Courtney Lanair Brown (born February 14, 1978) is an American former professionalfootball player who was adefensive end in theNational Football League (NFL) for six seasons, primarily with theCleveland Browns. He playedcollege football for thePenn State Nittany Lions, earning unanimousAll-American honors and winningBig Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 1999. Brown was selected by Clevelandfirst overall in the2000 NFL draft, but his tenure was marked by injuries, leading to his release after five seasons. He spent his final season with theDenver Broncos.

Brown was born inCharleston, South Carolina.^[2] Growing up inAlvin, South Carolina, he attendedMacedonia High School and was a high school All-Americanlinebacker his senior year. He also contributed onoffense by playingtight end. Brown earnedGatorade Player-of-the-Year accolades in his senior year. He played in the Shrine Bowl. Brown was also an accomplishedbasketball star, playing in the North/South All-Star game. Throughout his high school career, he maintained a 4.0 grade point average. Furthermore, he never missed a day of school from K-12.

Brown attendedPennsylvania State University, where he played for coachJoe Paterno'sPenn State Nittany Lions football team from 1996 to 1999. At Penn State, he was teammates withLaVar Arrington andBrandon Short. As senior in 1999, he was a first-teamAll-Big Ten selection, and was recognized as a consensus first-teamAll-American.^[3] Brown earned the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Linemen of the Year honors in his senior year. He was also a finalist for three national awards:Bronko Nagurski Trophy,Chuck Bednarik Award andLombardi Award. He finished his college football career with anNCAA record-breaking 33quarterback sacks and 70tackles for a loss.

He graduated from Penn State with a Bachelor of Arts degree in integrative arts in 2000.

Brown was selected by the Browns first overall in the2000 NFL draft, making him the eleventh defensive lineman to be taken first overall in the 70-plus year history of the NFL Draft.^[6][7]

Brown had a productiverookie season, recording 69 total tackles and 4.5 sacks. His second season was cut short due to injury, but Brown recorded 4.5 sacks in five games. Brown had problems staying healthy for the rest of his career, and struggled on the field. From 2002 to 2004, Brown only played in 26 games and recorded just nine sacks.

Brown finished his professional football career with the Broncos in 2005. The Broncos that season finished 13–3, and in the playoffs, defeated the defending back-to-back Super Bowl championNew England Patriots, led by fellow 2000 drafteeTom Brady, before losing to the eventual Super Bowl championPittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game.^[8]

• 1978 births
• Living people
• All-American college football players
• American football defensive ends
• Cleveland Browns players
• Denver Broncos players
• First overall NFL draft picks
• Penn State Nittany Lions football players
• Players of American football from Charleston, South Carolina
• 21st-century African-American sportsmen
• 21st-century American sportsmen
• 20th-century African-American sportsmen
• 20th-century American sportsmen

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• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use American English from December 2023
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