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 ...
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 ...
who played for the
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
from
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
to
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
, 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 ...
(NFL).
Early years
Brown attended John A. Holmes High School in
Edenton, North Carolina
Edenton is a town in, and the county seat of, Chowan County, North Carolina, United States, on Albemarle Sound. The population was 4,397 at the 2020 census. Edenton is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks region. In recent years Edenton has b ...
. Brown was a standout in
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
and
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
for the Aces from 1974-1978. He earned All-Conference and All-Albemarble as a
tight end
The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...
in 1976. He also lettered in basketball that year where he excelled in rebounding and shot blocking. Before his senior year in 1977, he was asked to switch his position from tight end to offensive tackle due to a lack of size on the squad. He was the captain of his team. He also earned All-Conference and All-Albemarble for the second time. He received Honorable mention All-East. He was voted by his high school most outstanding
offensive lineman
In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...
on the team. In basketball that year he was also voted the Sportsmanship Award by his team for his hard work and discipline. In a 1989 ceremony at his high school his jersey number 73 was retired.
College career
Chowan College
In the fall of 1978 Brown attended Chowan College (now
Chowan University
Chowan University () , from the North Carolina Collection's website at the
Jim Garrison
James Carothers Garrison (born Earling Carothers Garrison; November 20, 1921 – October 21, 1992) was the District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Louisiana, from 1962 to 1973. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he ...
. He became a starter immediately during his freshman year. During the season, he earned All-Coastal Conference, All Region X and Most Valuable Defensive Lineman on the squad. In 1979, his final season at Chowan College, Brown was Captain of the nationally ranked Chowan defense. He again earned first-team All-Coastal Conference, All Region X and All-America. In 1996 Brown was inducted to the Chowan University Athletic Hall of Fame.
Virginia Tech
In 1980 Brown transferred to
Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...
in Blacksburg, Virginia to play for coach
Bill Dooley
William Gerald Dooley (May 19, 1934 – August 9, 2016) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1967–1977), Virginia Polytechni ...
. During his junior year, he earned All-South Independent along with teammates
Cyrus Lawrence
Cyrus Christopher Lawrence (November 15, 1960 – September 2, 2022) was the tailback for the Virginia Tech Hokies football team from 1979 until 1982. He finished his career at Tech as the school's all-time lead rusher, with a career total of ...
and Sidney Snell. Brown was MVP in the Oyster Bowl game in Norfolk, Virginia against VMI. He was also voted team MVP and earned such honors as Roanoke Valley Sports Club Outstanding College Defensive player of the year in the state of Virginia. The Touchdown Club of Richmond, Virginia chose Brown as Big Five Defensive player of the year. During Brown's junior season under the tutelage of his position coach
John Gutekunst
John Gutekunst (born April 13, 1944) is an American former college football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at the University of Minnesota from 1985 to 1991, compiling a record of 29–37–2. Gutekunst came to Minnesota in ...
his first game as a Hokie a 16-7 victory against Wake Forest on September 6, 1980. Brown recorded four sacks and led the nationally ranked Virginia Tech defense that season with 61 tackles including 15 of them for losses totaling 105 yards. The Hokies earn a birth after the 1980 season to play in the Peach Bowl against University of Miami Hurricanes. In 1981, Brown was captain of Virginia Tech's nationally ranked defensive squad. He earned numerous honors that year including All-South Independent first team, second team, and Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) All-American. Brown played in the 1982 Hula Bowl and Olympia Gold Bowl All Star Games. In 1992 Brown was voted to Virginia Tech Football All-Century team celebrating 100 years of Hokie football. In 1998, he was inducted in the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame.