The former Warren Western Reserve football player moved to Atlanta before his senior year of high school, but Warren is where he and his family grew up, so he still considers it his hometown.

He was part of the Second Annual Warren Legends Reunion and Celebrity Golf Outing over the weekend, and during his trip back to Trumbull County, he realized something: home has changed — a lot.

“It’s been 40 years since I’ve been around town,” said Browner, one of several Browners who was raised in Warren and became a football superstar. “You can see how the west side has depreciated a lot. The east side looks like it’s doing well, and you go to Niles, and it looks like it’s doing better. I’ve definitely seen the change in scenery since when we used to play here, and it was a strong community.

“Both (schools) are combined now, but it’s not as strong or proud as we had when we played. But that’s why we come back, to try and give to the kids and tell them the importance of sticking together and to bring the best out in each other.”

Tribune Chronicle / R. Michael Semple Jason Banasiewicz of Boardman, a Warren City Schools employee, makes a long birdie putt on the Par 4 #9 green while playing in the Warren Legends Golf Outing Mondfay...by R. Michael Semple

Those reasons are a big part of why Warren Gridiron Club chairperson Virginia Holmes created the Legends event. While the fundraising factor is obviously integral to the occasion ($45,000 were raised last year, including a $20,000 donation from the Cleveland Browns), Holmes said the encouragement and guidance offered to the kids from some of Warren’s all-time great players is invaluable.

No one sees that more clearly than Warren G. Harding football coach Steve Arnold. The legends, all of whom were Warren natives and eventually made it to the NFL, came to speak to the Raiders on Saturday afternoon, one day after a tough 28-24 defeat to Ursuline dropped Harding to 0-4. The legends were honored at halftime of the game, so they saw some of the positives and negatives of the team.

“The message that they gave overall was to just continue to play hard,” Arnold said. “We’re facing adversity, and you’ve got to get up off the ground, deal with it and respond. All those legends, they didn’t get the achievements that they were able to accomplish without going through some adversity. They tried to convey that as well.”

Warren’s most accomplished former player, Pro Football Hall of Famer Paul Warfield, was one of several legends who spoke at Harding’s varsity house Saturday. He said there were various messages given by the group. Dealing with adversity, both in sports and in life, was the main topic, and he wanted to make sure the players understood he knew how they were feeling and that positives can come from their tribulations.

“Adversity builds character,” said Warfield of what he told the players. “Life, hopefully it’s smooth sailing, but there’s going to be some rough sailing occasionally, but the ability to stand in there and weather that storm is what counts. That builds the character that has the necessary tools for success.

“This program has went through its ups and downs. When I was a youngster coming into it, it was in a down era. We had a great young coach who came in there and reinvigorated not only the team but the community and built something that stands to this day. So, as the old saying goes, tough times don’t last, tough people do.”

The weekend included a Sunday evening dinner at Trumbull Country Club and concluded Monday with a golf outing at TCC. Holmes said the event was mostly a success, even though participation and funding was down from last year. She said they still raised a significant amount of money (an exact figure had yet to be determined), with all proceeds going to the football program. She added that she hopes the realization of Warren’s current state initiates a continued effort of support from some of Warren’s most successful members.

“They understand now that we don’t have the financial pool that we used to have in Warren,” she said. “My idea behind the Legends event was to reach out to those (alumni) that are left and that are doing fairly well and find out how they could assist the program. That was the key. The majority of our funds last year came from outside of the city. …

“We really want to do the best we can for our students. The city is shrinking, and I don’t know if people realize that.”

If some of the legends didn’t know before, they do now.