Just like every kid he grew up with, Cullen Brown thought his dad, Roger, could be embarrassing.
“That’s just how parents are when you’re young,” Brown said.
What was different about his dad, though, was that he had a Super Bowl ring.
Roger Brown played three seasons in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers, New York Giants and New England Patriots; he won the Super Bowl in 1990 with the Giants.
When Cullen Brown was drafted by the California Redwoods in the second round of the 2026 College Draft, he became a professional athlete, just like his dad.
He’s willing to do whatever it takes to carve out his spot and help the team win games.
“I’m super flexible because in this league, being a plug-and-play player is super valuable,” Brown said. “That’s going to get you on rosters. I just wanted to let them know that I was willing to do whatever the team needed for whatever game, whatever weekend we were playing on.”
Cullen Brown saw his dad’s memorabilia not only every day in his own basement, but also in his grandma’s house, which was filled with relics from his dad’s football career. When Cullen’s friends came over and asked to see different things, he realized how cool his dad was.
That set a precedent for a family that loved sports.
Brown’s mother, Courtney Sullivan, was a lawyer, practicing counterterrorism for the government, but at home, she played T-ball in the backyard with Cullen, the baby of the family.
His brother, Blake, played basketball, and his middle sister, Parker, played lacrosse at Iona College. Their dad was very involved in Parker’s lacrosse training and brought Cullen along with them. He remembers going to her high school on Saturday mornings and watching her run 100-yard dashes. Seeing her work influenced him to do something similar.
Brown’s dad took him to his first lacrosse practice with a neighborhood team called the Silver Spring Warriors, and he fell in love.
“There was no one right way to do things,” Brown said. “You go to a lot of different sports, and it’s like, ‘This is the exact way to do this.’ I thought lacrosse was a super creative sport in that way. No one goal looks the same. No one defender looks the same.
“Look at the league. Probably the best defender in the league is Gavin Adler. People think he probably plays attack when they first look at him. … There’s no one right look or no one right way to do it. It’s the creativity that made me fall in love with it.”
Brown played lacrosse and basketball at The Landon School in Bethesda, Md. One of the first few recruiting letters he received was from former Ohio State associate head coach Travis Crane. Brown called him on Sept. 1; he felt a closeness to Crane, and he fell in love with Ohio State when he visited the campus.
In his senior year, Brown was a first-team All-Big Ten selection, the Big Ten Men’s Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team USILA All-American.
He also caught the attention of one of the program’s most notable alumni: Anthony Kelly. The Redwoods head coach went to many Buckeyes games and got to watch Brown up close.
“I think the world of Cullen Brown,” Kelly said. “He’s incredible in transition. He offers something new for us on the clear to be able to get the ball up and out. Transition has been a major focal point for us and a lot of discussion we’ve had there. I think he offers a really big fix for us in that department.”
After being drafted, Brown did not attend Redwoods training camp, and he did not play in either of the team’s first two games. When he arrived ahead of the third game in Charlotte, he got to work getting to know his new teammates.
Co-captains and short-stick defensive midfielders Brian Tevlin and Chris Merle helped get him up to speed. Chris Fake put his arm around him immediately. Carter Rice, his roommate on the road, gave him tips on how to handle life in the PLL as a rookie.
Brown also took the opportunity to talk with 2025 Rookie of the Year Chris Kavanagh. Ohio State played Notre Dame every year of Brown’s career in a Midwest rivalry, and he matched up against Kavanagh twice during the 2025 season.
“He’s, obviously, athletically gifted and very skillful, but his IQ is the thing that takes him to the next level,” Brown said. “I was like, ‘I’m so happy I’m on your team now. It was not fun going against you and guarding you.’”
While Brown worked to get comfortable with his new teammates, he was thrown into the fire right away, drawing a matchup against 2025 MVP Connor Shellenberger.
“I was like, ‘Maybe this is the way that, if I play well, I can immediately make a name for myself in this league,’” Brown said. “Everybody’s going to be saying he should probably be eating me up, but I can go out there and battle with him. Even if he notches a couple, if I show I can fight, I can establish myself a little bit in this league. It was a good opportunity.”
Brown kept him quiet for most of the game. While Shellenberger scored two goals, both came from pick plays designed to get Brown off of him.
The rookie defender also picked up two ground balls and scored a goal, and California won 12-11.
“At that moment, we were all like, ‘Yeah, this guy can play,’” Merle said. “He can win. He’s athletic. He’s young. He’s fiery. I think he’s been such a great addition.”
Since then, Brown has been deployed both at close defense and as a long-stick midfielder, and he’s drawn a variety of matchups. He’s guarded smaller, shifty players like Sam King and Ryan Stines, lefty shooter Coulter Mackesy, pass-first quarterback Brendan Nichtern, midfielder Aidan Carroll and another MVP candidate in CJ Kirst.
“He’s someone who has the size and the ability and the lacrosse IQ to step in and play right away, and I’m very proud of him,” Redwoods defensive coordinator Chris Collins said. “We’re challenging him, and it’s more of what else can we get in front of him to heighten and highlight the minutes he’s playing to allow him to keep growing as a player.”
Despite the responsibility thrust upon Brown, he acknowledged that defense is a team effort that requires the entire group to work together on rotations and switches.
While he is one part of a group, his teammates and coaches have been impressed.
“I think he’s a great player, and he’s a huge addition for us, especially – unfortunately – with the injuries that we’ve had this year,” veteran LSM Jared Conners said. “He has stepped into some serious shoes, especially with his first game guarding Shelly. It’s clear that he’s an athlete and player that we thought was, and I think for him, it’s just going to continue to keep pushing himself and making those drives.”
“In a pro game, you don’t have the depth that you do in college,” goalie Dillon Ward said. “You’ve got to be able to do a little bit of everything and step in where you need to step in. For him to be able to play up top, play down low, and be able to cover and then also create offense in the fast breaks and score, he’s got a lot of pieces to his game that you need to be a successful pro. … I think he’s going to be a great player.”
Brown has an important weekend coming up. The Redwoods, who have lost two games in a row, have a chance to quickly right the ship with games against the Carolina Chaos and New York Atlas.
The games will be played in Columbus, where Brown lives and will play for the first time since turning pro. His mom and sister Parker will be there to visit him and cheer him on.
While lacrosse plays a big role in Brown’s life, his family — which also includes his oldest sister, Shawna, and her four sons — means everything to him.
Brown has one of his dad’s jerseys hanging up in his home. After this season, he plans to put one of his own up on the wall next to it.
“My family means so much to me, and my last name means a lot,” Brown said. “I’m definitely going to send them a picture of that, make them super proud. I try my best to represent my last name. Lacrosse is only part of that. Being a good uncle, being a good little brother, that stuff is more important to me, for sure.”
