Jon Brockman; the Legend of the Brockness Monster

In Wednesday's Seattle Times, Jerry Brewer wrote a great article about former Husky and now Milwaukee Brewer, Jon Brockman. You can link to the article from the headline but here's an excerpt of that article.

Look at Brockman now. On determination, on hustle, on his trademark desire to get every rebound in sight, the Snohomish native has acquired greater NBA security than originally imagined. He had to be traded from Sacramento to Milwaukee to get it, but with a new three-year contract, Brockman has defied the meager expectations of a second-round draft pick. Besides $3 million, his reward is unimaginable popularity.

The tough guy who seemingly broke his nose every other game with the Huskies now goes by a fitting new handle — the Brockness Monster. He has more than 320,000 followers on Twitter. Shaquille O'Neal has taken a liking to him, too. Sometimes, men in hard hats do become famous.

"It definitely kind of shocks me," Brockman said. "I don't know when it happened or why it happened, but I've been having fun with it. It's pretty cool."

Brockman went to Milwaukee last week to get acquainted with his new team. On that trip, he also attended a Brewers baseball game and heard numerous shouts of "Welcome to Milwaukee, Brockness Monster!" He has T-shirts that read "I believe in The Brockness Monster," and his former coach, Lorenzo Romar, even donned one last season.

Still, the 6-foot-7, 255-pound forward laughs at the attention. He didn't realize that on-court relentlessness, a little personality and averages of 2.8 points and 4.1 rebounds could go so far. Brockman isn't satisfied being a bench-warming fan favorite. Simply being in Sacramento's rotation made his rookie season a success. Now, he hopes to play an essential role on a team that made the playoffs last season.