Andre Brown (born December 15, 1986) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

and was drafted by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in the fourth round of the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. T ...

. Brown has also been a member of the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

and

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

College career

Brown played four seasons for the

, rushing for 2,539 yards and 22

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s on 523 carries. He rushed for 767 yards and seven touchdowns (both career highs) as a senior in 2008.

Professional career

First stint with the Giants

Brown was drafted by the

in the fourth round (129th overall) of the

. He suffered a ruptured

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

during training camp on August 14, which forced him to miss his rookie season. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on September 1, 2009. Brown was waived by the Giants on September 4, 2010.

Denver Broncos

On September 5, 2010, Brown was claimed off waivers by the

, waived on September 15, and then signed to the Broncos' practice squad on September 17, 2010. On September 21, 2010 Brown was signed to the active roster, and

Lance Ball Lance Ball (born June 19, 1985) is a former American football running back. He was signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at the University of Maryland. Ball has also been a member of the Ind ...

was waived. Brown himself was waived on October 16, 2010. In four regular season games with the Broncos, Brown played in three but only amassed statistics in one (two rushes for a total of minus one yard in a 31-17 road loss to the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

on October 10, 2010).

Indianapolis Colts

Brown was claimed off waivers by the

on October 18, 2010. Brown was moved to the Colts active roster on November 6, 2010, then waived on November 9, 2010. Brown did not amass any statistics in his only game with the Colts, a 26-24 road loss to the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

on November 7, 2010.

Carolina Panthers

Brown was claimed off waivers by the

on November 9, 2010, and then waived on November 16, 2010. Brown did not play in his only game with the Panthers, a 31-16 road loss to the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

on November 14, 2010.

Washington Redskins

On November 24, 2010, Brown was signed by the

and added to their active roster. He was released on July 28, 2011.

Second stint with the Giants

On August 3, 2011, Brown re-signed with the

. He was waived on September 3, but re-signed the next day to the practice squad. On February 5, 2012, Brown and the Giants won

Super Bowl XLVI Super Bowl XLVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

against the New England Patriots. After the game Brown became known for his celebratory song, "I got a ring", he and his teammates sang on the plane ride home and at the parade the following week. In March 2012, Brown was hit with a four-game suspension by the NFL for violating the league's substance abuse policy. He later claimed it was a result of

Adderall Adderall and Mydayis are trade names for a combination drug called mixed amphetamine salts containing four salts of amphetamine. The mixture is composed of equal parts racemic amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, which produces a (3:1) ratio bet ...

use and eventually won an appeal, having his suspension lifted. On September 16, after starter

Ahmad Bradshaw Ahmad Bradshaw (born March 19, 1986) is a former American football running back. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. He played college football at Marshall. He is a two-time Super Bowl champion, ...

was knocked out of the game with a neck injury, Brown rushed for 71 yards on 13 carries, converting a two-point conversion and scoring the game-winning touchdown against the

. On September 20, Brown stepped in as the starter for the Giants against the Carolina Panthers on

Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 20 ...

. Brown rushed for 113 yards on 20 carries, scoring two rushing touchdowns. He also had 3 receptions for 17 yards. On November 25, he suffered a broken fibula in the fourth quarter on a Sunday Night Football game against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

MetLife Stadium MetLife Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, 5 mi (8 km) west of New York City. Opened in 2010 to replace Giants Stadium, it serves as the home for the New York Giants an ...

, effectively ending his season. He ended the season, where he participated in 10 games, with 73 carries for 385 yards, with a 5.3 yard per carry average, after only 2 carries in the previous 3 seasons. He was eventually placed on injured reserve. In 2013, Brown injured his leg in the final preseason game for the New York Giants. He was expected back by week 10. He did return week 10 to face the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

, where he accumulated 115 yards rushing and one rushing touchdown in his 2013 debut.

Houston Texans

On April 7, 2014, Brown signed a one-year contract with the

. He was released on August 11.

References

External links

NC State Wolfpack bioHouston Texans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Andre 1986 births Living people American football running backs Carolina Panthers players Denver Broncos players Houston Texans players Indianapolis Colts players NC State Wolfpack football players New York Giants players Sportspeople from Greenville, North Carolina Players of American football from Baltimore Players of American football from North Carolina Washington Redskins players