And, for much of his career he has struggled to define himself - was he a key forward, key defender, undersized ruckman or overgrown midfielder?
But in The Age on Wednesday Brown was cast as the AFL's new prototype. One blessed with all of the Vitruvian Man's geometrical symmetry, save for a strategically placed AFL logo that covered his private parts.
In the accompanying column, Jake Niall wrote that Brown's ability to alternate between second ruck, half-forward and deep in attack for Collingwood last year - and, hence, to spend more time on the ground - had given the Pies an edge in rotations, one that would likely be amplified this year under the new substitute rule.
With team's benches to be reduced from four players to three and a substitute this season, Niall said other clubs were now frantically looking for candidates to fill the "the Leigh Brown role".
Carlton had been trying to teach key forwards Setanta O'hAilpin and Levi Casboult the art of ruck work over summer, he said.
The 28-year-old Brown, who had stints at Fremantle and North Melbourne before joining the Magpies at the end of 2008, was typically modest when asked about his impact on the game.
"I think experience, versatility, has helped me stay in the game for this length of time," he said.
"I'm not sure we can classify it as a Leigh Brown role, but I guess everyone's got to be more versatile especially with the new rule coming in.
"So, for the substitute rule, I think we'll find a lot of players who are lot more versatile, playing many positions."
Meanwhile, the growing number of Mark Blake bashers, many of them Geelong supporters, would also have noted Niall's comment that the new substitute rule would work against one-dimensional tap ruckmen like Blake.
The premiership window
You can't help but wonder whether Leonardo, with his brilliant scientific mind and artistic genius, could have come up with a diagram and accompanying notes that adequately explained the premiership window.
It's clearly a task beyond St Kilda coach Ross Lyon. In dealing with yet another question on whether the Saints window is now closed following their 2009 and 2010 Grand Final defeats, Lyon expressed confidence in his team's ability but none in the window.
"It's yet to be proven. The window is just a hypothetical model and it's hard to deal in hypotheticals," Lyon told the Herald Sun on Wednesday.
"The reality is we've still got a relatively young core group - only a couple of players over 30 - and it's a healthy and keen group.
"The game plan needs to be tweaked a bit, (we need to) find a bit more balance with the attack. We know you can't win finals until you're in them, so the precursor to that is home and away football, hard work and trying to create enough wins."
Meanwhile, a former coach, Terry Wallace, didn't stray into existential debates about the window, but he did tell the Herald Sun that Carlton's would remain open for just two more seasons.
It's a big call by the former Western Bulldogs and Richmond coach. And it's a view we're sure is not shared by the powerbrokers at Visy Park, no matter how keen Messrs Swann and Kernahan are for coach Brett Ratten to lead the Blues into the top four this season.
We, too, see the Blues as a young side that's on the way up. One that's been rebuilt on three consecutive No.1 picks from the 2005-2007 NAB AFL Drafts, with those players set to enter the 2011 home and away season at the ripe old ages of 23 (Marc Murphy), 22 (Bryce Gibbs) and 21 (Matthew Kreuzer).
But Wallace, never one to shy away from controversy, said Carlton's aggressive trading in recent years, in which it had sacrificed draft picks for Chris Judd, now 27, Brock McLean, 25 in March, and Robert Warnock, 24, had cost them a generation of players that would have come through with Murphy, Gibbs and Kreuzer.
Add this to the club's batch of older players such as Judd, Jarrad Waite, 28, Setanta O'hAilpin, 28 in March, and Heath Scotland, 30, Wallace said, and from 2013 the Blues would "go backwards rather than forwards".
It's interesting that Wallace does not mention the Blues have drafted extensively in the past two years.
As much as it pains the non-Carlton supporters among us, we think the players the Blues acquired then, the likes of Kane Lucas, Marcus Davies, Matthew Watson and Pat McCarthy, will give Murphy, Gibbs and Kreuzer the support they need to ensure the Blues' premiership window remains open well beyond the next two seasons.
Virgin flight
The AFL's new airline partner, Virgin Blue, faces its first major test this weekend when Hawthorn travels to Perth for the first round of the NAB Cup, The Age reports.
Virgin Blue has, the report says, guaranteed the Hawks use of all of its 12 exit-row seats. This follows an earlier unsuccessful attempt by the Hawks to charter a flight to Melbourne on Sunday night, directly after its two matches.
However, the Hawks will now spend the night in Perth and won't return to Melbourne until Monday evening.
Given their next match in the NAB Cup/NAB Challenge won't be for two weeks, that shouldn't be a problem.
However, expect to hear clubs complain long and loudly if the situation is repeated during the home and away season.
Here come the Suns
It seems the sun has got to some footy fans with the Gold Coast Bulletin reporting punters have wagered thousands of dollars on the Suns to win the AFL premiership in their debut season.
Centrebet media director Neil Evans said Gold Coast winning the 2011 premiership would be the agency's worst result, with three times more bets wagered on the Suns to win the flag than any other AFL team.
"They have been well fancied by small punters … (and) two punters have backed them to win $20,000 at $100 and another punter has had $100 each way at $101," Evans said.
"The best price offered was $126 and they are into $81 currently."
TAB Sportsbet's Gary Davies said his agency had taken more money for the Suns to win the flag then they had on highly fancied sides like the Western Bulldogs, Fremantle and St Kilda.
"It's quite bizarre and it is beyond any realms of possibility that they could win the flag," Davies said.
Mark our words - these punters can tear up their betting slips now, the Suns are about as much chance of winning the 2010 flag as Billy Brownless is of making an AFL comeback.
In short
Melbourne coach Dean Bailey said a report young midfielder Tom Scully, the No.1 pick in the 2009 NAB AFL Draft, had signed with the Greater Western Sydney Giants were unsubstantiated. Bailey was responding to Eddie McGuire's comments on his Triple M breakfast show "the tom-toms are beating very strong that the deal is done": afl.com.au
The AFL is cracking down even harder on AFL officials who bet on games, having bolstered its investigation team and expanded its database so bets by officials' partners can now be traced: afl.com.au
Saints players including Nick Riewoldt, Jason Gram and Sam Fisher meet the club's oldest living player, Ken Walker, 91, in Frankston: Herald Sun
Essendon small forward Angus Monfries is pursuing a move into the midfield: Herald Sun.
The fascination with North Melbourne rookie Majak Daw continues, the Sudanese-born tall's photo gracing the sports pages of the Herald Sun. Is he the most photographed rookie ever?
Leigh Brown said Collingwood would field its best available side in round one of the NAB Cup: afl.com.au
St Kilda tall Justin Koschitzke will miss all of the NAB Cup series as he continues his recovery for post-season ankle surgery: afl.com.au
Dual Adelaide premiership player Andrew McLeod will play with the NT Thunder in the Brisbane-based NEAFL competition this season: Northern Territory News
