Daniel Brown just experienced a weekend he will never forget, brought to him courtesy of the National Football League.

The former Isle of Wight Academy and James Madison University football star was headed home this past weekend, having been released from the Baltimore Ravens on Friday morning. Just days later, re-signed by the Ravens, he was making his NFL debut, which came under no less than the national spotlight of Monday Night Football.

“It was a dream come true,” Brown said. “It’s something you always dream about. And I went through preseason, and that was great and all, but then to get to play in your first actual NFL game that counts is a crazy experience.”

“You’ll never forget your first NFL game and to actually have gotten some plays in it, can’t really put it into words,” he said.

Brown, a 6-foot-5-inch wide receiver, estimated that he played 17 snaps, 10 on special teams and seven on offense, during Baltimore’s 33-27 road win against the Cleveland Browns. He was targeted once by quarterback Matt Schaub, but they could not connect.

Brown’s parents, Mike and Cathy Brown of Windsor, were on hand for their son’s debut.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Mike Brown said of getting to see his son play in an NFL game. “Not a lot of people get to experience that opportunity, and we weren’t going to miss it.”

They took a bit of a chance, making travel arrangements to Cleveland before the Ravens had actually signed their son, though the team had indicated that it would.

“We couldn’t afford to wait, so we were headed there basically win, lose or draw,” Mike Brown said.

One thing that Daniel Brown and his family have learned this season is that there are no guarantees in the NFL.

“They cut you and bring you back like there’s no tomorrow,” Mike Brown said. “So they don’t tell him anything other than, ‘Get ready for tonight.’”

Daniel Brown signed with the Ravens immediately after the preseason but was released four days later and spent nearly a month at home.

He estimated that he re-signed with them in the first week of October, and “I‘ve been with them for about seven weeks straight now.”

Since preseason, he has served not as a member of Baltimore’s active 53-man roster but rather as a member of Baltimore’s practice squad. Life for players in those two groups is much the same but for one key difference.

Practice squad players “do everything with the team, we travel with the team and then the only thing that’s different is we just don’t play on Sunday,” Brown said.

He gave a brief synopsis of his weekend that ended with him being promoted to the 53-man roster.

“Friday morning, I got released from the practice squad, and they told me they didn’t really know when they’d bring me back — it could be next week or it could be a month,” Brown said. “So, I actually packed my things, and I was 30 minutes down the road headed home, and I got a phone call, and they said to come back.”

“So they re-signed me to the practice squad on Saturday, and then Coach (John) Harbaugh had kind of hinted towards it might be more than that,” Brown continued. “So then they kind of prepped me for the game on Sunday, and then Monday morning at 8:30, they called me down for breakfast and told me that they were going to promote me.”

He said that when he reached that point on the weekend’s emotional roller coaster, he realized, “I’m finally getting my shot. So, I’m blessed to get an opportunity to showcase my skills.”