New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown immediately called his father after receiving an invitation from Tom Coughlin to attend the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation’s annual Champions for Children Gala earlier this month.
“When he asked me to come by the event, I actually called my dad,” Brown told reporters last week. “I said, ‘Hey dad, I just spoke with Tom Coughlin and am going to go do this and this,’ and my dad got excited, too.”
Brown, who led the Knicks to their first NBA championship in 53 years this spring, joined the two-time Super Bowl-winning Giants coach on stage at Pier 60 at Chelsea Piers. The gala raised $1.6 million for the foundation, which supports New York and New Jersey families facing childhood cancer.
“I’ve always been a fan of his from afar,” Brown said. “What he did was really, as a coach, was remarkable. And that’s what I knew him as back then. To go through a year at 9-7 in 2011 and 10-6 in 2007, to me, that’s what a season is about.
"You figure stuff out over the course of the year. You may not be in first place all the time, but you’re preparing for the postseason. And both those teams, in my opinion, they did it textbook. They took their lumps, they figured out how to get through the challenges and adversity throughout the course of the year, and when it was time to go for it, they did it.”
Brown also noted the difference in their demeanors.
“His presence and demeanor were almost the opposite of mine. I’m a little goofy; he’s more serious, he’s not goofy at all. And you can feel his presence," Brown said.
Coughlin and his late wife, Judy, founded the Jay Fund in 1996 in memory of Jay McGillis. In its 31st year, the organization continues to provide financial, emotional, and practical support so parents can focus on a child in treatment.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Knicks' Mike Brown raves about Tom Coughlin after joining him at Jay Fund event