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Mike Brown (safety)

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Mike Brown
refer to caption
Brown with the Bears in 2008
No. 30
Position:Safety
Personal information
Born: (1978-02-13) February 13, 1978 (age 46)
Scottsdale, Arizona
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school:Scottsdale (AZ) Saguaro
College:Nebraska
NFL draft:2000 / round: 2 / pick: 39
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:616
Sacks:7.0
Forced fumbles:8
Fumble recoveries:8
Interceptions:20
Total touchdowns:7
Stats at Pro Football Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Mike Brown (born February 13, 1978) is a former American football safety who played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected with the eighth pick of the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft out of the University of Nebraska by the Chicago Bears. Brown was ranked #49 in ESPN Chicago's "50 Greatest Bears" poll in 2012.

High school career

Mike Brown graduated from Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1996, where he played both football and baseball.

In football, he was an All-State choice and ranked the top defensive back prospect in the country by SuperPrep, and named Arizona Player-of-the-Year by every major publication. Mike Brown was named the state's top running back and defensive back by The Arizona Republic, which was the first time in 10 years a player received both awards. Mike rushed for 2,036 yards (9.6 avg.) and 31 touchdowns as a senior.

In baseball, he played center field and was an All-State choice as a senior, after batting .426, and posting 27 stolen bases.[1]

College career

Brown enjoyed a stellar college career and is still considered by many fans and experts of Nebraska football to be the greatest strong safety in the modern history of the school. Brown played cornerback as a freshman before playing both safety positions in his final three seasons. As a junior, he set Nebraska single-season record for tackles by a defensive back with a career-high 102 and was named to all-Big 12 first-team. Brown enjoyed his greatest season as senior in which he was first-team all-America selection by Associated Press and Football Writers Association and a unanimous all-Big Twelve first-team pick and academic all-American. He started every game and finished the year leading the Huskers with 96 tackles while adding two sacks, one fumble recovery, six forced fumbles and five interceptions, five passes defended.

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
5 ft 10 in
(1.78 m) 		204 lb
(93 kg) 		30+1⁄2 in
(0.77 m) 		9+1⁄10 in
(0.23 m)		 4.59 s 1.59 s 2.65 s 4.01 s 6.93 s 36 in
(0.91 m)		 9 ft 6 in
(2.90 m)		 14 reps
All values from NFL Combine[2][3]
Mike Brown at the Chicago Bears 2007 Training Camp.

The Chicago Bears drafted Brown as 39th overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. Brown was the only rookie to play in the 2000 season’s opener, eventually becoming the team’s starting free safety for all sixteen games of the season.[4] He recorded the second most tackles on the team that year and one interception that was returned for a touchdown.[5] He received accolades from Pro Football Weekly, Football News and Football Digest, but lost the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award to teammate Brian Urlacher.[4] The following year, he had two memorable performances, during which he returned two interceptions for two consecutive overtime wins,[6] making him the first player in league history to accomplish the feat.[7] The 2001 Bears finished the season with a 13–3 record and one of the league’s most prominent defenses. Brown recorded a team leading five interceptions including 2 in overtime that were returned for touchdowns that year. However, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the team in the postseason’s second round.

Brown recorded three interceptions and 111 tackles in 2002, despite sustaining a hand injury during the off season. One of his most notable performances came when he returned a fumble for a 68-yard touchdown, following a fumble and lateral pass from Rosevelt Colvin.[4] In addition to the return he had forced three fumbles that season.[5] However, Brown only intercepted two passes during the 2003 season, and tied for third among tackles on the team.[4]

After sustaining an Achilles injury in 2004, which forced him to miss the last 14 games, and a calf-injury in 2005 which made him miss the last four games of 2005, the Bears defense was noticeably less effective. Brown tried to play in a January 2006 Divisional Playoff game for the Bears against the Carolina Panthers, but had to leave the game in the first quarter. The Panthers would go on to win the game, 29–21. During week six of the 2006 Chicago Bears season, Brown suffered a Lisfranc fracture. The ailment forced him to undergo surgery, and sent him to Bears' injured reserve for the remainder of the season.

Brown is also noted by teammates and coaches for his on-field coaching ability. He made the NFL transitions much easier for his fellow safeties Chris Harris and Danieal Manning by making sure they were in the correct positions. Brian Urlacher often referred to him as the actual leader of the defense.[8] Brown returned to the field during the 2007 season's mini-camp, making a recovery much earlier than expected.[9] Brown recorded an interception during the 2007 season's opener against the San Diego Chargers. However, he sustained a knee injury after Lorenzo Neal horse-collar tackled him.[10] Brown returned to the locker room, and emotionally stated that something in his knee did not feel right.[11] Further medical examination confirmed that Brown would miss the remainder of the season.[12]

Neal, who knew he was at fault immediately after the play,[13] apologized to Brown and the media.[14] Brian Urlacher, one of Brown’s longtime teammates and friends, stated he was unsure whether Brown would attempt another comeback.[15]

The Bears reached an agreement with Brown on a restructured contract on May 20, 2008. The restructured deal would protect Chicago if Brown got hurt for the fourth time in his career. He would still collect his annual $2.44 million, but only $950,000 of it would be guaranteed for being on the Week 1 roster. The rest of the payout would have been based on playing time. If Brown got injured in preseason, he would only receive $320,000.[16] Brown sustained a calf injury during the Bears' second-to-last game of the 2008 season, and was subsequently placed on the injury reserve. Brown was just one game away from completing his first full season in more than four years.[17]

On February 14, 2009, the Chicago Bears announced that they would not offer a contract to Mike Brown. He then signed with the Kansas City Chiefs on June 24.[18] Brown started in all 16 games for the Chiefs, recording three interceptions and 79 tackles.

NFL statistics

Year Team GP COMB TOTAL AST SACK FF FR FR YDS TD INT IR YDS AVG IR LNG TD PD
2000 CHI 16 97 79 18 0.0 1 1 12 0 1 35 35 35 1 1
2001 CHI 16 67 55 12 3.0 2 1 5 0 5 81 16 33 2 11
2002 CHI 16 90 75 15 0.0 3 2 106 1 3 16 5 16 0 8
2003 CHI 16 76 62 14 0.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 6
2004 CHI 2 10 9 1 0.0 0 1 95 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
2005 CHI 12 72 63 9 1.0 1 0 0 0 3 116 39 72 1 6
2006 CHI 6 24 19 5 0.0 1 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
2007 CHI 1 4 2 2 0.0 0 1 0 0 1 27 27 27 0 2
2008 CHI 15 73 57 16 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 8
2009 KC 16 103 79 24 2.0 0 1 0 0 3 13 4 10 0 3
Career 116 616 500 116 7.0 8 8 221 3 20 288 14 72 4 47

[19]

Key

  • GP: games played
  • COMB: combined tackles
  • TOTAL: total tackles
  • AST: assisted tackles
  • SACK: sacks
  • FF: forced fumbles
  • FR: fumble recoveries
  • FR YDS: fumble return yards
  • TD: fumbles returned for touchdown
  • INT: interceptions
  • IR YDS: interception return yards
  • AVG IR: average interception return
  • LNG: longest interception return
  • TD: interceptions returned for touchdown
  • PD: passes defensed

References

  1. ^ "Roster". Chicago Bears. Archived from the original on March 8, 2009. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  2. ^ "2000 NFL Combine Results". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  3. ^ "Mike Brown NFL Combine Scores". nflcombineresults.com. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Chicagobears.com, Roster – 30 – Mike Brown Archived March 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on April 12, 2007.
  5. ^ a b NFL.com, Mike Brown – Defensive Stats Retrieved on April 12, 2007.
  6. ^ Bearshistory.com, 2001 Chicago Bears Retrieved on April 12, 2007
  7. ^ Mayer, Larry (January 8, 2013). "Mike Brown impressed with Bears' starting safeties". Chicago Bears. Archived from the original on January 11, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  8. ^ "Without Brown, foes find the holes", Chicago Tribune, November 17, 2006
  9. ^ Yahoo! Sports, NFC team reports: Camp work intensifies, Retrieved on May 29, 2007
  10. ^ Markbreit, Jerry (September 11, 2007). "The former NFL referee answers reader questions each week on ChicagoSports.com". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
  11. ^ McClure, Vaughn (September 9, 2007). "Mike Brown: 'It doesn't look too good'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  12. ^ Schefter, Adam (September 10, 2007). "Bears safety, defensive tackle out for season". NFL.com. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  13. ^ Strohl, Rahula (September 9, 2007). "Mike Brown, star-crossed safety". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 16, 2007.
  14. ^ Mayer, Larry (September 11, 2007). "Did Chargers punt hit camera wires over field?". chicagobears.com. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
  15. ^ Mayer, Larry (September 13, 2007). "Urlacher feels injured teammate Brown's pain". chicagobears.com. Retrieved September 16, 2007.
  16. ^ Bears restructure Mike Brown's contract, get protection vs. injury Archived October 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ "Bears put Brown on IR, re-sign Worrell". Chicago Bears.com. December 26, 2008. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  18. ^ "Chiefs sign UFA S Mike Brown". Kansas City Chiefs. June 25, 2009. Archived from the original on June 28, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
  19. ^ "Mike Brown Stats". ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
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