 Brown with the Buffalo Bills in 2014 | |||||||||||||
| No. 34, 35, 36 | |||||||||||||
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| Position: | Running back | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | (1991-05-14)May 14, 1991 (age 33) Wichita, Kansas, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Wichita East (Wichita, Kansas) | ||||||||||||
| College: |
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| NFL draft: | 2012: 7th round, 229th pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Bryce Lee Brown (born May 14, 1991) is an American former professionalfootballrunning back who played for thePhiladelphia Eagles,Buffalo Bills, andSeattle Seahawks. He attended theUniversity of Tennessee his freshman year of college, but decided to transfer to Kansas State after head coachLane Kiffin left the program for USC.[1] Later that year, Volunteers coachDerek Dooley declined to release Brown from his scholarship, resulting in Brown sitting out the 2010 season at Kansas State due to NCAA transfer rules.[2] Brown left the Kansas State football team early in the 2011 season to enter the2012 NFL draft. In April 2012, Brown was selected in the seventh round by the Philadelphia Eagles.[3]
While playing atWichita East High School, he won the 2008Hall Trophy for the best high school player in theUnited States and was ranked atop of theRivals.com ranking of his class, the first running back to do so sinceAdrian Peterson in 2004.[4] In 2008, he was also dubbed the best high school running back prospect of the last five years.[5] In 2008,Rivals.com analyst Barry Every compared Brown to NFL running backRonnie Brown.[4]
A first-team All-City league selection as a freshman, he rushed for 1,472 yards and 12 touchdowns. He followed that up with an even more impressive sophomore campaign, rushing for 2,039 yards and 26 TDs. Brown was a consensus First-team All-State selection as well asEA Sports National Sophomore of the Year. He amassed more than 50 scholarship offers.
During his junior year, Brown rushed for 1,825 yards on 207 carries (8.8 avg) and 23 touchdowns, earning him All-City and All-State honors. He wore #5 in his Junior year. He was also recognized as a member of the Kansas “Fab 11” and was the lone junior that was named aUSA Today Prep All-American.[6] In fact, Tom Lemming ofCSTV considered Brown to be better than all of the senior running backs in the 2008 class (which includedDarrell Scott,Ryan Williams, andCyrus Gray).[7] Brown was believed to be the top running back prospect from Kansas sinceBarry Sanders.[8][9]
Arthur Brown committed to theUniversity of Miami in December 2007, which led to rumors whether Bryce may complete his high school inCoral Gables, Florida, since their mother once toldUSA Today that Bryce “is wanting to go to high school wherever Arthur chooses to go to college.”[10] Bryce Brown, however, eventually decided to remain in Wichita for his senior season.[11]
In October 2008, Brown was selected to the 2009U.S. Army All-American Bowl.[12] Brown finished the 2008 season with a Wichita City League regular-season record 1,873 yards rushing, giving him 7,209 rushing yards overall, also a City League record.[13] He was named to theUSA Today All-USA First-team for the second consecutive time.[14]
His workouts, recruiting, and news media requests were handled by Brian Butler, who identified himself as Brown's trainer andhandler.[15][16] Butler sold updates of Brown's recruitment via website for $9.99 a month or $59 a year and sought contributions that he says were used to take players on a tour of colleges each summer.[15] At one point, Butler announced Brown was considering entering theCanadian Football League (CFL), but Brown backed down from that claim.[16] As a result of Butler's handling, theNational Collegiate Athletic Association’s amateurism certification staff launched an investigation to determine whether anything had been done that would jeopardize Brown's amateur status.[17] The NCAA's investigation eventually cleared Brown to play before the start of his freshman season.[18]
On February 22, 2008, Brown chose to follow his brother and verbally committed to theUniversity of Miami.[19] However, Brown did not sign a letter of intent onNational Signing Day 2009, but instead planned to announce his decision on March 16, naming five other "finalists" despite his oral commitment to Miami:LSU, Tennessee,Oregon,USC, andKansas State.[16] SaidESPN.com′sTom Luginbill: "If I wasRandy Shannon and the Miami staff, I would tell the kid and Brian Butler to go jump in a lake. I got to imagine that deep down, Miami's coaches have to be thinking, 'This is getting ridiculous.'"[20] Prior to his announcement, Brown paid official visits to Oregon andClemson,[21] and finally took an impromptu visit to Tennessee on March 13.[22]
Citing an anonymous source, theAssociated Press reported the University of Miami would not reissue a national letter of intent to Brown to replace the one that expired Wednesday, February 18.[23] Brown's advisor Brian Butler told AP he was unaware scholarship offers have an expiration date, but reiterated that Brown would not sign until March 16.[24] According toPalm Beach Post′s Jorge Milian UM coach Shannon called Brown on Tuesday, February 17, and allegedly told him the University of Miami was no longer interested in his services.[25] However, Brown later toldWichita Eagle that Shannon still wanted him to be a Hurricane.[26] Due to NCAA rules, Shannon was not allowed to comment.
On March 16, 2009, Brown announced at a press conference at the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in Wichita, Kansas, that he would attend theUniversity of Tennessee. "I feel that's the school that's gonna prepare me the best to go to the next level," Brown said at the press conference.[27]
Entering college with an enormous amount of hype, Brown was expected to see considerable playing time during histrue freshman year and spent the 2009 season in the top two running back rotation.[28] His amateur status was under investigation by the NCAA prior to the season,[29] but Brown was cleared only a few days later.[30]
Brown spent the season as a backup to seniorMontario Hardesty. Brown finished the season with 460 yards rushing, second on the team behind Hardesty. He also had three rushing touchdowns.
On the first day of Tennessee's 2010 spring practice, afterLane Kiffin left the Volunteers for USC, Brown announced his decision to leave the program. Volunteers' coachDerek Dooley said that Brown would remain enrolled at Tennessee for the rest of the spring semester but did not indicate if he would then transfer.[1] His brotherArthur transferred from theUniversity of Miami toKansas State University a couple of weeks earlier, and on August 15, 2010, Brown decided to join his brother at Kansas State.[31]
Brown, along with his brotherArthur, were named in a report fromYahoo! Sports alleging that student-athletes, coaches, and administrators were aware and received impermissible benefits from an ex-booster of the University of MiamiNevin Shapiro.[32] "Kansas State University has been in communication with the NCAA," the university said in a release. "Regarding Arthur Brown and Bryce Brown, the NCAA staff has informed the institution that it has no concerns about their eligibility to compete at K-State."[33]
In Brown's only action for the Wildcats, he carried the ball three times for 16 yards as a fourth-option back in a 10–7 win overEastern Kentucky On September 3. On September 29, 2011, it was reported that Brown left the Kansas State football team "at least temporarily."[34] He entered the 2012 NFL draft as an early entry in January 2012.[3]
Brown was not invited to the 2012NFL Combine. Dan Pompei of theChicago Tribune ranked him as the No. 17 running back prospect of the2012 NFL draft.[35]
| Height | Weight | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft11+1⁄2 in (1.82 m) | 223 lb (101 kg) | 4.48 s | 1.56 s | 2.58 s | 4.20 s | 7.04 s | 34.0 in (0.86 m) | 9 ft 9 in (2.97 m) | 22 reps | |||
| All values from Kansas StatePro Day[36] | ||||||||||||
Brown was selected in the seventh round (229th overall) of the2012 NFL draft by thePhiladelphia Eagles.[37][38] He signed a four-year contract with the team on May 11, 2012.
After starting running backLeSean McCoy was ruled out due to post-concussion symptoms, Brown started against theCarolina Panthers onMonday Night Football on November 26, 2012—his first start since high school.[39] Brown had over 100 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone, including a sixty-five yard touchdown run. He finished the game with 178 yards rushing on 19 carries, 2 touchdowns and 4 receptions for 11 yards, and 2 fumbles. Brown's 178 yards set an Eagles rookie record.[40] The next week on December 2, 2012, against theDallas Cowboys, Brown rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns. Brown fumbled late in the fourth quarter, however, and Dallas playerMorris Claiborne returned the fumble 50 yards for the deciding score in the game.[41]
In the 2013 season, Brown continued to play backup. In a 54–11 blowout of theChicago Bears, he reached 115 yards on only nine carries, including a 65-yard touchdown.[42] The 9.6 yards per snap (only on the field for 12 snaps) average was the NFL record since the stat became available in 2012 (later broken byMiami'sLamar Miller in 2015).
On May 10, 2014, Brown was traded to theBuffalo Bills.[43] The trade sent Brown and the Eagles2014 7th round pick for the Bills2015 4th round pick and 2014 7th round pick. On September 15, 2015, the Bills released Brown.[44]
On October 27, 2015, Brown signed with theSeattle Seahawks. He spent the remainder of the 2015 season with the team.[45]
Bryce met his wife, Morgan, at The University of Tennessee. The two married on March 8, 2013, in Fiji. The couple has two sons together, Beckham and Leighton Brown. His brother Arthur Brown, Jr, also played in the NFL and his uncleLawrence Pete is a formerDetroit Lions player.[46]
His older brotherArthur is a former five-star linebacker recruit who played at Kansas State University and played for the Baltimore Ravens from 2013–2016. According to Jeremy Crabtree ofRivals.com, the Browns were the first brothers ever to be both ranked five-star recruits.[10]
