Tim Brown was introduced into the Hall of Fame in August: Photo from Facebook
On June 20 Woodrow Wilson High School alum Teresa Gibson opened her computer to an email from eBay alerting her to some new items she might be interested in. One of those items was Tim Brown’s Woodrow Wilson Hall of Fame plaque.
“And I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, that shouldn’t be on there,’ ” Gibson recalls.
Woodrow graduate Tim Brown won a Heisman Trophy in 1987 and went on to become one of the greatest wide receivers in the National Football League. He was formally inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame back in August.
Woodrow also honored Brown with a spot in the Woodrow Wilson High School Hall of Fame and gave him a plaque. So what was that plaque doing on eBay?
Gibson reached out to other Woodrow alumni via the alumni Facebook page to seek advice. Some encouraged her to place a bid on it, while others immediately made some calls to try to find out if Brown was in fact missing his plaque. His family confirmed he was. The plaque, among the items, had been stolen.
Another Woodrow alum Jason Kulas placed a high bid on the plaque to ensure it would make its way from New York, where it had somehow ended up, back to Dallas.
“The main thing was just to get it back,” says Gibson.
Today, at the event at Woodrow in which Brown was honored by The Pro Football Hall of Fame, the alumni association had the opportunity to return Brown’s stolen plaque.
The best part? Brown had no idea.
The alumni association wanted to give it back to him during the homecoming game, but he wasn’t able to make it. “So this was our first time to be able to give it to him in person,” Gibson explains.
So not only was today a chance to honor a member of the Woodrow community, but it was also a chance to remember the kind of community Woodrow is, Kulas says.
“I think this is a good example of the Woodrow community and how everyone supports each other,” he explains. “This obviously involves a celebrity, but I think it’s true in all cases, that people look out for each other. Everybody involved in this would have done the same thing for anyone involved in the Woodrow community, so to me that’s what makes this special.”
