Ivory Lee Brown (born August 17, 1969)
''www.pro-football-reference.com.'' Retrieved June 15, 2011. is a former 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 with ...

running back 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 ...

and

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

. He played for the

Phoenix 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 th ...

of the NFL"Ivory Lee Brown."
''www.nfl.com.'' Retrieved June 15, 2011. and the

San Antonio Riders The San Antonio Riders were a professional American football team that played in the WLAF in 1991 and 1992. The team played at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio in 1991 and then were forced to move to Bobcat Stadium on the campus of Southwest Texas S ...

of the WLAF. Brown is the uncle of

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 ...

running back

Adrian Peterson Adrian Lewis Peterson (born March 21, 1985) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest running backs in football history. He played college football at Oklahoma, where he set the ...

.Loveless, Lee
"Palestine High School Wall of Honor: Richard Farris and Ivory Lee Brown."
''

Palestine Herald-Press The ''Palestine Herald-Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Palestine, Texas, distributed in Tuesday through Friday mornings and a Weekend edition delivered on Saturday mornings. It is owned by CNHI. History Founded in 1849 as the ''Palest ...

'', July 20, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2017.

College career

Brown was born in

Palestine, Texas Palestine ( ) is a city in and the seat of Anderson County in the U.S. state of Texas. It was named for Palestine, Illinois, by preacher Daniel Parker, who had migrated from that town. The city had a 2020 U.S. census population of 18,544, mak ...

, and was a highly recruited

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 ...

out Palestine High School. He rushed for 1,800 yards as a senior in 1986, and was the rated the #2 recruit in Texas.Stark, Shane
"Sons continue Brown's legacy in Palestine."
''www.etfinalscore.com'', September 8, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2013.Murphy, Austin

''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'', September 3, 1990. '' SI Vault.'' Retrieved May 29, 2013. Brown originally intended to sign with

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

out of high school, but due to

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

problems, he attended

Tyler Junior College Tyler Junior College (TJC) is a public community college in Tyler, Texas. It is one of the largest community colleges in Texas, with an enrollment of more than 12,500 credit students each year with an additional 20,000 continuing education enroll ...

instead."Tyler Junior College Sports Circle of Honor: Ivory Lee Brown (2013)."
''www.tjc.edu.'' Retrieved May 22, 2017."Football in the Pros: Ivory Lee Brown."
''www.apacheathletics.com.'' Retrieved October 1, 2019. While at junior college, Brown was recruited to the

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is a public historically black university in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Founded in 1873, it is the second oldest public college or university in the state of Arkansas. UAPB is part of the University of ...

by head coach Archie "Gunslinger" Cooley. Cooley had formerly coached

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

Jerry Rice Jerry Lee Rice (born October 13, 1962) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. Known primarily as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, winning three championshi ...

Mississippi Valley State University Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU, The Valley or Valley) is a public historically black university in Mississippi Valley State, Mississippi, adjacent to Itta Bena, Mississippi.NAIA school at the time. In 1989, Brown's first season with the Golden Lions, he led the NAIA in rushing with 1,465 yards, averaging 8.3 yards per carry.

Professional career

NFL

Brown was drafted by the

in the seventh round (171st pick overall) of the

1991 NFL Draft The 1991 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Mar ...

. He was placed on the team's developmental squad, and did not see any playing time during his rookie season.

WLAF

The

of the fledgling

signed Ivory Lee Brown in 1992 to replace running back Ricky Blake, who had signed with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

at the conclusion of the 1991 season. Brown played with the Riders in 1992 and won the league's rushing title with 767 yards. Brown's efforts helped the Riders to a 7–3 record, and he was named first-team All World League,"Ivory Lee Brown."
''Lee's Autograph Hall of Fame.'' ''www.leen8d.com.'' Retrieved October 20, 2012.
''www.footballdb.com.'' Retrieved January 29, 2012. giving him an opportunity to return to the Cardinals for the 1992 NFL regular season.

Return to the NFL

Brown emerged as a potential starter due to running back Johnny Johnson's unexpected pre-season holdout.

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

br>"Johnny who? Ivory Lee Brown replacing holdout in backfield and in fans hearts."
''

Kingman Daily Miner ''The Kingman Miner'' is a local newspaper in Kingman, Arizona, owned by Western News & Info. It has a circulation of 8,030.1992 NFL season The 1992 NFL season was the 73rd regular season of the National Football League. Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Andrew, the New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins game that was scheduled for September 6 at Joe Robbie Stadium was resched ...

, but did not make the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

roster in 1993 and later retired.

References

External links

NAIA Players in the Pros.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Ivory Lee 1969 births Living people People from Palestine, Texas African-American players of American football American football running backs Tyler Apaches football players Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions football players Phoenix Cardinals players San Antonio Riders players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople