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Willie Brown (American football)

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Not to be confused with Willie Brown (American football, born 1942).

Willie Brown
refer to caption
Brown in 2007
No. 24
Position:Cornerback
Personal information
Born:(1940-12-02)December 2, 1940
Yazoo City, Mississippi, U.S.
Died:October 21, 2019(2019-10-21) (aged 78)
Tracy, California, U.S.
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school:Taylor
(Yazoo City, Mississippi)
College:Grambling (1959–1962)
AFL draft:1963 / round: Undrafted
Career history
As a player:
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
As a coach:
As an administrator:
  • Oakland Raiders (1995–2019)
    Director of staff development
Career highlights and awards
As a player
As a coach
  • 2× Super Bowl champion (XV, XVIII)
AFL record
  • Most passes intercepted in a game: 4 (tied)
Career AFL/NFL statistics
Interceptions:54
Interception yards:472
Fumble recoveries:4
Safeties:1
Defensive touchdowns:2
Stats at Pro Football Reference
Head coaching record
Career:College: 2–9 (.182)
Pro Football Hall of Fame

William Ferdie Brown (December 2, 1940 – October 21, 2019)[1] was an American professional football player, coach and administrator. He played as a cornerback for the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL) and later in the National Football League (NFL). Following his playing career, Brown remained with the Raiders as an assistant coach. He served as the head football coach at California State University, Long Beach in 1991, the final season before the school's football program was terminated. Brown was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1984. At the time of his death he was on the Raiders' administrative staff.[2]

Playing career

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Brown played college football at Grambling College—now Grambling State University—and was not drafted by any professional team after leaving school in 1963. He was signed by the Houston Oilers of the American Football League (AFL), but was cut from the team during training camp. He was then signed by the AFL's Denver Broncos and became a starter by the middle of his rookie season. He won All-AFL honors in his second season and played in the AFL All-Star Game.

In 1967, Brown was traded within the Western Division to the Oakland Raiders and spent the remainder of his playing career there. He served as defensive captain for 10 of his 12 years with the team. He was named to five AFL All-Star games and four NFL Pro Bowls. He was also named All-AFL three times and All-NFL four times.[3]

Perhaps Brown's most memorable moment as a Raider came late in Super Bowl XI, when he intercepted a Fran Tarkenton pass with under six minutes remaining and returned it a Super Bowl-record 75 yards for the clinching touchdown.[4][5] NFL Films immortalized Brown's play with a film clip of Brown running with the ball, appearing to be running straight to the camera. He was also given a popular nickname as a result of Bill King's radio call of the play: "He (Tarkenton) looks and throws...intercepted by the Oakland Raiders Willie Brown at the 30, 40, 50...he’s going all the way!...Old Man Willie!...Touchdown Raiders!"[6] His record stood for 29 years, until it was broken by Kelly Herndon's non-scoring 76-yard interception return from the end zone in Super Bowl XL.[7] The scoring play was one of Brown's two defensive touchdowns. The other one occurred in the 1973 playoffs when Brown intercepted Steelers quaterback Terry Bradshaw and returned the ball 54 yards for a score.

Brown retired after the 1978 season, and finished his Raiders career with 39 interceptions, tied for first all-time on the team. He finished his sixteen seasons in professional football with 54 interceptions, which he returned for 472 yards and two touchdowns. He also recovered three fumbles.[8]

Brown was selected to the American Football League All-Time Team[9] and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on July 28, 1984, his first year of eligibility.[3] In 1999, he was ranked number 50 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, making him the highest-ranking Raiders player.[10]

Coaching career

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Brown served as a defensive backfield coach for the Raiders from 1979 to 1988. He was also the last head football coach at Long Beach State before the program was discontinued.[11] Brown had succeeded George Allen, who had died just after the end of the 1990 season. He earned a master's degree at the same school in 1991, and later coached at Jordan High School in Los Angeles in 1994. In 1995, he returned to the Raiders as the Director of Staff Development.[12]

Awards

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AFL/NFL career statistics

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Legend
Won the Super Bowl
Led the league
Bold Career high

Regular season

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Year Team Games Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Int Yds Y/I Lng TD FR Yds Y/F TD
1963 DEN 8 6 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0
1964 DEN 14 14 9 140 15.6 45 0 0 0 — 0
1965 DEN 14 11 2 18 9.0 18 0 0 0 0.0 0
1966 DEN 14 14 3 37 12.3 31 0 0 0 0.0 0
1967 OAK 14 12 7 33 4.7 25 1 2 0 0.0 0
1968 OAK 14 14 2 27 13.5 27 1 0 0 — 0
1969 OAK 14 14 5 111 22.2 30 0 0 0 0.0 0
1970 OAK 8 7 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0
1971 OAK 14 14 2 2 2.0 2 0 0 0 — 0
1972 OAK 14 14 4 26 6.5 13 0 2 0 0.0 0
1973 OAK 14 14 3 -1 -0.3 -1 0 0 0 0.0 0
1974 OAK 9 9 1 31 31.0 31 0 0 0 — 0
1975 OAK 12 12 4 -1 -0.3 0 0 0 0 — 0
1976 OAK 14 14 3 25 8.3 22 0 0 0 0.0 0
1977 OAK 14 14 4 24 6.0 18 0 0 0 0.0 0
1978 OAK 13 2 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0
Career 204 185 54 472 8.8 45 2 4 0 0.0 0

Postseason

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Year Team Games Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Int Yds Y/I Lng TD FR Yds Y/F TD
1967 OAK 2 2 1 2 2.0 2 0 0 0 — 0
1968 OAK 2 2 1 0 — 0 0 0 0 — 0
1969 OAK 2 2 1 15 15.0 15 0 0 0 — 0
1970 OAK 2 2 1 50 50.0 50 1 0 0 — 0
1972 OAK 1 1 0 0 — 0 0 0 0 — 0
1973 OAK 2 2 2 54 27.0 54 1 0 0 — 0
1975 OAK 1 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 0 0.0 0
1976 OAK 3 3 1 75 75.0 75 1 0 0 0.0 0
1977 OAK 2 2 0 0 — 0 0 0 0 — 0
Career 17 16 7 96 13.7 75 3 0 0 0.0 0

Records

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Death

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Brown died on October 21, 2019, at the age of 78.[1]

Head coaching record

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Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Long Beach State 49ers (Big West Conference) (1991)
1991 Long Beach State 2–9 2–5 T–5th
Long Beach State: 2–9 2–5
Total: 2–9

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Sandomir, Richard (October 22, 2019). "Willie Brown, Hall of Fame Defensive Back With Raiders, Dies at 78". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  2. ^ Judge, Clark. "Raiders, Hall Mourn the passing of Willie Brown". si.com. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Willie Brown". profootballhof.com. Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  4. ^ Jenkins, Dan (January 17, 1977). "The Raiders were all suped up". Sports Illustrated. p. 10.
  5. ^ "Records set Sunday: Super Bowl XI". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). January 10, 1977. p. 4C.
  6. ^ McDonald, Jerry. "Raiders cornerback 'Old Man Willie' Brown: His big moment in Super Bowl XI came to him in a dream," Bay Area News Group, Friday, January 29, 2016. Archived August 9, 2021, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved August 8, 2021
  7. ^ Hensley, Jamison (February 6, 2006). "Steel Will". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  8. ^ "Willie Brown Stats". pro-football-reference.com. Sports-Reference, LLC. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  9. ^ "Raiders legendary Hall of Fame cornerback Willie Brown dies at 78". nbcsports.com. October 22, 2019. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  10. ^ "The Sporting News 100 Greatest Players of All-Time". futurefootballlegends.com. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  11. ^ Kirk, Roger. "Willie Brown, Long Beach State's Final Football Coach, Passes Away". longbeachstate.com. LONG BEACH STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  12. ^ "Willie Brown - Hall of Fame". raiders.com. The Las Vegas Raiders. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
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