Donald Brown (running back)
.JPG) Brown with the Chargers in 2015 | |||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born: | April 11, 1987 Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Red Bank (NJ) Catholic | ||||||||||||
| College: | Connecticut | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2009 / round: 1 / pick: 27 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 15, 2015 | |||||||||||||
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Donald Eugene Brown II (born April 11, 1987) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He played college football at Connecticut, and was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft.
High school career
Brown attended Red Bank Catholic High School in Red Bank, New Jersey, where he played football and ran track. During his senior season, Brown rushed for 2,032 yards and 27 touchdowns. In track, Brown was timed at 11.3 seconds in the 100 meters and 23.2 seconds in the 200 meters. Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Brown was listed as the No. 53 running back prospect in the nation in 2005.[1] He picked Connecticut over Wisconsin on December 8, 2004.
College career
Brown signed a national letter of intent to enroll at UConn on February 2, 2005. He would conclude his collegiate career as the all-time leading rusher for Connecticut with 3,800 yards. After rushing for over 2,000 yards in his junior year, Brown decided to forgo his senior year to enter the 2009 NFL Draft.
2006 season
Brown entered his redshirt freshman season in 2006 as a kickoff returner and second string running back behind senior captain and incumbent starter, Terry Caulley. Brown showed flashes of his running ability in the first game of the year, when he rushed for 118 yards on only 9 carries, including a 53 yard touchdown run, against Rhode Island. He would play primarily on special teams for the first half of the year. However, when Caulley went down with an injury before Connecticut's game against Rutgers on October 29, Brown was asked to make his first career start at running back. He made the most of this opportunity, as he rushed for 199 yards on 28 carries and 2 touchdowns. This performance proved to be too good to ignore, as he was awarded the starting job for the rest of the season. Brown had his best outing of his freshman campaign in the next game when he rushed for 205 yards on 43 carries with 3 touchdowns (1 receiving) in Connecticut's 46–45 double overtime win over Pittsburgh. Brown would average 134 yards per game in the five Big East games that he started. He finished the year with 896 yards and 9 touchdowns (2 receiving), which was good enough to award him with a 2nd team All Big East nomination.[2]
2007 season
Brown began his sophomore season with heightened expectations brought on by his very successful rookie campaign. However, nagging injuries combined with the emergence of fellow sophomore Andre Dixon would hamper his sophomore season. He would finish the year with 821 yards and 8 touchdowns, which was good for second on the team, behind Dixon. Twice, Brown ran for 100 yards in a game (against Rutgers and West Virginia) and just missed two more by rushing for 99 yards against Duke and Syracuse.
2008 season
A pre-season ankle injury to Dixon would cement Brown as the Huskies starting running back for the start of his junior season. It would be a position that he would not relinquish. Brown would begin the year with eight straight 100 yard games and would twice eclipse the 200 yard mark (against Temple and Virginia). He arguably had his best performance in the second game of the year as he rushed for 214 yards on 36 carries and the game's only touchdown against Temple, in a game played in a monsoon due to Tropical Storm Hannah.[3] Included in his 214 yards was every one of Connecticut's 25 yards in overtime. Brown rushed for 150 yards in the eighth game of the season at home in a 40–16 Connecticut victory over eventual Big East champion Cincinnati. These 150 yards increased his season total to 1,324, which set a new Connecticut single-season record.[4] The old tally of 1,262 had been set by Tory Taylor in 1995. Brown needed only eight games to break Taylor's record. Brown continued his record breaking season in the tenth game at Syracuse. In that game, he rushed for 131 yards on 31 attempts. A 49-yard touchdown run in the second quarter would allow Brown to surpass Caulley as Connecticut's all time leading rusher.[5] Brown would finish the regular season with 1,822 yards, which placed him first for rushing in the NCAA Division I FBS. His performance awarded him the Big East Offensive Player of the Year.[6] On January 3, 2009, Brown was named Player of the Game in UConn's 38–20 victory over the University at Buffalo in the 2009 International Bowl in Toronto. He finished the game with 261 yards rushing (208 in the first half) and a touchdown. He finished the season with 2,083 rushing yards, becoming only the 14th player in FBS history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a single season.[7] On January 8, 2009, Brown was named Eastern College Athletic Conference Player of the Year.[8] Following the International Bowl, Brown announced his intention to enter the 2009 NFL Draft.[9]
Statistics
| Year | Rush Att | Rush Yds | Rush Avg | Rush TD | Rec Att | Rec Yds | Rec Avg | Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Redshirted | |||||||
| 2006 | 161 | 896 | 5.6 | 7 | 13 | 66 | 5.1 | 2 |
| 2007 | 170 | 821 | 4.8 | 8 | 14 | 85 | 6.1 | 0 |
| 2008 | 367 | 2,083 | 5.7 | 18 | 21 | 125 | 6.0 | 0 |
| Career | 698 | 3,800 | 5.4 | 33 | 48 | 276 | 5.8 | 2 |
Professional career
2009 NFL Draft
Brown was considered one of the top three running back prospects available in the draft (alongside Knowshon Moreno and Chris Wells) and drew comparisons to Willie Parker.[10] He was drafted with the 27th pick in the 2009 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. Brown became the first Connecticut Husky ever to be picked in the first round of an NFL Draft.[11]
| 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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
210 lb (95 kg) |
31+1⁄2 in (0.80 m) |
9 in (0.23 m) |
4.46 s | 1.50 s | 2.55 s | 4.10 s | 6.93 s | 41+1⁄2 in (1.05 m) |
10 ft 5 in (3.18 m) | ||
| All results from NFL Combine"NFL Events: Combine Top Performers". NFL.com. | ||||||||||||
Indianapolis Colts
Brown signed a five-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts on August 2, 2009.[12] In his first action as a member of the team, Brown ran for 58 yards on five carries against the Minnesota Vikings in the first week of the preseason.[13]
He scored his first touchdown on September 21, 2009 against the Miami Dolphins in a 27–23 Colts win. On December 19, 2010, Donald recorded his first 100+ yard game in a 34–24 win against the Jaguars.
Brown saw increased playing time during the 2011 Regular Season. He had his best game as a professional in a Week 15 27–13 win over the Tennessee Titans when he rushed 16 times for 161 yards and scored a touchdown on an 80-yard run in the fourth quarter to seal the first victory of the season for Indianapolis.
Brown's 2012 season was hampered by some nagging injuries and the showing of rookie back Vick Ballard. He wasn't very effective the entire season, posting no 100 yard games and only one rushing touchdown.
Brown was originally not a starter for the Colts in the 2013 season. However, due to injuries and lack of production from other running backs Brown was named the starting running back against the Tennessee Titans in Week 13. He ran for 54 yards and a touchdown. He would remain the starter for the remainder of the regular season.
San Diego Chargers
On March 11, 2014, Brown signed a three-year, $10.5 million contract with the San Diego Chargers. $4 million of the contract is guaranteed.[14] He was released on October 3, 2015,[15] and re-signed two days later.[16] On March 3, 2016, Brown was released by the Chargers.[17]
Career statistics
| Season | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FUM | Lost | ||
| Regular season | |||||||||||||||
| 2014 | San Diego Chargers | 13 | 3 | 85 | 223 | 2.6 | 16 | 0 | 29 | 211 | 7.3 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2013 | Indianapolis Colts | 16 | 5 | 102 | 537 | 5.3 | 51T | 6 | 27 | 214 | 7.9 | 33T | 2 | – | – |
| 2012 | Indianapolis Colts | 10 | 4 | 108 | 417 | 3.9 | 19 | 1 | 9 | 93 | 10.3 | 39 | 0 | – | – |
| 2011 | Indianapolis Colts | 16 | 2 | 134 | 645 | 4.8 | 80T | 5 | 16 | 86 | 5.4 | 17 | 0 | – | – |
| 2010 | Indianapolis Colts | 13 | 8 | 129 | 497 | 3.9 | 49 | 2 | 20 | 205 | 10.3 | 25 | 0 | – | – |
| 2009 | Indianapolis Colts | 11 | 1 | 78 | 281 | 3.6 | 45 | 3 | 11 | 169 | 15.4 | 72 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 56 | 20 | 551 | 2,377 | 4.3 | 80 | 17 | 83 | 767 | 9.2 | 72 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Season | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FUM | Lost | ||
| Postseason | |||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Indianapolis Colts | 1 | 1 | 11 | 55 | 5.0 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 47 | 11.8 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2009 | Indianapolis Colts | 3 | 0 | 16 | 46 | 2.9 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 26 | 8.7 | 11 | 0 | – | – |
| Total | 4 | 1 | 27 | 101 | 3.7 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 73 | 10.4 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
See also
References
- ^ "Rivals.com Running backs 2005". Rivals.com. January 22, 2005.
- ^ Big East Announces 2006 Postseason Football Awards
- ^ ESPN – Brown key as UConn stops Temple in overtime
- ^ UConnHuskies.com Game Recap
- ^ UConnHuskies.com Game recap
- ^ Big East Announces 2008 Postseason Football Honors
- ^ Brown rushes for 261 yards as Huskies win International Bowl
- ^ "Donald Brown Named ECAC Player of the Year". UConn. 2009-01-08. Retrieved 2009-01-08. [dead link]
- ^ UConn Takes International Bowl's Brown to the NFL
- ^ Pompei, Dan (April 12, 2009). "2009 NFL Draft: Dan Pompei's top running backs". Chicago Tribune.Lande, Russ (April 24, 2009). "2009 NFL Draft: Best of the running backs". The Sporting News."Pro Football War Room: Donald Brown". SportingNews.com. April 25, 2009.
- ^ "Donald Brown Goes in NFL Draft First Round". UConnHuskies.com. April 25, 2009.
- ^ "After Signing, UConn's Donald Brown Hits Practice Field". Hartford Courant. August 3, 2009.
- ^ Donald Brown Will Be a Big Part of Indy's Offense
- ^ Florio, Mike (March 11, 2014). "Donald Brown bolts the Colts". NBCSports.com. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
- ^ Patra, Kevin (October 3, 2015). "Chargers cut RB Donald Brown, sign G Michael Ola". NFL.com. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
- ^ Williams, Eric D. (October 5, 2015). "Chargers bring back RB Donald Brown". espn.go.com. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
- ^ Gehlken, Michael (March 3, 2016). "Chargers release Donald Brown, save $3.5M". sandiegotribune.com. Retrieved March 3, 2016.