The outpouring of respect for Jonathan Brown following his retirement on Monday was well deserved for a man who was universally admired, not just for his football ability, but also for simply being a ‘good bloke’.

Tributes flowed for Brown across every form of media - from teammates past and present, coaches, opponents, Lions fans, rival supporters, and even other codes.

What was clearly evident in those messages was that Brown’s character and personality helped enhance his profile as one of the AFL’s all-time greats.   

Former premiership teammate Alastair Lynch shared a story on SEN Radio in Melbourne on Tuesday morning about why Brown was known as the ‘Peoples’ Champ’ at the Lions.

“He loves the footy supporters – we used to refer to him as the ‘Peoples’ Champ’,”” Lynch said.

“He was the sort of guy that when a punter would come up and want to have a beer, and an hour later you’d have to go and save the punter because Browny would be chewing his ear off.”

Just ask any Lions fan who has interacted with Brown over the journey, and they’ll tell you that he’s just a terrific bloke - because he always had time for the fans.

And three premierships, three Club Champion awards, and 256 games didn't change the knockabout country boy one bit.

There was an instance surrounding an aftermatch function in Melbourne last year, which epitomised exactly why he’s known as the ‘Peoples’ Champ’.

Brown, who would perennially have the longest post-game recovery of any player, was banged up after this particular loss at Etihad Stadium and had bags of ice strapped to almost every part of his body.

By the time he’d completed his recovery, a few of his teammates were finishing up at the supporter function upstairs and getting ready to jump on a bus that was already running late for the airport.

Despite being under strict time constraints, Brown proceeded to hobble his way up to the function room where he addressed the crowd and signed some autographs.

It might have only been a brief cameo appearance, but he felt as though he owed the fans something as they were feeling just as low after the loss.

This is just one of the countless examples of why Jonathan Brown was loved by his fans, and why the Number 16 will continue to appear on so many Lions guernseys long into his retirement.

Please find below some of the comments that were shared following Brown’s retirement.

The thing I loved most about Jonathan Brown was his humility. He always made time to acknowledge his supporters #BrownySalute – Cherie (Twitter)

Been an incredible player but a more outstanding person #peopleschamp – Michael Voss (Twitter)

He’s an upstanding bloke; a great family man and incredibly loyal to his mates. If anything I admire him as a person even more than I do as a player – Jade Rawlings (Herald Sun)

In many ways, he’s as much a legend off the field as he was on it – Mark Robinson (Herald Sun)