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| No. 15, 14 | |||||||||
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| Positions | Quarterback Punter | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1928-10-26)October 26, 1928 San Luis Obispo, California, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | August 2, 2007(2007-08-02) (aged 78) Kennewick, Washington, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | San Luis Obispo | ||||||||
| College | Hartnell (1948) San Francisco (1949-1951) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1952:6th round, 68th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Charles Edward Brown (October 26, 1928 – August 2, 2007) was an American professionalfootball player who was aquarterback andpunter in theNational Football League (NFL).
Brown went to high school inSan Luis Obispo, California, andHartnell College inSalinas, California. He played for theUniversity of San FranciscoDons through1951. On his senior year (1951), he quarterbacked the Dons to an undefeated 9–0 season, but the team did not receive abowl invitation.
Despite the increasingintegration of college and pro football, the major bowls that year did not select teams that had black players, or they asked the teams to not bring their black players. The Dons refused to send a white-only squad, so they were snubbed. The 1951 Dons featuredOllie Matson andBurl Toler, both superb players who happened to be African-American. Matson played with great success in the NFL and was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in1972; Toler became the first blackofficial in the NFL.
The 1951 Dons are sometimes considered the greatest collection of players ever on one college team. Besides Matson, Toler, and Brown, the Dons hadGino Marchetti,Bob St. Clair,Dick Stanfel, and five other players who made the NFL. In addition,head coachJoe Kuharich went on to coach in the NFL, and their athletic news director (publicist) wasPete Rozelle, futureNFL commissioner. Despite their great success—or maybe it was because of it—USF discontinued its football program after the 1951 season due to the high cost of running a top-notch football team.
Brown was selected byGeorge Halas'Chicago Bears in thesixth round of the1952 NFL draft (68th overall), but was also drafted by theU.S. Marine Corps and spent two years in service. He played for theCamp Pendleton football squad.
Brown began playing in the NFL in 1954 as the third-string quarterback for the Bears, behindGeorge Blanda andZeke Bratkowski. In 1955, with Bratkowski in the military, Brown beat out Blanda for thestarting job and led the Bears to an 8–4 record and a very close second-place finish to theLos Angeles Rams. Brown developed a reputation as a longball-throwing, shot-and-a-beer quarterback, connecting often withHarlon Hill, who led the league with ninetouchdownreceptions. Brown had his finest season in 1956, playing for new Bears head coachPaddy Driscoll (Halas was still owner and GM and would soon return as coach). Brown led the league that year in passing, completing 96 of 168 passes for 1,667 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12interceptions. He had an amazing 9.9 yards per attempt. Hill remained his favorite target, catching 47 passes for 1,128 yards (a 24.0 yard per catch average), and 11 touchdowns. The Bears won the Western Conference with a 9-2-1 record, leading the league in rushing and scoring while finished second in rushing in rushing defense.
The Bears met theNew York Giants in the1956 Championship Game on December 30 atYankee Stadium. The 1956 game was the second"sneakers" game in Bears-Giants history (the first was in 1934), with the Giants again gaining an advantage by switching to sneakers versus cleats on an icy field. The Giants destroyed the Bears 47–7, intercepting Brown twice,sacking him multiple times for -34 yards and shutting downRick Casares and the Bears' running attack. The Bears completed 20 of 47 passes for 247 yards and no touchdowns. It got so bad that the Bears abandoned theT-formation and switched to asingle-wing variant in the third quarter.
In 1957, the Bears appeared to still be affected by the 1956 title game, slumping to 5–7 with an anemic running attack and a mediocre year by Ed Brown. All of Brown's numbers were down from the previous season. Zeke Bratkowski got back from military service and began to challenge Brown for the quarterback job. In 1958, George Halas took back the coaching job and pushed the Bears back into second place at 8–4, one game behind theBaltimore Colts. Brown played better, throwing for 1,418 yards and 10 touchdowns. Brown had another productive season in 1959, when the Bears again finished second behind Baltimore with an 8–4 record. He passed for a career-high 1,881 yards and 13 touchdowns. By 1960, Brown began to decline on the field while his many late nights did not sit well with Halas, so Bratkowski got more and more playing time. Brown completed only 40% of his passes that year as the Bears finished in fifth. In 1961, Brown was benched in favor of newly acquiredBilly Wade. Throughout his years with the Bears (except 1961), Brown was their starting punter, leading the league in punts attempted in 1959 with 64.
Before the 1962 season, Brown was traded to thePittsburgh Steelers, with whom he remained a back-up, now to future Hall of FamerBobby Layne. Brown got another chance to start when Layne retired after the season. In 1963, still specializing in the long passes, he had his biggest numbers, completing 168 of 362 passes for 2,982 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions. To the surprise of many, the Steelers stayed in contention for the East title until the final game of the season, in which Brown played poorly in a 33–17 loss to the Giants in New York. As legend has it, several teammates feared the team was in trouble when they didn't see their quarterback out and about on the night before the game.
In 1964, Brown played his last year as a starter, throwing for 1,990 yards for the mediocre Steelers team. He played one more season as a backup, was waived and picked up by Baltimore late in the season. Brown played in the season finale behind running backTom Matte who was filling in at quarterback after injuries to bothJohnny Unitas andGary Cuozzo. Brown completed 3-of-5 passes, including an 81-yard touchdown. Because of his arrival so late in the season, he was ineligible for the Colts' playoff loss to the eventual championGreen Bay. Brown retired after the season.
Brown finished with 949 completions, 1,987 attempts, 15,600 yards, 102 touchdown passes, and 138 interceptions. He rushed for 960 yards and 14 touchdowns during his career. Brown also punted each year for the Steelers except his last. Brown finished with 498 punts and a 40.5 yard average per kick.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| NFL record | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Punting | Fum | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | Y/C | Lng | TD | Int | Rtg | Pnt | Yds | Y/P | Lng | Blck | |||
| 1954 | CHI | 12 | 0 | — | 10 | 17 | 58.8 | 283 | 16.6 | 28.3 | 69 | 3 | 1 | 118.3 | 18 | 684 | 38.0 | 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 1955 | CHI | 12 | 12 | 8–4 | 85 | 164 | 51.8 | 1,307 | 8.0 | 15.4 | 86 | 9 | 10 | 71.4 | 44 | 1,766 | 40.1 | 59 | 1 | 4 |
| 1956 | CHI | 12 | 12 | 9–2–1 | 96 | 168 | 57.1 | 1,667 | 9.9 | 17.4 | 70 | 11 | 12 | 83.1 | 42 | 1,644 | 39.1 | 53 | 1 | 3 |
| 1957 | CHI | 12 | 8 | 3–5 | 84 | 185 | 45.4 | 1,321 | 7.1 | 15.7 | 74 | 6 | 16 | 44.4 | 34 | 1,365 | 40.1 | 62 | 1 | 5 |
| 1958 | CHI | 12 | 10 | 7–3 | 102 | 218 | 46.8 | 1,418 | 6.5 | 13.9 | 79 | 10 | 17 | 51.0 | 27 | 1,140 | 42.2 | 57 | 0 | 4 |
| 1959 | CHI | 12 | 8 | 5–3 | 125 | 247 | 50.6 | 1,881 | 7.6 | 15.0 | 88 | 13 | 10 | 76.7 | 64 | 2,634 | 41.2 | 66 | 0 | 7 |
| 1960 | CHI | 12 | 11 | 4–6–1 | 59 | 149 | 39.6 | 1,079 | 7.2 | 18.3 | 91 | 7 | 11 | 50.2 | 56 | 2,231 | 39.8 | 65 | 2 | 2 |
| 1961 | CHI | 14 | 5 | 3–2 | 46 | 98 | 46.9 | 742 | 7.6 | 16.1 | 84 | 4 | 11 | 46.8 | 58 | 2,448 | 42.2 | 69 | 0 | 1 |
| 1962 | PIT | 14 | 3 | 2–1 | 43 | 84 | 51.2 | 726 | 8.6 | 16.9 | 50 | 5 | 6 | 70.8 | 60 | 2,400 | 40.0 | 78 | 0 | 1 |
| 1963 | PIT | 14 | 14 | 7–4–3 | 168 | 362 | 46.4 | 2,982 | 8.2 | 17.8 | 85 | 21 | 20 | 71.4 | 57 | 2,256 | 39.6 | 57 | 0 | 5 |
| 1964 | PIT | 14 | 13 | 5–8 | 121 | 272 | 44.5 | 1,990 | 7.3 | 16.4 | 54 | 12 | 19 | 55.2 | 31 | 1,346 | 43.4 | 54 | 0 | 5 |
| 1965 | PIT | 13 | 0 | — | 7 | 18 | 38.9 | 123 | 6.8 | 17.6 | 39 | 0 | 5 | 23.4 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| BAL | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 5 | 60.0 | 81 | 16.2 | 27.0 | 68 | 1 | 0 | 143.7 | 2 | 80 | 40.0 | 49 | 0 | 1 | |
| Career | 154 | 96 | 53–38–5 | 949 | 1,987 | 47.8 | 15,600 | 7.9 | 16.4 | 91 | 102 | 138 | 62.8 | 493 | 19,994 | 40.6 | 78 | 5 | 40 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Punting | Fum | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | Y/C | TD | Int | Rtg | Pnt | Yds | Y/P | Blck | |||
| 1956 | CHI | 1 | 0 | 0–1 | 8 | 20 | 40.0 | 97 | 4.9 | 12.1 | 0 | 1 | 34.8 | 6 | 255 | 42.5 | 1 | 1 |
| Career | 1 | 0 | 0–1 | 8 | 20 | 40.0 | 97 | 4.9 | 12.1 | 0 | 1 | 34.8 | 6 | 255 | 42.5 | 1 | 1 | |
Brown died on August 2, 2007, inKennewick, Washington ofprostate cancer.[1]