Max Austin Browne (born February 2, 1995) is an
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 ...
analyst and former
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 ...
. 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 ...
for the
USC Trojans
The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...
(2013–2016) and
Pittsburgh Panthers
The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...
(2017).
Browne committed to USC on April 4, 2012, during his junior year, and was considered the best quarterback recruit of his class 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 ...
and
Scout.com
Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...
. He transferred to Pitt on December 15, 2016, as a graduate transfer.
Early years
Born and raised in
Sammamish, Washington
Sammamish ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 67,455 at the 2020 census. Located on a plateau, the city is bordered by Lake Sammamish to the west and the Snoqualmie Valley to the east. Sammamish is a resi ...
, a suburb east of
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Browne attended
Beaver Lake Middle School and
Skyline High School in Sammamish. During his
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
career, he completed 73.5 percent of his passes for 12,951 yards and 146
touchdowns
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...
. He was the
Gatorade Player of the Year
The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine playe ...
for Washington in 2011 and 2012, and led the Spartans to three straight
Class 4A state finals, winning the final two.
Following his senior season, Browne participated in the 2013
U.S. Army All-American Bowl
The All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is played between all-star teams representing the eastern and western United S ...
and was awarded the prestigious
Hall Trophy
The All-American Bowl Player of the Year Award (formerly known as the Hall Trophy and U.S. Army Player of the Year Award) has been awarded annually since 2000 to the most outstanding high school football player in the United States, comparable to t ...
as U.S. Army Player of the Year.
College career
On April 4, 2012, Browne committed to play football at the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
. He selected USC as his college destination over
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
, and
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
. In 2013, Browne was redshirted as a true freshman, after failing to beat out
Cody Kessler
Cody David Kessler (born May 11, 1993) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at USC, and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Early years
Kessler attended Centennial Hi ...
and
Max Wittek
Max Nolan Wittek (born July 31, 1993) is a former American football quarterback. He played at USC from 2011 to 2013, and transferred to Hawaii, sitting out the 2014 season.
Early years
Born in Contra Costa County, California, Wittek grew up in ...
for the starting quarterback job. Head coach
Lane Kiffin
Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. Kiffin formerly was the offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans football team from 2005 to 2006, head coach of the Nati ...
eventually named Kessler the starting quarterback in the fall. In 2014, after
Steve Sarkisian
Stephen Sarkisian (born March 8, 1974)Stephens, Ken. – "QB GENEALOGY – Steve Sarkisian is latest in long line of talented BYU quarterbacks". –
FUN FACT, Sarkisian’s father is actually Texas Tech Head Coach, Joey McGuire.
''Dallas Mo ...
took over as head coach, Browne again lost the starting quarterback battle to Kessler, who was named the starting quarterback during spring practice.
In 2015, Browne was once again the backup to Kessler. With Kessler's departure to the NFL Draft after the
2015 season, Browne was the presumptive starter going into spring practice in 2016. Instead, he faced a stiff challenge from redshirt freshman
Sam Darnold
Samuel Richard Darnold (born June 5, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at USC, where he became the first freshman to win the Archie Griffin Awar ...
. On August 20, 2016, Browne was officially named the starting quarterback by head coach
Clay Helton
Clay Charles Helton (born June 24, 1972) is an American college football coach and former player, who is currently the head coach at Georgia Southern. He was previously the head coach of USC from 2015 to 2021. Helton has also been an assistan ...
.
Browne started his first game as a Trojan quarterback in a 52–6 loss to Alabama on September 3. On September 19, Browne was replaced by Sam Darnold as starting quarterback, a move that prompted speculation that the redshirt junior would transfer at the end of the season to take advantage of his status as a graduate student to start immediately with a new team. He eventually transferred to the University of Pittsburgh. At Pitt, Browne had a successful spring, being voted Captain and earning the starting quarterback job. However, after starting the first three games of the season and going 1-2 (beating Youngstown State but losing to both Penn State and Oklahoma State), Browne was replaced by redshirt sophomore
Ben DiNucci
Benjamin Anthony DiNucci (born November 24, 1996), is an American football quarterback for the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL. He played college football at James Madison and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NF ...
. DiNucci went 12-19 with 1 touchdown in the Panthers next game, but the Panthers lost their third game of the season to Georgia Tech, 17-35. Browne was then given another shot to spark this offense for their game versus Rice and he did just that. Throwing for 410 yards, 28-32 (88% completion/attempts), and four touchdowns, the Panthers won 42-10.
On October 7, 2017, Browne suffered a shoulder injury on a sack during the game against
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, Miss ...
. It was later revealed that the injury required surgery and Browne would miss the rest of the season.
College statistics
Broadcasting career
Browne was not signed by a
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 ...
team after his college career ended; in December 2018, he attended a tryout with the
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
but was not offered a contract. During the 2018 college football season, he began analyzing
Pac-12 Conference
The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...
teams on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
with hopes of becoming a television color commentator.
In 2019, he became a pre- and post-game analyst for USC on
KABC (AM)
KABC (790 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, and serving the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a talk radio format. The studios are located in the Los Angeles su ...
, while also working as a contributor for TrojanSports.com.
Personal life
Browne married former USC volleyball player and mental health & body image advocate Victoria Garrick on August 13, 2022.
References
External links
*
Pittsburgh Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Max
1995 births
Living people
American football quarterbacks
People from Sammamish, Washington
Pittsburgh Panthers football players
Players of American football from Washington (state)
Sportspeople from King County, Washington
USC Trojans football players