Cody Dion Brown (born November 9, 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He was drafted by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft. 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 ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. He was also a member of the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

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

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

Early years

Brown attended

Coral Springs High School Coral Springs High School is a public high school located in Coral Springs, Florida, United States. It is a part of the Broward County Public Schools district. Demographics As of the 2021–22 school year, the total student enrollment was 2,495 ...

, where he made 88 tackles and had nine

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

s as a senior. He was named first-team All-Broward County and honorable mention All-State. Considered a two-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'', Brown was not ranked among the best defensive end prospects in the nation.

College career

Cody Brown was a three-year starter at

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

and a

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

for the Huskies during his senior season. In 2005, he became the first

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

lineman to start a game after Connecticut's upgrade to

NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...

. He was named starter for the Huskies during his sophomore season, and has since started every game in which he participated. In his final two seasons as a Husky, Brown registered a total of 18.5 sacks and 33

tackles for loss Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling are to dispossess an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend. The word ...

and he was named to the First-team All-Big East at defensive end after his senior season.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Arizona Cardinals

Picked 63rd overall by the

, Brown was the last of four former Huskies to be taken from in the first two rounds of the 2009 NFL Draft. The Cardinals selection of Brown, together with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

and

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. ...

respective second round draft picks,

Darius Butler Darius Jermaine Butler (born March 18, 1986) is a former American football free safety. He played college football at Connecticut. Butler was drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He has also played fo ...

and William Beatty, and first round

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 ...

selection Donald Brown, established a UConn football presence in the NFL draft; by the end of the second round, the only school that exceeded UConn's four picks—by one pick—was

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. Brown suffered a wrist injury during the 2009 preseason and was placed on season-ending

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 August 24. Brown would be waived by the team on September 3, 2010.

New York Jets

The

signed Brown to their practice squad on September 7, 2010. Brown was signed to a future contract on January 25, 2011. He was waived on August 7.

Detroit Lions

On August 8, 2011, the

claimed him off waivers.

Calgary Stampeders

Brown signed with the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

in February 2012, but was released in training camp, prior to the

2012 CFL season The 2012 CFL season was the 59th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it was the 55th season for the Canadian Football League. The pre-season began on June 13, 2012, and the regular season started on June 29, 2012. Rogers Centre ...

Montreal Alouettes

Brown signed with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

of the

on May 13, 2012.Signed with the Al's
/ref>

References

External links

Arizona Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Cody 1986 births Living people American football defensive ends American football linebackers UConn Huskies football players Arizona Cardinals players New York Jets players Detroit Lions players Sportspeople from Coral Springs, Florida Players of American football from Broward County, Florida Coral Springs High School alumni