Tim Brown
Encyclopedia
Timothy Donell Brown is a former American football
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...

 wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...

. He played college football for Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...

, where he won the Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

, becoming the first wide receiver to win the award. He spent sixteen years with the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

, during which he established himself as one of the NFL
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...

's most prolific wide receivers. His success with the Raiders organization earned him the nickname Mr. Raider. Brown has also played for 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...

.

High school and college career

Before his college career at Notre Dame, Brown played for Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, the same school as 1938 Heisman Trophy winner Davey O'Brien
Davey O'Brien
Robert David O'Brien was an American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football at Texas Christian University and was drafted in the first round of the 1939 NFL Draft. In 1938, O'Brien won the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, and the...

. Despite his contributions, the team fared poorly, with a 4–25–1 record over his three years as a starter
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...

. Nevertheless, Brown was heavily recruited by major colleges. His five official visits were to Notre Dame, Nebraska, Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...

, nearby Southern Methodist
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...

 and Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

.

Brown chose the University of Notre Dame and played there from 1984–1987, earning the nickname "Touchdown Timmy." In his first year, he set a freshman record with twenty-eight receptions. As a junior, he set a record with 1,937 all-purpose yards. During 1987, Brown caught 34 passes for 846 yards, returned 34 punts
Punt (football)
In some codes of football, a punt is a play in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it touches the ground. A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked....

 for 401 yards, rushed for 144 yards, gained 456 yards on 23 kickoff returns, and scored eight touchdowns. Brown finished his career at Notre Dame with 137 receptions for 2,493 yards, a school record 5,024 all-purpose yards, and 22 touchdowns. However, just as in high school, Brown's team achieved limited success, with a 25–21 record over his four seasons, and an 0–2 record in bowl games. In the year after Brown graduated (1988), Notre Dame won the national title
1989 Fiesta Bowl
The 1989 Sunkist Fiesta Bowl, played on January 2, 1989, was the 18th edition of the Fiesta Bowl. The game featured the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and the West Virginia Mountaineers....

.

Brown made the College Football All-America Team
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...

 twice and won the 1987 Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

, becoming the first wide receiver ever to win the award. As of 2010, Woodrow Wilson High School is still the only public high school with two Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

 winners, though private schools Mater Dei
Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, California)
Mater Dei High School is a private, Catholic, co-educational secondary school in Santa Ana, California. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. With an enrollment of 2,100 students Mater Dei High School is one of the largest Catholic high schools in the United States...

 and Fork Union Military Academy
Fork Union Military Academy
Fork Union Military Academy is a private, military boarding school located in the town of Fork Union, Virginia. The school is more commonly known by its acronym FUMA ....

 in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 since have matched the record.

In 1989, Brown and O'Brien were inducted together into Woodrow Wilson High School's Hall of Fame when it was created in celebration of the school's 60th Anniversary.

NFL career

Brown was selected by the Los Angeles Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 with the 6th pick of the 1988 NFL Draft
1988 NFL Draft
The 1988 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 24–25, 1988. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and...

. In his first NFL season, he led the league in kickoff returns, return yards, and yards per return average. He also led the NFL in punt returns in 1994, and receptions in 1997. He was voted to the 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...

 nine times, in 1988 and 1991 as a kick returner, and in 1993-97, 1999 and 2001 as a receiver. In 2001, Brown would later play alongside another well-known wide receiver, Jerry Rice
Jerry Rice
Jerry Lee Rice is a retired American football wide receiver. He is generally regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in National Football League history...

. On December 9, 2001, Brown returned a punt 88 yards for a touchdown in a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...

, making him the oldest player in NFL history to score a touchdown on a punt return. In 2002 he passed Gene Upshaw
Gene Upshaw
Eugene Thurman Upshaw, Jr. was an American football player for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League and later the NFL, later the executive director of the National Football League Players' Association...

 to become the Raiders' all-time leader in games played with 224. He also set Raiders franchise records for receptions, receiving yards, and punt return yards.

Brown was released by the Raiders before the 2004 season, as he did not want to accept a smaller role in the offense. He was signed shortly thereafter by the Buccaneers (coached by former Raider head coach Jon Gruden
Jon Gruden
Jon David Gruden is an American football analyst and former head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for seven seasons and prior to that the Oakland Raiders for four seasons. In his first year as the head coach of Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers won Super Bowl XXXVII, defeating the Raiders whom he had...

). The move was controversial, considering that Brown had always been a fan favorite in the Oakland area and was much admired by many current and former Raiders players and staff over the sixteen years he spent with the Raider organization. He was the last of the Los Angeles Raiders to remain with Oakland.

On September 27, 2004, in his first game at Oakland since being signed by Tampa Bay, Brown reached 100 career receiving touchdowns, tying him (with Steve Largent
Steve Largent
Steven Michael "Steve" Largent is a retired American football player, enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and a former U.S. Congressman, having served in the U.S. House of Representatives for Oklahoma from 1994 until 2002...

) for 3rd on the NFL's all-time career receiving touchdown list (behind former teammate Jerry Rice [204] and Cris Carter
Cris Carter
Cristopher D. Carter is a former American football player in the National Football League. He played wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles , the Minnesota Vikings and the Miami Dolphins ....

 [130]).

In 2005, Brown signed a one-day contract with the Raiders to retire with the team. The July 18 news conference was attended by two Raiders officials and only one active Raider, wide receiver Jerry Porter. Brown retired with 14,934 receiving yards, the second-highest total in NFL history, 1,094 receptions (3rd), and 100 touchdown catches (3rd-Tied). Brown also gained 190 rushing yards, 3,320 punt-return yards, 3 fumble-return yards, and 1,235 yards returning kickoffs. This gave him a total of 19,682 combined net yards, ranking him #5 among the NFL's all-time leaders at the time of his retirement. He also scored 105 total touchdowns (100 receiving, 1 rushing, 3 punt returns, 1 kickoff return).

Brown became eligible for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...

 in 2010. He was, however, not selected. Brown was considered a long shot to get in on his first try as there were a logjam of accomplished receiver candidates such as Jerry Rice
Jerry Rice
Jerry Lee Rice is a retired American football wide receiver. He is generally regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in National Football League history...

 (Brown's former teammate), Cris Carter
Cris Carter
Cristopher D. Carter is a former American football player in the National Football League. He played wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles , the Minnesota Vikings and the Miami Dolphins ....

 and Andre Reed
Andre Reed
Andre Darnell Reed is a former professional American football player. He played wide receiver in the National Football League for 16 seasons, 15 with the Buffalo Bills and one with the Washington Redskins .Reed ranks tenth in NFL history in total career receptions with 951.-Football career:Reed...

.
In 2010, Brown was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...

.

Post NFL career

Brown was in the movie Little Giants
Little Giants
Little Giants is a 1994 family comedy film, starring Rick Moranis and Ed O'Neill as brothers in a small Ohio town, coaching rival Pee-Wee Football teams.-Synopsis:...

, and is co-host on FSN Pro Football Preview with former players Jason Sehorn
Jason Sehorn
Jason Heath Sehorn is a former professional American football defensive back in the National Football League.-Early years:Sehorn was born in Sacramento, California...

, Eddie George
Eddie George
Edward Nathan "Eddie" George, Jr. is a former American football running back in the National Football League. He played for the Tennessee Titans both in Tennessee and in Houston when the franchise was known as the Houston Oilers, and spent his final season with the Dallas Cowboys...

 and NFL Insider Jay Glazer
Jay Glazer
Jay Glazer is an American senior writer for FoxSports.com and is a sideline reporter for the NFL on Fox since 2004. He is also the studio host, alongside Frank Trigg, on Fox Sport Net's PRIDE Fighting Championship show. Currently, he is the "NFL insider" for Fox NFL Sunday and hosts Pros vs Joes...

. Brown is also a representative for YorHealth (A Legitimate MLM Operation)

In 1995, Brown became the National Chairman of Athletes & Entertainers for Kids and the related 9-1-1
9-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...

 for Kids. These efforts have helped over five million children and teens through mentoring and educational programs.

NASCAR

Brown is currently starting a NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

 racing team as part of their Drive for Diversity
Drive for Diversity
The Drive for Diversity program is a development system instituted by NASCAR in 2004 in order to attract minorities and women to the sport in positions such as ownership, driving and crew members. Before an applicant is accepted into the program, their resumes are checked by NASCAR officials...

 program. He is recruiting African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 sponsors to fund the venture, and has worked out a technical alliance with Roush Fenway Racing, who will provide support to the upstart team. Brown hopes to eventually find a black, Hispanic, or woman driver to be the star of his team in order to bring an element of diversity to what is a white-dominated sport. He now lives in DeSoto, Texas
DeSoto, Texas
DeSoto is a city in Dallas County, Texas . Over the past eleven years since the 2000 U.S. Census Report, the City of DeSoto has grown in population from 37,646 to 49,047....

.

Relationship with Raiders owner Al Davis

Since he joined the Raiders, Brown has had a complicated relationship with the Oakland Raiders and Al Davis. During a 2009 interview with Sportsradiointerview.com Brown commented on his former boss:

“Meeting Al (Davis) was pretty unique. I found out five or ten minutes after my first practice there that he hated African-American athletes from Notre Dame. And they literally told me that. They literally told me that because we’re known for using our education more than our athletic ability that he thought that I would be one of these guys that would basically take the money and run. I don’t know if that was a ploy to get me amped up, but it certainly worked."


In 2010, Brown was dining in an Oakland restaurant with former Raiders Chester McGlockton and Sean Jones
Sean Jones (defensive end)
Dwight Sean Jones is a former American football defensive end, who played for the Los Angeles Raiders , Houston Oilers , and the Green Bay Packers . Jones was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 1993 season...

. During their meal, Brown found himself unable to approach or speak to Davis. Brown told a reporter, "I was saddened by that because I don't know anybody who I've dealt with for twelve years who I can't say hello to in that situation. I was saddened that the situation is where it is."

On August 5, 2004, the Raiders held a press conference with Brown and Davis which stated that Brown was leaving the Raiders. Davis and Brown professed mutual respect for one another and both men expressed a desire for Brown to return to the Raiders someday.

On July 19, 2005, Brown officially retired but the Raiders did not hold a press conference at the team headquarters. Instead, Brown held his own press conference in an Oakland hotel ballroom. Davis did not attend the conference because he had a "scheduling conflict". Davis did allow Brown to sign a ceremonial $765,000 contract with the Raiders so he could retire as an Oakland Raider. Brown's '04 departure from the Raiders eventually became acrimonious, and the outspoken receiver often criticized Davis, senior assistant Michael Lombardi and coach Norv Turner publicly for conspiring to make him expendable. Former teammates Marcus Allen, Lincoln Kennedy
Lincoln Kennedy
Tamerlane Lincoln Kennedy Jr. is a former American football offensive tackle and currently is a broadcaster for Fox Sports and Premiere Radio Networks.-High school career:...

 and Chester McGlockton attended the press conference. For the Raiders, Amy Trask, the Raiders' chief executive officer who had Brown sign the ceremonial contract, Marc Badain, a finance executive and Mike Taylor, the team's director of public relations, were on hand. At the time, Raiders receiver Jerry Porter was also in attendance. Lincoln Kennedy stuck up for the absence of Davis stating "It's not his style," the former Raiders offensive lineman replied. "He'll probably invite Tim up to his office, or out to dinner later on. But this? This is not his style."

Recent history suggests that Davis might be out of touch with the football world because the Raider have suffered through seven straight losing seasons (2003–2009) since losing to Tampa Bay in Super Bowl XXXVII. Brown disagrees, stating "In a lot of peoples’ minds, Al is out of touch, but nothing is further from the truth. He is still quite lucid."

Career records

  • First wide receiver to win the Heisman Trophy
  • NFL rookie-season record for most combined yards gained, with 2,317 (1988).
  • NFL record 10 consecutive seasons with at least 75 receptions
  • NFL record for consecutive seasons with at least 5 touchdowns scored (11) - shared with Marvin Harrison, Don Hutson, Cris Carter, Terrell Owens, & Jerry Rice
  • NFL record for consecutive seasons with at least 5 touchdown receptions (11) - shared with Marvin Harrison, Don Hutson, Cris Carter, Terrell Owens, & Jerry Rice
  • NFL record for being the oldest player ever to score a touchdown on special teams - (35 years, 140 days) 85 yard punt return
  • NFL record for most consecutive games with more than one reception (147 games, 1993–2002)
  • NFL record for being the oldest player with 12+ receptions in a single game - (36 years, 97 days): 10/27/02 @ KC Chiefs, 13 receptions, 144 receiving yards
  • NFL record for consecutive starts by a wide receiver: 176
  • Only player to have 1,600 receiving yards against four different teams (Broncos, Chiefs, Chargers, Seahawks)
  • Holds the following team records with the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders:
    • Games (240) and seasons (16) played
    • 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 (104)
    • Receiving (14,734 yards, 1,070 receptions, 99 touchdowns)
    • Punt return (3,272 punt-return yards, 320 punt returns, 3 punt returns for touchdowns)
    • All-purpose yards (19,431)
    • Yards from scrimmage (14,924)

External links

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