Jonathan Brown (born 29 October 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer and radio presenter. He is the former captain of the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League Previously widely regarded as one of the premier players in the competition, Brown is a three-time club Best and fairest winner, two-time All Australian (2007 and 2009), one-time Coleman Medallist and three-time AFL premiership player. Early life Brown was born in Port Fairy, in Victoria's south west, to mother Mary and father Brian (a former Fitzroy and Essendon player). He is the eldest of three brothers. Brown grew up on his family's property and attended school at Emmanuel College Warrnambool. He grew up a Fitzroy fan and began playing Australian rules at an early age, playing school football and cricket with the Emmanuel College Hawks. Brown began playing senior football with the South Warrnambool Football Club at the age of 15. He began senior cricket at about the same time and was a stand-out left-arm fast bowler. He played A-Grade cricket with Wesley CBC where he was Cricketer of the Year two years in a row and played in a senior premiership. He was also invited to play in the Victorian under-17 squad. However, he focused on Australian rules, pursuing a dream of following Ted Whitten to represent Victoria in State of Origin. Brown drew the attention of AFL recruiters while playing under-18 representative football for the Geelong Falcons in 1999 at the national carnival in Brisbane when he was named as an All-Australian. AFL career Drafting and first year: 1999–2000 Brown was selected by the Brisbane Lions in the 1999 AFL Draft under the father–son rule. His father considered Brisbane a good option when Leigh Matthews became the senior coach, despite Hawthorn showing interest in recruiting him. Upon moving to Brisbane, he was immediately groomed as the club's next centre half-forward. The next year, in Round 5, he played his first senior game for the Lions as an 18-year-old against the Adelaide Crows. His best game in his opening year came against Fremantle in the final round of the season when he had 23 disposals and scored two goals. Four consecutive Grand Finals: 2001–2004 Playing in a team which included three Brownlow Medalists (Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis and Simon Black), Brown participated in four consecutive AFL Grand Finals and was a part of three consecutive premierships in 2001, 2002 and