Former Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse attackman Ryan Brown announced his retirement from the Premier Lacrosse League earlier this month at the age of 28.
Brown had an illustrious career at the collegiate, professional and international levels. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound attackman decided to retire after the Waterdogs won the 2022 PLL championship by taking down the Chaos, 11-9, in September to claim the first title in team history. The Waterdogs’ championship allowed Brown to go out while on top of the lacrosse world.
“It was kind of a decision with me and my wife,” Brown said on Glenn Clark Radio Feb. 17. “I took some injuries at the end of the season last year, a couple of concussions. … I was at a place with getting married and I now live down in Dallas, Texas, and with the travel and the weekends and trying to start a family, it felt like a good stepping-off point for me.”
Brown played at Hopkins from 2013-2016, scoring 159 goals and tallying 50 assists. Brown’s 61 goals in 2015 helped Hopkins make a run to the national semifinals. His 159 career goals rank second in program history, trailing only Terry Riordan, who scored 184 goals in the 1990s.
Legendary former Blue Jays head coach Dave Pietramala coached Brown during his four-year career at Hopkins. Pietramala posted a 205-89 record as the head coach of Hopkins, guiding the Blue Jays to two national championships and 18 NCAA Tournament appearances during his 20-year stay as head coach.
Pietramala and assistants Bill Dwan and Bobby Benson believed in Brown early on.
“I owe all my success to those three guys … [for] taking a chance on me as a recruit, so I don’t have enough good things to say about those guys,” Brown said.
After graduating, Brown went on to play lacrosse professionally for seven seasons. Brown played for the Charlotte Hounds of Major League Lacrosse from 2016-2018 before joining the PLL. In December 2020, MLL merged with the PLL, which is run by Mike and Paul Rabil.
“Where things are a lot different is Mike and Paul are next-level businessmen,” Brown said. “They’ve done such a tremendous job of making sure we feel like we’re actual pros. Guys are putting in the extra effort, the extra time, treating each weekend like it’s a legit professional sport.”
Brown tallied 180 points during his professional career. He had back-to-back 30-plus-goal seasons in 2017 and 2018 and had 20 or more goals five times. Brown also had an incredible run with USA Lacrosse, scoring 25 goals at the 2018 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in Netanya, Israel. Brown’s 25 goals led Team USA, helping the Americans win the gold medal.
“I think that was probably the most disciplined and regimented, kind of no distractions, I’ve had in my lacrosse career when it comes to training and preparation,” Brown said. “… It was one of those moments when in your life you work really hard and you see it pay off.”
Since the end of the 2022 PLL season, Brown has been working to expand lacrosse in the Dallas region. A native of Sykesville and graduate of Calvert Hall, Brown is now an assistant coach at Highland Park High School and runs a club lacrosse program.
“[Lacrosse is] blowing up, for sure, especially in the Dallas area,” Brown said. “The drive to be good I think and the seriousness it takes to be good, it’s definitely not Texas high school football yet … but there’s a serious effort to take this sport to the next level down here. I’m pumped to be a part of it.”
For more from Brown, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credits: Courtesy of the PLL and Johns Hopkins Athletics