The Brown Bears are the sports teams that represent Brown University, an American university located in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

. The Bears are part of the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

conference. Brown's mascot is Bruno. Both the men's and women's teams share the name, competing in 28

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) Division I sports. In football, the Bears, along with all other the Ivy League teams, compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

Varsity athletics

The Bears participate in 28 NCAA sports. The Bears first fielded a football team in 1878, playing Amherst College in their inaugural game. The Bears participate in the following varsity sports:

Additions and subtractions

In 2011, a Special Committee recommended that Brown cut four varsity sports due to Brown's budget cut backs—men's fencing, women's fencing, men's wrestling, and women's skiing—and recommended elevating at least one women's sport to varsity status to ensure Title IX compliance. These proposed changes would have reduced the number of varsity sports at Brown from 37 to 34. None of the four varsity programs were cut. In May 2020, Brown announced they would transition eleven varsity programs—men's and women's fencing, men's and women's golf, women's skiing, men's and women's squash, women's equestrian, men's indoor track and field, men's outdoor track and field and men's cross country—to club status. Women's sailing and coed sailing would become varsity programs. Brown had 38 varsity sports before the announced cuts (only Harvard and Stanford had more), but was the least successful Ivy League school, winning 2.8% of league titles from 2008 to 2018. In December 2020, the women's fencing and equestrian teams were restored to varsity status.

Teams

Football

The Brown Bears football team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Ivy League. Brown's first football team was fielded in 1878. The team plays its home games at the 20,000 seat

Brown Stadium Richard Gouse Field at Brown Stadium is a football stadium located in Providence, Rhode Island. It is the home of Brown University's football and outdoor track teams. The athletic teams at Brown University, known as the Bears, compete in the Iv ...

in Providence.

Men's basketball

The Brown Bears men's basketball team competes in the Ivy League. The Brown Bears have appeared in the NCAA Tournament two times, including the inaugural tournament in 1939. Their combined record is 0–2. The Brown Bears have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) one time. Their record is 0–1.

Women's basketball

The Brown Bears women's basketball team competes in the Ivy League. The Brown Bears have appeared in the NCAA Tournament once in 1994, where their record was 0–1.

Men's soccer

The Brown Bears men's soccer team compete in the NCAA Division I in the Ivy League. The Bears have been semifinalists in the NCAA tournament in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

, and

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. They also finished in fourth place in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

Rugby

Women's rugby at Brown was originally founded as a club team, Brown Women's RFC, in 1977. Brown added rugby as a varsity sport for women beginning in the 2014-15 academic year, due in part to the growth of rugby across communities and at the high school level."Women's rugby is Brown's 38th varsity sport"
News from Brown, April 14, 2014. Brown women's rugby is led by Head Coach Kathy Flores. Brown has offered men's rugby at Brown as a club sport since 1960."University Rugby Recognition—Success at Brown"
Rugby Today, Allyn Freeman, February 27, 2015. Brown plays in the

Ivy Rugby Conference The Ivy Rugby Conference is a rugby union conference consisting of the eight member schools of the Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern ...

against its traditional Ivy League rivals. Brown men's rugby is led by Head Coach David Laflamme. Despite its club status, Brown men's rugby is supported by an endowment raised by Brown rugby alumni that exceeds $1.5 million; this endowment funds the full-time professional head coaching position and other expenses.

Championships

NCAA team championships

Brown has 7 NCAA team national championships. *Women's (7) **

Rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

(7): 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011 *see also: ** Ivy League NCAA team championships **

List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships Listed below are the colleges or universities with the most NCAA Division I-sanctioned team championships, individual championships, and combined team and individual championships, as documented by information published on official NCAA websites. ...

Non-NCAA team championships

*Coed Sailing (2) **Coed Dinghy National Champions (2): 1942, 1948 *Women's Sailing (5) **Women's Dinghy National Champions (5): 1985, 1988, 1989, 1998, 2019 *Men's Ultimate Frisbee (3) ** USA Ultimate College Champions (3): 2000, 2005, 2019

Mascot

Bruno skates in Meehan Auditorium (cropped)

Brown's first mascot was a

burro The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

, first introduced in 1902 in a game against Harvard. The burro mascot was not retained after it seemed frightened by the noise of the game, and due to the laughter it provoked. The University originally settled on the Bruin, but later changed it to a bear after the head of a bear was placed at an archway above the student union in 1904. In 1905 The Bears introduced Helen, the university's first live bear mascot, at a game against Dartmouth. Bruno, Brown's current mascot, was introduced in 1921, originally also as a live bear. A number of bears represented Bruno over the years, later being represented by a person in costume by the late 60's.

Notable athletes

The Bears have produced many athletes. One of Brown's most famous athletes is John Heisman, namesake of the Heisman Trophy. Before finishing college at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, Heisman played college football at Brown as a lineman.

Football

* Thomas A. Barry (Class of 1902): All American running back, head coach of The University of Notre Dame and University of Tulane football programs *

Don Colo Donald Richard Colo (January 5, 1925 – June 23, 2019) was an American football defensive tackle who played nine seasons in the National Football League. He was born in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. He served in the US Navy during World War ...

(Class of 1950): professional

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 wi ...

player, All-Pro who played for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

* Zak DeOssie (Class of 2007): professional

player, Pro Bowl longsnapper for the Super Bowl XLII and XLVI champion New York Giants * John Heisman: college American football player and coach; namesake of the Heisman Trophy * Steve Jordan (Class of 1981): professional American football player, 6-time All-Pro

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

who played for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

Ed Lawrence Edward James Lawrence (July 16, 1906 – November 21, 1961)
was a professional

1926 "Iron Men" football team * Sean Morey:

Special Teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

Captain of 2005 Super Bowl XL Champion Pittsburgh Steelers *

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2 ...

(Class of 1950):

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

for the Bears, head coach of the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...

from 1966 to 2011. * Fritz Pollard: First African-American NFL coach and one of the first two African American players. * Earl Sprackling, Brown quarterback, 1909–11; named the deserving retrospective recipient of the Heisman Trophy for 1910 by "ESPN College Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Game". * Thurston Towle (Class of 1928): American football player, member of the 1926 "Iron Men" football team *

Wallace Wade William Wallace Wade (June 15, 1892 – October 7, 1986) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Alabama fro ...

(Class of 1917): American football coach at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

and Duke University, namesake of Duke's football stadium

Baseball

Bill Almon William Francis Almon (born November 21, 1952) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Montreal Expos, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Pittsburg ...

: professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player, #1 pick in the 1974

Major League Baseball draft The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...

Mark Attanasio Mark L. Attanasio (born September 29, 1957) is an American businessman from The Bronx who is the principal owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. In September 2004, he reached a deal, on behalf of an investment group, to purchase the Brewers from the fam ...

(Class of 1979): financier and owner of the Milwaukee Brewers * Tommy Dowd: professional baseball player *

Dave Fultz David Lewis Fultz (May 29, 1875 – October 29, 1959) was an American football and baseball player and coach. He played Major League Baseball as a center fielder in the National League with the Philadelphia Phillies (1898–1899) and Baltimore ...

(Class of 1898): professional baseball player * Irving "Bump" Hadley (Class of 1928): professional baseball player,

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the Washington Senators and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

* Lee Richmond: professional baseball player, first major league player to throw a

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

Rowing

* Jamie Koven (Class of 1995): US national rower, World Champion in single scull 1997 France * Xeno Muller (Class of 1993): Swiss rower, Olympic gold medalist in single scull 1996 Atlanta * Denis Žvegelj (Class of 1997): Slovenian Rower, Brown Crew Varsity Eight 1994, 1995, 1992 bronze medalist in Men's Coxless Pairs * Tessa Gobbo (Class of 2013): US national rower, Olympic Gold Medalist in women's eight,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Ice hockey

* Katie King-Crowley (Class of 1997): Olympic gold ('98), silver ('02), and bronze ('06) medal-winning hockey player *

Curt Bennett Curt Alexander Bennett (born March 27, 1948) is a Canadian-born American former professional ice hockey forward, who played in the National Hockey League as well as for the United States national ice hockey team in the 1970s. Biography Ear ...

(Class of 1970): professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player,

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

and

Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...

Yann Danis Yann Joseph Richard Danis (born June 21, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, and New Jersey Devils. He playe ...

(Class of 2004): professional

player,

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

and New York Islanders *

Brian Eklund Brian M. Eklund (born May 24, 1980) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in one National Hockey League (NHL) game with the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2005–06 season. He currently runs his own goalie school, M ...

: retired professional hockey player, Stanley Cup Champion

Other sports

Craig Kinsley Craig Kinsley (born January 19, 1989) is a retired American track and field athlete and 2012 Olympian who competed in the javelin throw, and is now an assistant coach of Brown University track and field. In 2010, he won the javelin at the NCA ...

(Class of 2011): professional javelin thrower, 2010 NCAA Champion and member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team. Current Assistant Throws' Coach for Brown Track & Field *

Daveed Diggs Daveed Daniele Diggs (born January 24, 1982) is an American actor, rapper, and singer-songwriter. He is the vocalist of the experimental hip hop group Clipping, and in 2015, he originated the dual roles of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jeffer ...

(Class of 2004): track and field, set the Brown Bears' record for the 110 hurdles as a sophomore with a time of 14.21 seconds. Went on to a successful career in acting. * Mark Donohue (Class of 1959): professional racing driver, 1972 Indianapolis 500 champion *

Cory Gibbs Cory Gibbs (born January 14, 1980) is an American former soccer player. He played professionally for clubs in Germany, the Netherlands and England. He also played 19 international matches for the U.S. national soccer team, including at the 2003 ...

(Class of 2001): professional soccer player, Chicago Fire *

Lindsay Gottlieb Lindsay Catherine Gottlieb (born October 2, 1977) is an American basketball coach who is the women's head coach for the USC Trojans women's basketball, USC Trojans of the Pac-12 Conference. She was previously the head coach of the California Golde ...

(Class of 1999): head coach of University of California women's basketball * Anne Hird (born 1959) — pioneering female distance runner, US National Champion in the 10-mile and 30K races *

Fred Hovey Frederick Howard Hovey (October 7, 1868 – October 18, 1945) was a male tennis player from the United States. Biography Frederick Howard Hovey was born on October 7, 1868 in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. His brother was George Rice Hovey, and ...

(1890): professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player, US Open Men's Doubles Champion (1893) and Men's Singles Champion (1895) *

Jimmy Pedro James A. Pedro (born October 30, 1970) is an American retired World Championship and Olympic judoka and current judo coach. Pedro currently holds a 7th degree black belt in judo. He is the coach of Kayla Harrison, the first American ever to w ...

: most decorated American

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

athlete; Judo World Champion (1999), two-time

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

bronze medalist ( 1996, 2004) *

Alicia Sacramone Alicia Marie Sacramone Quinn (; born December 3, 1987) is a retired American artistic gymnast. She won a silver medal with the United States team at the 2008 Summer Olympics and is the 2005 World Champion on floor exercise and the 2010 World Ch ...

(2007): gymnast who competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics *

Norman Taber Norman Stephen Taber (September 3, 1891 – July 15, 1952) was an American middle distance runner. He was the first amateur runner to surpass Walter George's professional record in the mile, set nearly 30 years previously. He also won a bronze ...

(Class of 1913): track and field athlete, member of the 1912 Olympic gold medal-winning 3,000-m relay team *

Fred Tenney Frederick Tenney (November 26, 1871 – July 3, 1952) was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned 20 seasons, 17 of which were spent with the Major League Baseball (MLB) Boston Beaneaters/Doves/Rustlers (1894–1907, 1911) ...

: professional baseball player * Chazz Woodson (Class of 2005): Major League Lacrosse player currently with the

Chicago Machine The Chicago Machine were a Major League Lacrosse franchise from 2006 until 2010. The Machine, a men's professional field lacrosse team, played in Toyota Park from 2007 until 2009. Chicago played all its "home" games at various stadiums across t ...

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Brown Bears, color=white , list = {{Ivy League navbox {{ECAC Hockey League {{Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association navbox {{National Intercollegiate Rugby Association {{Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges {{Rhode Island Sports