THE SIDELINES : Basketball Player Joins NFL

ATLANTA — Karl Brown, who played soccer in his native England and was the sixth man on Georgia Tech’s Final Four basketball team this year, has agreed to a free-agent contract with the NFL’s Denver Broncos--even though he has never played football.

“I don’t even know how to put on a helmet,” said Brown, who agreed to terms with the Broncos on Thursday and will be in Denver on Saturday for the start of minicamp and to officially sign a contract.

The Broncos project the 6-foot-2, 187-pound Brown, a native of Leicester, England, who played guard on Tech’s basketball squad, as a defensive back.