Lomas Brown
Encyclopedia
Lomas Brown, Jr. is a former American college and professional football
player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League
(NFL) for eighteen seasons in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. Brown played college football
for the University of Florida
, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Detroit Lions
and four other NFL teams. He is currently a sports broadcaster
and analyst for ESPN
and other television and radio networks.
in 1963. He attended Miami Springs High School
in Miami Springs, Florida
, where he was a stand-out offensive lineman for the Miami Springs Golden Hawks high school football
team. In 2007, the Florida High School Athletic Association
(FHSAA) recognized Brown as one of the thirty-three all-time greatest Florida high school football players of the last 100 years by naming him to its "All-Century Team."
to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida
, where he played for coach Charley Pell
and coach Galen Hall
's Florida Gators football
teams from 1981 to 1984. He started
thirty-four games in his college career at Florida, all at tackle. Brown was a team captain
, a first-team All-Southeastern Conference
(SEC) selection and a consensus first-team All-American, and the winner of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy
recognizing the best blocker in the SEC during his senior
year in 1984. He anchored the Gators' outstanding offensive line, memorably dubbed "The Great Wall of Florida," and which included Brown, Phil Bromley, Billy Hinson, Crawford Ker
and Jeff Zimmerman in 1984. Behind the blocking
of Brown and his Great Wall teammates, the Gators' quarterback Kerwin Bell
, fullback
John L. Williams
and halfback
Neal Anderson
led the Gators to a 9–1–1 overall win-loss record and won their first SEC championship with a conference record of 5–0–1. (Unfortunately, the title was later vacated by the SEC university presidents because of NCAA rules violations committed by Charley Pell and the Gators coaching staff between 1979 and 1983.) Brown was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1995.
While Brown was a student at Florida, he was initiated as a member of Phi Beta Sigma
Fraternity
(Zeta Kappa Chapter). He later returned to the university during the NFL off-season to complete his bachelor's degree
in health and human performance in 1996.
selected Brown in the first round (sixth pick overall) in the 1985 NFL Draft
, and he played for the Lions for eleven seasons (–). In his long professional career, he also played for the Arizona Cardinals
(–), the Cleveland Browns
, the New York Giants
(–), and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
, with whom he won a Super Bowl
before retiring after eighteen seasons in the NFL. Brown was a remarkably consistent starter in his unusually long-lived career, playing in 263 games and starting 251 of them, and was named to the NFC Pro Bowl
team seven straight seasons from 1990
to 1996
.
Brown is probably remembered most from his years in Detroit, where he gained the reputation as one of the league's premier offensive tackles. He was a pivotal piece on the offensive line that not only blocked for perhaps the greatest running back of all-time (Barry Sanders
), but a unit that would prove to be highly skilled in pass protection as well. Brown was one of the most durable offensive linemen in the Detroit Lions' history, starting all but one of the 164 games that he played for the Lions.
Along with Kevin Glover
, Brown was a key blocker on a line that paved the way for Sanders, who claimed NFL rushing titles in and . He blocked for Sanders for seven seasons (–), and Sanders accumulated 10,172 yards (an average of 4.9 yards per carry) and seventy-three rushing touchdown
s during that time.
Brown was a member of Lions teams that made the playoffs in , , and , and he was a member of the 1991 and 1993 squads that won the NFC Central division title. In 1991, the Lions set a franchise high with twelve regular season wins and earned a berth in the 1992 NFC Championship Game. Brown was also a charismatic and respected leader on the team, who graciously donated a great deal of time, energy and money to many charitable causes throughout the Metro Detroit
area.
and ESPNEWS
as an analyst and also co-hosts a sports radio show for WXYT-FM in Detroit, Michigan
. He is currently an analyst on ESPN First Take
, and is a co-host of the segment "Law Offices of Brooks and Brown."
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
(NFL) for eighteen seasons in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. Brown played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
for the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
and four other NFL teams. He is currently a sports broadcaster
Sports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
and analyst for ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
and other television and radio networks.
Early life
Brown was born in Miami, FloridaMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
in 1963. He attended Miami Springs High School
Miami Springs High School
Miami Springs High School is a secondary school located at 751 Dove Avenue in Miami Springs, Florida, USA; its principal is Anna L. Rodriguez. The school is part of Miami-Dade County Public School's nationally-accredited magnet program, specializing in travel and tourism, the oldest of its kind in...
in Miami Springs, Florida
Miami Springs, Florida
Miami Springs is a Miami suburban city located in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city was founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss, "The Father of Naval Aviation", and James Bright, during the famous "land boom" of the 1920s and was originally named Country Club Estates...
, where he was a stand-out offensive lineman for the Miami Springs Golden Hawks high school football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
team. In 2007, the Florida High School Athletic Association
Florida High School Athletic Association
The Florida High School Athletic Association is an organization whose purpose is to organize sports competition for high school It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations ....
(FHSAA) recognized Brown as one of the thirty-three all-time greatest Florida high school football players of the last 100 years by naming him to its "All-Century Team."
College career
Brown received an athletic scholarshipAthletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...
to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, where he played for coach Charley Pell
Charley Pell
Charles Byron "Charley" Pell was an American college football player and coach. Pell was an Alabama native and an alumnus of the University of Alabama, where he played college football. He is most notably remembered as the head coach of the Clemson University and the University of Florida...
and coach Galen Hall
Galen Hall
Galen Samuel Hall is an American college and professional football coach and former player. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and an alumnus of Penn State University, where he played college football...
's Florida Gators football
Florida Gators football
The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The Florida Gators compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference...
teams from 1981 to 1984. He started
Starting lineup
A starting lineup in sports is an official list of the set of players who will actively participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes or bench players.The starters are commonly the best...
thirty-four games in his college career at Florida, all at tackle. Brown was a team captain
Captain (sports)
In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...
, a first-team All-Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
(SEC) selection and a consensus first-team All-American, and the winner of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy
Jacobs Blocking Trophy
The Jacobs Blocking Trophy is the name of several similar annual college football awards bestowed by a conference upon their best blocker. The awards are named in honor of , the founder and president of Presbyterian College from 1935 to 1945. The trophies are awarded by his sons, Hugh and William...
recognizing the best blocker in the SEC during his senior
Senior (education)
Senior is a term used in the United States to describe a student in the 4th year of study .-High school:...
year in 1984. He anchored the Gators' outstanding offensive line, memorably dubbed "The Great Wall of Florida," and which included Brown, Phil Bromley, Billy Hinson, Crawford Ker
Crawford Ker
Crawford Francis Ker is a former American college and professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League for six seasons during the 1980s and early 1990s. Ker played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Dallas...
and Jeff Zimmerman in 1984. Behind the blocking
Blocking (American football)
In American football, blocking is a legal move occurring when one player obstructs another player's path with his body. The purpose of blocking is to prevent defensive players tackling the ball carrier, or to protect the quarterback while attempting to pass or hand-off the ball...
of Brown and his Great Wall teammates, the Gators' quarterback Kerwin Bell
Kerwin Bell
Kerwin Douglas Bell is an American college and professional football coach and former player who was a quarterback in the National Football League , World League of American Football and the Canadian Football League for fourteen seasons in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s...
, fullback
Fullback (American football)
A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...
John L. Williams
John L. Williams
John L. Williams is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League for ten seasons during the 1980s and 1990s...
and halfback
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...
Neal Anderson
Neal Anderson
Charles Neal Anderson is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League for eight seasons in the 1980s and 1990s...
led the Gators to a 9–1–1 overall win-loss record and won their first SEC championship with a conference record of 5–0–1. (Unfortunately, the title was later vacated by the SEC university presidents because of NCAA rules violations committed by Charley Pell and the Gators coaching staff between 1979 and 1983.) Brown was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1995.
While Brown was a student at Florida, he was initiated as a member of Phi Beta Sigma
Phi Beta Sigma
Phi Beta Sigma is a predominantly African-American fraternity which was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students. The founders A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I...
Fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
(Zeta Kappa Chapter). He later returned to the university during the NFL off-season to complete his bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in health and human performance in 1996.
Professional career
The Detroit LionsDetroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
selected Brown in the first round (sixth pick overall) in the 1985 NFL Draft
1985 NFL Draft
The 1985 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985...
, and he played for the Lions for eleven seasons (–). In his long professional career, he also played for the Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
(–), the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
(–), and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
, with whom he won a Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
before retiring after eighteen seasons in the NFL. Brown was a remarkably consistent starter in his unusually long-lived career, playing in 263 games and starting 251 of them, and was named to the NFC Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
team seven straight seasons from 1990
1990 Pro Bowl
The 1990 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl was played on February 4, 1990 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The final Score was NFC 27, AFC 21. There were 50,445 people in attendance. Jerry Gray of the Los Angeles Rams was the game's MVP. The referee was Johnny Grier....
to 1996
1996 Pro Bowl
The 1996 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl was played on February 4, 1996 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The final score was NFC 20, AFC 13. Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers was the game's MVP after he had 2 clutch catches, including the final one which won the game. He finished with six catches for 82...
.
Brown is probably remembered most from his years in Detroit, where he gained the reputation as one of the league's premier offensive tackles. He was a pivotal piece on the offensive line that not only blocked for perhaps the greatest running back of all-time (Barry Sanders
Barry Sanders
Barry Sanders is a former American football running back who spent all of his professional career with the Detroit Lions in the NFL. Sanders left the game just short of the all-time rushing record...
), but a unit that would prove to be highly skilled in pass protection as well. Brown was one of the most durable offensive linemen in the Detroit Lions' history, starting all but one of the 164 games that he played for the Lions.
Along with Kevin Glover
Kevin Glover
Kevin Glover is a former American football Center for the Detroit Lions , and Seattle Seahawks . He attended the University of Maryland.-College career:...
, Brown was a key blocker on a line that paved the way for Sanders, who claimed NFL rushing titles in and . He blocked for Sanders for seven seasons (–), and Sanders accumulated 10,172 yards (an average of 4.9 yards per carry) and seventy-three rushing touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s during that time.
Brown was a member of Lions teams that made the playoffs in , , and , and he was a member of the 1991 and 1993 squads that won the NFC Central division title. In 1991, the Lions set a franchise high with twelve regular season wins and earned a berth in the 1992 NFC Championship Game. Brown was also a charismatic and respected leader on the team, who graciously donated a great deal of time, energy and money to many charitable causes throughout the Metro Detroit
Metro Detroit
The Detroit metropolitan area, often referred to as Metro Detroit, is the metropolitan area located in Southeast Michigan centered on the city of Detroit which shares an international border with Windsor, Ontario. The Detroit metropolitan area is the second largest U.S. metropolitan area...
area.
Life after the NFL
Since his retirement from the NFL, Brown has spent some time with the NFL NetworkNFL Network
NFL Network is an American television specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League . It was launched November 4, 2003, only eight months after the league's 32 team owners voted unanimously to approve its formation...
and ESPNEWS
ESPNEWS
ESPNEWS , launched on November 1, 1996, is a 24-hour-a-day sports news television channel...
as an analyst and also co-hosts a sports radio show for WXYT-FM in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. He is currently an analyst on ESPN First Take
ESPN First Take
ESPN First Take is an American morning sports talk program on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. The show was formerly known as Cold Pizza. The official switch was made on May 7, 2007. Two back-to-back two-hour episodes air each weekday from Monday through Friday, with the live episode airing from 10 a.m...
, and is a co-host of the segment "Law Offices of Brooks and Brown."
See also
- 1984 College Football All-America Team1984 College Football All-America TeamThe 1984 College Football All-America team is composed of various organizations that choose College All-America teams that season. The organizations that chose the teams were Associated Press, United Press International, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Football Writers Association of America,...
- Florida GatorsFlorida GatorsThe Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
- Florida Gators football, 1980–1989
- List of Detroit Lions players
- List of Florida Gators football players
- List of New York Giants players
- List of Phi Beta Sigma brothers
- List of SEC Jacobs Blocking Trophy winners
- List of University of Florida alumni