William Ferdie Brown (December 2, 1940 – October 21, 2019) was an American professional

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 ...

player, coach, and executive. He played as a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

and the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

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). Following his playing career, Brown remained with the Raiders as an assistant coach. He served as the head football coach at

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

in 1991, the final season before the school's football program was terminated. Brown was inducted into the

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 ...

as a player in 1984. At the time of his death he was on the Raiders' administrative staff.

Playing career

Brown 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 ...

Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...

and was not drafted by any professional team after leaving school in 1963. He was signed by the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL), but was cut from the team during training camp. He was then signed by the AFL's

and became a starter by the middle of his rookie season. He won

All-AFL ''The Sporting News'' published an American Football League All-League Team, often referred to as All-AFL, for each season played by the American Football League (AFL), 1960 through 1969. From 1960 through 1966, the All-League team was selected by ...

honors in his second season and played in the

AFL All-Star Game The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the leagu ...

. In

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, Brown was traded within the Western Division to the

and spent the remainder of his playing career there. He served as defensive captain for 10 of his 12 years with the team. He was named to five

AFL All-Star games The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the leag ...

and four NFL Pro Bowls. He was also named All-AFL three times and All-NFL four times. Perhaps Brown's most memorable moment as a Raider came late in

Super Bowl XI Super Bowl XI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

, when he intercepted a

Fran Tarkenton Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at ...

pass with under six minutes remaining and returned it a Super Bowl-record 75 yards for the clinching

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

NFL Films NFL Productions, LLC, doing business as NFL Films, is the film and television production company of the National Football League. It produces commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries for and about the NFL, as well as ot ...

immortalized Brown's play with a film clip of Brown running with the ball, appearing to be running straight to the camera. He was also given a popular

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

as a result of

Bill King Wilbur "Bill" King (October 6, 1927 – October 18, 2005) was an American sports announcer. In 2016, the National Baseball Hall of Fame named King recipient of the 2017 Ford C. Frick Award, the highest honor for American baseball broadcasters. ...

's radio call of the play: "He (Tarkenton) looks and throws...intercepted by the Oakland Raiders Willie Brown at the 30, 40, 50...he’s going all the way!...Old Man Willie!...Touchdown Raiders!" His record stood for 29 years, until it was broken by

Kelly Herndon Kelly Errin Herndon (born November 3, 1976) is a former American football cornerback. He was originally signed by the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 1999. He played college football at Toledo. Although he entered his first NFL ...

's non-scoring 76-yard interception return from the end zone in

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion f ...

. Brown retired after the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

season, and finished his Raiders career with 39 interceptions, tied for first all-time on the team. He finished his sixteen seasons in professional football with 54 interceptions, which he returned for 472 yards and two touchdowns. He also recovered three fumbles. Brown was selected to the

American Football League All-Time Team The American Football League (AFL) All-Time Team was selected on January 14, 1970. The first and second teams were determined by a panel of members of the AFL's Hall of Fame Board of Selectors: Offense Defense Special teams Coach See also ...

and was inducted into the

on July 28, 1984, his first year of eligibility. In 1999, he was ranked number 50 on ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, making him the highest-ranking Raiders player.

Coaching career

Brown served as a defensive backfield coach for the Raiders from 1979 to 1988. He was also the last head football coach at

Long Beach State California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

before the program was discontinued. Brown had succeeded

George Allen George Allen may refer to: Politics and law * George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team * George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...

, who had died just after the end of the 1990 season. He earned a master's degree at the same school in 1991, and later coached at Jordan High School in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1994. In 1995, he returned to the Raiders as the Director of Staff Development.

Awards

* All-AFL Team (

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

) * Five AFL All-Star Games (

– 65,

– 69) * Named to the All-Time AFL Team in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

* Four AFC-NFC Pro Bowls (

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

– 73) * Named to the Pro Football 25-year All-Star team * Inducted into the

in 1984 * Inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1985 * Inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1994

Records

* Previously held Super Bowl record for longest interception (75 yards,

), now held by

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 ...

Linebacker James Harrison (100 yards,

Super Bowl XLIII Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

) * Oakland Raiders franchise leader for interceptions (39, t-1st)

Death

Brown died on October 21, 2019, at the age of 78.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Willie 1940 births 2019 deaths African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football American Conference Pro Bowl players American football cornerbacks American Football League All-Star players American Football League All-Time Team American Football League players California State University, Long Beach alumni Denver Broncos (AFL) players Grambling State Tigers football players High school football coaches in California Long Beach State 49ers football coaches Oakland Raiders coaches Oakland Raiders executives Oakland Raiders players People from Yazoo City, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people