Nathan Brown, Marquez Branson head to mini-camps

Former University of Central Arkansas football players Nathan Brown and Marquez Branson, who have signed free-agent contracts with NFL teams, report to mini-camp today.

Brown, a quarterback, signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Branson, a tight end, signed with the Denver Broncos.

Brown, the SLC Player of the Year and most prolific passer in Arkansas collegiate history with 10,558 yards and 100 touchdowns, realizes the importance of mini-camp.

"This is the first impression and you can only have one of those,' he said. "That's something, as a rookie, you have to try to go in and make your mark. It's not the end-all, be-all, but at the same time, it's such a cut=throat business, you have to perform. You have to learn as fast and as much as possible. Hopefully, Marquez and I can both do that and take advantage of this opportunity.'

"I plan to learn as much as I can, and make sure I make myself a little bit of a foundation for when we go back for our next workouts, when we go back for good," Branson said.. "I want to get myself acclimated to the system and learn how things are run. It's going to be a lot like going to college all over again.'

"My main goal, especially playing quarterback, is to establish myself as a leader,' Brown said. "Learn as much about the coaching staff and the organization as I possibly can because that's important as a quarterback, to know what goes into their thought process and how they run their organization."

"The one thing that I'm looking forward to is receiving the playbook,' Brown said. "I'll probably be keeping my nose in it 24-7 until the end of camp. I'm already a step behind those other three quarterbacks who will be in camp so I need to learn as much as possible."