Cornell Desmond Brown (born March 15, 1975) is a former American college and 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 who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

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) for seven seasons. He played college football for

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 ...

, and earned All-American honors twice. Drafted late in the sixth round of the

1997 NFL Draft The 1997 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 19–20, 1997, at the Paramount T ...

, he played professionally for the NFL's

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

. He is currently a defensive ends coach for Marshall. In 2013, Brown was inducted into the

Virginia Sports Hall of Fame The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame honors athletes, coaches, administrators, journalists and other contributors to athletics. Many of the more than 350 inductees since 1972 were born in Virginia or enjoyed success in college, professional, amateur or ...

(the state-wide organization that honors sports figures from the state, or who contributed to sports programs in the state).

Early years

Born in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from por ...

, Brown attended E.C. Glass in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

.databaseFootball.com, Players
Cornell Brown
. Retrieved February 4, 2012. He played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

for the E.C. Glass Hilltoppers, and led them to the state championship game in his senior year in 1992, losing to the Bethel High School team.

College career

Brown attended

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six regi ...

, where he played for coach

Frank Beamer Franklin Mitchell Beamer (born October 18, 1946) is a retired American college football coach, most notably for the Virginia Tech Hokies, and former college football player. He is the father of current South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane ...

Virginia Tech Hokies football The Virginia Tech Hokies football team represents Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the sport of American football. The Hokies compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

team from 1993 to 1996. He earned first-team All-American honors as a defensive end in 1995, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American in 1996. He was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

Professional career

The Baltimore Ravens selected Brown in the sixth round (194th pick overall) of the

, and he played for the Ravens from to .National Football League, Historical Players
Cornell Brown
Retrieved February 4, 2012. With the Ravens, he had success as a backup

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. He earned a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

ring when Baltimore defeated the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

34–7 in

Super Bowl XXXV Super Bowl XXXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

. Brown was hit with a drug charge in 2001 however, and was cut, although the charge was eventually dropped. After going back to

for a year, Brown was picked up by 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 ...

. Cut again, he was re-signed by the Ravens, and played the remainder of his career for them from to .Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Cornell Brown
Retrieved February 4, 2012. In his seven NFL seasons, he played in 108 regular season games, started twenty-five of them, and compiled 147 tackles, seven quarterback sacks and three forced fumbles. Brown was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

Coaching

Brown began his coaching career as an intern with the

NFL Europe 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 ...

Cologne Centurions in 2005, then spent 2006 and 2007 as defensive line coach for the

Frankfurt Galaxy Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Frankfurt Galaxy: * Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 1991 and 2007 * Frankfurt Galaxy (ELF) The Frankfurt Galaxy is an American football team in Frankfurt, ...

in the spring and a graduate assistant on Frank Beamer's Virginia Tech coaching staff in the fall. Brown joined the Calgary staff in 2008. Brown was hired by Virginia Tech as the outside linebackers and assistant defensive line coach in 2011. Brown was hired by Norfolk State University to be the Defensive Coordinator in 2016 Brown was hired by Marshall University to be the Defensive Ends coach in 2017 Brown was hired by Tarleton State to be the Defensive Line coach in 2021.

Football family

Brown's brother is

Ruben Brown Ruben Parnell Brown (born February 13, 1972) is a former American football guard who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills 14th overall in the 1995 NFL Draft. He played college footba ...

, who was a

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

offensive lineman for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

.Pro Football Hall of Fame, History
Brothers in Pro Football
. Retrieved February 4, 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Cornell 1975 births Living people All-American college football players American football linebackers Baltimore Ravens players Oakland Raiders players Calgary Stampeders coaches Frankfurt Galaxy coaches Virginia Tech Hokies football coaches Virginia Tech Hokies football players