soak up as much knowledge from the veterans as possible. They help out a lot and you just try to learn from what they do. Veterans like Jansen, (Pro Bowler) Chris Samuels, Casey Rabach and Pete Kendall, I'm definitely glad I'm there with them. They don't try to intimidate you. They're a great group of guys."

Brown's experiences haven't always been rosy. As a rookie, he's had to endure some of the hazing he dished out to first-year players at App. State.

"I'm getting some of the rookie hazing already, but I've done my share in the past. (Nine-year NFL veteran offensive tackle) Jon Jansen graduated from Michigan and he makes me carry around his helmet since App. State beat Michigan last season. As a matter of fact, all of the guys I've beaten for NCAA championships are giving me a hard time too."

Heading to training camp is a big move for Brown, but it's not the only big move for his family. His sister, Kristy, a former basketball standout at Stetson, accepted an assistant coaching position at Shorter College on July 16.

"I'm happy she's moving back to Georgia," Brown said. "She's been down in Florida for a while and I'm happy for her that she got the job and will be closer to home. She'll be a great asset to Shorter College."

Brown's move to Ashburn isn't permanent. Redskins training camp runs through July 28 and the first preseason game is slated for Aug. 3 at 8 p.m. when the Indianapolis Colts take on the Redskins in the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio.

Four more preseason games follow leading to the Redskins first regular season contest on Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. at the depending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants. Brown could get cut from the team at any point, but he's excited to have made it this far.

"I won't feel like I'm a Redskin until I've played for an entire regular season," Brown said. "One of my goals was to make it to training camp, and now I've done that. Next is to get through camp and make the team. Anybody can get cut, so I try not to think about it. I just work as hard as I can."

Brown realized the harsh reality of trying to make an NFL roster one day after walking into the locker room and seeing an empty locker in his area. He thought it was his and figured his time was up, but when he got closer, he realized it was the locker next to his that was empty.

"I'm really optimistic about the whole thing," said Brown, who will room with either fellow rookies Devin Clark from New Mexico or third-round pick Chad Rinehart from Northern Iowa during camp.

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