Jerry Brown (gridiron football)

Brown played football at Vashon High School, helping his team win three St. Louis Public High League titles and three Missouri district championships. His best year came as a senior in 2005, recording 97 tackles, 13 sacks and one interception.

During his high school career, he was a two-time Public High League Defensive MVP and a first-team All-Public High League Conference selection. As a senior, he received PrepStar All-America honors, was named to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch first-team All-Metro squad and was a Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association Class 5 first-team all-state choice. He was the 11th-ranked high school recruit in Missouri and 53rd-ranked defensive end in the nation according to Rivals.com.

In 2006, Brown accepted a football scholarship to the University of Illinois. He was redshirted as a freshman and by the end of the season he would go on to be named the team's defensive scout player of the year. As a sophomore, he played in 13 games and had 2.5 sacks during Illinois' run to the 2008 Rose Bowl.

As a junior in 2008, he saw action in 11 games, recording 3 tackles (1 for loss) against the University of Missouri. As a senior in 2009, he had an outstanding spring game making a game-high seven tackles and two sacks, but academic problems eventually forced him to leave school.

During his college career, he played mostly as backup defensive end, recording a total of 13 tackles (4 for loss), 2.5 sacks and two passes defensed.

On December 8, 2012, at 2:21 am, fellow Cowboys and Illinois teammate Josh Brent drove a car at high speeds with Brown in it. The car hit an outside curb on Texas State Highway 114 outside Dallas, causing the vehicle to flip at least once and then come to rest in the middle of a service road. The car caught fire, which was extinguished.[3] Brown was unresponsive at the scene and later pronounced dead. Brent was charged with driving under the influence and intoxication manslaughter.[4] Police stated that Brent attempted to pull Brown out of the car.[3]

This tragedy occurred one day before playing against the Cincinnati Bengals, which was a game with playoff implications for both sides and that the Bengals were heavily favored to win. Head coach Jason Garrett told the team of the incident and its tragic result on the plane, before flying to Cincinnati. That Saturday, the players held emotional meetings and hung the jerseys of Brent and Brown in their locker room.

The game would become one of the most emotional in franchise history. The defense was already going to play without 5 starters (Bruce Carter, Sean Lee, Barry Church, Kenyon Coleman and Jay Ratliff) and they would also end up losing Brent, who was going to start in place of Ratliff. The Cowboys stunned the Bengals with an improbable 20–19 come-from-behind victory that was decided in the closing seconds with a Dan Bailey 40-yard field goal. After the final play, Garrett embraced Jason Hatcher, who held Brown's jersey, which was originally placed on the bench during the game. In Brown's honor, the Cowboys wore a 53 decal on their uniforms, and kept his locker intact.[5]

For the memorial service, Stacey Jackson (Brown's mother) requested Brent to meet with the family at the airport, to also ride and sit with them while at the event. The team presented Jackson with the game ball of the 20–19 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, along with a hard-hat award, which was given to players who did their job regardless of circumstance.[6]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jerry Brown (American football).

• Just Sports Stats
• University of Illinois Fighting Illini bio