Donald Eugene Brown II (born April 11, 1987) 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 wi ...

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Th ...

who played 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 majo ...

for seven seasons, primarily with the

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 ...

. 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

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 (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

, where he became the school's all-time leading rusher, and was selected by the Colts in the first 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. ...

. Brown was a member of the Colts for five seasons and spent his last two seasons with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

High school career

Brown attended

Red Bank Catholic High School Red Bank Catholic High School is a four-year private coeducational Roman Catholic high school, located in Red Bank in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, operating under the supervision ...

Red Bank, New Jersey Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York Metropolitan ...

, where he played football and ran track. During his senior season, Brown rushed for 2,032 yards and 27 touchdowns. In track, Brown was timed at 11.3 seconds in the 100 meters and 23.2 seconds in the 200 meters. Considered a three-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', Brown was listed as the No. 53 running back prospect in the nation in 2005. He picked

over

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

on December 8, 2004.

College career

Brown signed a national letter of intent to enroll at

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from ...

on February 2, 2005. He would conclude his collegiate career as the all-time leading rusher for Connecticut with 3,800 yards. After rushing for over 2,000 yards in his junior year, Brown decided to forgo his senior year to enter the

2006 season

Brown entered his

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

freshman season in 2006 as a kickoff returner and second string running back behind senior captain and incumbent starter,

Terry Caulley Terry J. Caulley (born June 22, 1984) is an American former gridiron football running back. He played college football at University of Connecticut. Despite sitting out the second half of 2003 and the entire 2004 season with a knee injury, he ra ...

. Brown showed flashes of his running ability in the first game of the year, when he rushed for 118 yards on only 9 carries, including a 53-yard touchdown run, against

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. He would play primarily on special teams for the first half of the year. However, when Caulley went down with an injury before Connecticut's game against

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

on October 29, Brown was asked to make his first career start at running back. He made the most of this opportunity, as he rushed for 199 yards on 28 carries and 2 touchdowns. This performance proved to be too good to ignore, as he was awarded the starting job for the rest of the season. Brown had his best outing of his freshman campaign in the next game when he rushed for 205 yards on 43 carries with 3 touchdowns (1 receiving) in Connecticut's 46–45 double overtime win over

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. Brown would average 134 yards per game in the five

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

games that he started. He finished the year with 896 yards and 9 touchdowns (2 receiving), which was good enough to award him with a 2nd team All Big East nomination.

2007 season

Brown began his sophomore season with heightened expectations brought on by his very successful rookie campaign. However, nagging injuries combined with the emergence of fellow sophomore

Andre Dixon Andre Jamar Dixon (born February 19, 1986) is a former American football running back. He was signed by the Hartford Colonials as a first round draft pick in 2010. He played college football at Connecticut. Early years Dixon attended New Brun ...

would hamper his sophomore season. He would finish the year with 821 yards and 8 touchdowns, which was good for second on the team, behind Dixon. Twice, Brown ran for 100 yards in a game (against Rutgers and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

) and just missed two more by rushing for 99 yards against

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

and

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

2008 season

A pre-season ankle injury to Dixon would cement Brown as the Huskies starting running back for the start of his junior season. It would be a position that he would not relinquish. Brown would begin the year with eight straight 100 yard games and would twice eclipse the 200 yard mark (against

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

). He arguably had his best performance in the second game of the year as he rushed for 214 yards on 36 carries and the game's only touchdown against Temple, in a game played in a monsoon due to Tropical Storm Hannah. Included in his 214 yards was every one of Connecticut's 25 yards in overtime. Brown rushed for 150 yards in the eighth game of the season at home in a 40–16 Connecticut victory over eventual Big East champion

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

. These 150 yards increased his season total to 1,324, which set a new Connecticut single-season record. The old tally of 1,262 had been set by Tory Taylor in 1995. Brown needed only eight games to break Taylor's record. Brown continued his record-breaking season in the tenth game at

. In that game, he rushed for 131 yards on 31 attempts. A 49-yard touchdown run in the second quarter would allow Brown to surpass Caulley as Connecticut's all-time leading rusher. Brown would finish the regular season with 1,822 yards, which placed him first for rushing in the

NCAA 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 ...

Division I FBS 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). ...

. His performance awarded him the

Offensive Player of the Year The National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award is an annual American football award given by various organizations to the National Football League (NFL) player who is considered the top offensive player during the regular season. O ...

. On January 3, 2009, Brown was named Player of the Game in UConn's 38–20 victory over the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

in the

2009 International Bowl The 2009 International Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Connecticut Huskies (UConn) and the Buffalo Bulls at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada, on January 3, 2009. The game was the final contest of the 2008 NCAA Divis ...

in Toronto. He finished the game with 261 yards rushing (208 in the first half) and a touchdown. He finished the season with 2,083 rushing yards, becoming only the 14th player in FBS history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a single season. On January 8, 2009, Brown was named

Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location fr ...

Player of the Year. Following the International Bowl, Brown announced his intention to enter the 2009 NFL Draft.

Statistics

Professional career

2009 NFL Draft

Brown was considered one of the top three running back prospects available in the draft (alongside

Knowshon Moreno Knowshon Rockwell Moreno (born July 16, 1987) is a former American football running back. He played college football at the University of Georgia and was selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He also pl ...

and Chris Wells) and drew comparisons to Willie Parker. He was drafted with the 27th pick in the

by the

. Brown became the first Connecticut Husky ever to be picked in the first round of an NFL Draft.

Indianapolis Colts

2009 season

Brown signed a five-year contract with the

on August 2, 2009. In his first action as a member of the team, Brown ran for 58 yards on five carries against 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 ...

in the first week of the preseason. He scored his first touchdown on September 21, 2009 against the Miami Dolphins in a 27–23 Colts win.

2010 season

On December 19, 2010, Donald recorded his first 100+ yard game in a 34–24 win against the Jaguars.

2011 season

Brown saw increased playing time during the 2011 Regular Season. He had his best game as a professional in a Week 15 27–13 win over the Tennessee Titans when he rushed 16 times for 161 yards and scored a touchdown on an 80-yard run in the fourth quarter to seal the first victory of the season for Indianapolis.

2012 season

Brown's 2012 season was hampered by some nagging injuries and the showing of rookie back

Vick Ballard Vick Ballard (born July 16, 1990) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Mississippi State, and was selected by the Indianapolis Colts 170th overall in the 2012 NFL Draft. College career Ballard attended Missis ...

. He wasn't very effective the entire season, posting no 100 yard games and only one rushing touchdown.

2013 season

Brown was originally not a starter for the Colts in the 2013 season. However, due to injuries and lack of production from other running backs, Brown was named the starting running back against 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 hom ...

in Week 13. He ran for 54 yards and a touchdown. He would remain the starter for the remainder of the regular season.

San Diego Chargers

2014 season

On March 11, 2014, Brown signed a three-year, $10.5 million contract with the

. $4 million of the contract is guaranteed.

2015 season

He was released on October 3, 2015, but re-signed two days later. On March 3, 2016, Brown was released.

New England Patriots

2016 season

On March 16, 2016, Brown signed a one-year contract 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 ...

worth $965,000 with $300,000 guaranteed. On August 23, 2016, Brown was released by the Patriots.

NFL career statistics

Regular Season Postseason

References

External links

Connecticut profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Donald 1987 births Living people People from Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey Sportspeople from Monmouth County, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey African-American players of American football American football running backs Red Bank Catholic High School alumni UConn Huskies football players Indianapolis Colts players New England Patriots players San Diego Chargers players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people