Christopher Rejean Brown (born April 17, 1981) 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 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. He was drafted by the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

in the third round of the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

. 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 ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

High school career

Brown was named ''Prep Football Report'' and ''Super Prep'' All-American, first-team All-State, and '' Daily Herald'' first-team All-Area as senior at

Naperville North High School Naperville North High School is a public four-year high school located at the corner of Ogden Avenue and Mill Street in the northern-central part of Naperville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is the coun ...

Naperville, Illinois Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city. Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...

, rushing for 1,250 yards and 15

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. He rushed for 2,300 yards and 30 touchdowns in his career at Naperville North, where he played with future Titans teammate

Justin McCareins Justin Morgan McCareins (born December 1, 1978) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He also played for the New York Jets. ...

, as well as former Houston Texans

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

Glenn Earl Glenn Earl (born June 10, 1981 in Southfield, Michigan) is a former American football safety in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He grew up in Lisle, Illinois and attende ...

College career

Brown was recruited by Gary Barnett at Northwestern University and signed with NU under new coach Randy Walker after Barnett took the Colorado head coaching job. Unhappy with being switched to receiver, Brown left Northwestern after the 1999 season and played a year at Fort Scott Junior College before transferring again to the University of Colorado. At Colorado, Barnett provided him an opportunity to become one of the school's all-time leading rushers, including a school record 6 TDs against

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

in 2001 during his sophomore season. Brown's success continued into 2002, playing himself into a dark-horse

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

candidate, before a late-season injury derailed his season and caused him to miss 2 and a half games. To most Colorado fans' dismay, Brown elected to skip his senior season and enter the

NFL draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

Professional career

Tennessee Titans

Brown was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the 3rd round of the 2003 NFL Draft, with the 93rd overall selection. As a rookie in 2003, Brown was not available to play during the preseason and five regular season games due to a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

injury. Although being behind two other backs, Brown averaged 3.9 yards per carry on 56 carries totaling 221 yards, the Titans' team high for the 2003 season. He also performed very well in the playoffs. At the beginning of the 2004 season, Brown was promoted to starting running back due to the absence of

Eddie George Edward Nathan George Jr. (born September 24, 1973) is an American football coach and former player who is the current head coach at Tennessee State. He played as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, primarily f ...

in the Titans' lineup. He had a strong start, and finished the season with 1,067 yards, but several injuries forced him to miss significant time and also affected his play. He led the NFL in Yards per carry in 2004. In January 2005, Brown underwent successful surgery on both ankles. In 2005, Brown ran for 851 yards. Brown has been criticized in the past for running too upright and not running as powerfully as other backs his size. In 2006, the Titans drafted

LenDale White LenDale Anthony White (born December 20, 1984) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the second round (45th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft. He has also been a member of the Seattle Seahawks and Den ...

, a more traditional power runner, coupled with the emergence of

Travis Henry Travis Deion Henry (born October 29, 1978) is a former American football running back who played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Tennessee. He was drafted by the Bills in t ...

, Brown was deactivated for several games during the 2006 season. Brown completed his contract with the Titans before leaving as a free agent to sign with the Houston Texans. Brown rushed for a career-high 175 yards against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

on September 9, 2007.

Houston Texans

On March 13, 2008, Brown was signed by the

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 ...

to a two-year deal worth $3.6 million, including an $800,000 signing bonus. Brown played well for the Texans, but his Week 3 fumble, his only of the season, against the Jacksonville Jaguars cost the team a chance to tie a game and force overtime. He also was intercepted on a halfback pass that was a poorly conceived play. Brown completed his two-year contract with the Texans.

Personal life

Brown is the younger brother of

Levelle Brown Levelle Desean Brown (born July 5, 1977) is a former Americans, American professional American football, football player. He was born in Winfield, Illinois, Winfield, Illinois. He is the older brother of Chris Brown (running back, born 1981), Chri ...

, fullback formerly of the

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Located immediately northwest of Chicago, as of the 2010 census it had a population of 4,20 ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. Chris has a younger sister named LaShawndra Brown who played Division III basketball. Chris lives in Houston with his wife and three children.

References

External links

Houston Texans bio

Tennessee Titans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Chris Living people 1981 births African-American players of American football American football running backs Northwestern Wildcats football players Colorado Buffaloes football players Tennessee Titans players Houston Texans players Players of American football from Illinois Sportspeople from Naperville, Illinois People from Winfield, Illinois Sportspeople from the Chicago metropolitan area 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people