Chase Brown (born March 21, 2000) is a Canadian professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played one season at

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

before transferring to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

in 2019. In his final season in 2022, he rushed for 1,643 yards and 10 TDs that culminated with him winning the Jon Cornish Trophy. He was selected by the Bengals in the fifth round of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

Early life

Brown was born in 2000 and raised in

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

, Canada. Brown originally attended the London South Collegiate Institute with his identical twin Sydney Brown, where they both played until they relocated from Canada to Florida as juniors in high school and attended Saint Stephen's Episcopal School in

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

. He set the school's career rushing record, but received a modest three-star rating by

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College career

Western Michigan

In October 2017, Brown verbally committed to play college football at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

. As a freshman, he played for the 2018 Western Michigan Broncos football team and rushed for 352 yards on 71 carries for an average of five yards per carry. He also returned 12 kickoffs for 227 yards. In early 2019, Western Michigan's two freshmen stars, Brown and freshman receiver Jayden Reed, entered the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is i ...

Illinois

Brown transferred to Illinois in 2019, joining his identical twin, Sydney, a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for the Illini. Sydney noted: "This is what we dreamt about as kids. Having him come here has been like having a piece of home here in Illinois" Brown's application for immediate eligibility was initially denied, but granted on appeal in mid-October 2019. After appearing in four games during the 2019 season, he redshirted and retained the year of eligibility. He tallied 18 rushing yards on three carries during the 2019 season. During the COVID shutdown, Brown and brother Sydney returned to Canada and stayed with their grandmother, converting the garage into a gym. Brown returned to Illinois in the fall and appeared in all eight games for the Illini. On November 14, 2020, he had his first 100-yard game against

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

, totaling 134 rushing yards. One week later, he rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns against

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. For the season, he totaled 540 rushing yards on 104 carries (5.2 yards per carry). At the end of the season, he was selected in fan voting as the Fans Choice Canadian NCAA Player of the Year. Chase Brown

With eligibility not impacted by the 2020 season, Brown remained classified as a sophomore in 2021. On October 2, 2021, he rushed for a career-high 257 yards against Charlotte – the fourth-highest single-game rushing total in Illinois history. Three weeks later, he rushed for 229 yards in the Illini's NCAA-record nine-overtime victory over No. 7

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

. His 223 yards was the most ever tallied by an opposing player at Penn State's

Beaver Stadium Beaver Stadium is a college football stadium on the campus of Pennsylvania State University in Penn State University Park. It has been home to the Penn State Nittany Lions football of the Big Ten Conference since 1960, though some parts of th ...

. For the full 2021 season, Brown rushed for 1,005 yards on 170 carries, and his average of 100.5 rushing yards per game ranked second in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. Brown was twice named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week in 2021 and received third-team honors on the 2021 All-Big Ten Conference football team. In the 2022 season opener against

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, Brown rushed for 151 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries. He was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after the first week. Against

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

on September 2, he rushed for 199 yards and was selected as the first winner of the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week award. He then rushed over 100 yards in each of the next five games: 146 yards against

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

on September 10; 108 yards against

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

on September 22; 129 yards against

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

on October 1; 146 yards against

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

on October 8; and 180 yards against

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

on October 15. His yardage against Minnesota pushed him over the 1,000-yard mark, making him the first player to reach the mark in 2022 and the third Illinois player to rush for over 1,000 yards in consecutive years. Brown finished second nationally with 1,643 rushing yards. He was later awarded the 2022 Jon Cornish Trophy as the top Canadian player in NCAA football.

Statistics

Professional career

Brown was ranked the #2 Canadian prospect ahead of the 2023 CFL Draft, where he was drafted in the 7th round (59th overall) by the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

2023

Brown was selected by the

in the fifth round, 163rd overall pick, of the

. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on October 28, 2023, with a hamstring injury, and reactivated on November 25. In Week 14 against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

, Brown scored his first NFL touchdown on a 54-yard pass from Jake Browning; he finished the day with 105 total yards on three catches and eight carries.

2024

Brown began the 2024 season as the second running back on the depth chart behind

Zack Moss Zaccheus Malik Moss (born December 15, 1997) is an American professional football running back for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah Utes and was selected by the Buffalo Bills ...

, as well as the team's starting kickoff returner. In Week 4 against the Carolina Panthers, Brown had a breakout game, rushing for 80 yards and two touchdowns. He had his first career start against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

in Week 6, in which he fumbled in the final two minutes of the game, though a failed recovery by Jason Pinnock led to the ball being pushed out of bounds. He finished the game with 10 carries for 53 yards, and scored the game winning touchdown. After Moss suffered a season-ending neck injury, Brown was named the starter for the remainder of the season and was relieved of his special teams duties. His lone 100-yard rushing performance came in the Bengals' Week 9 win over the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

, finishing the game with 120 rushing yards, 37 receiving yards, and one touchdown. Brown suffered an ankle injury during the Week 17 win against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, leading him to miss the Bengals' final game of the season against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. He finished the season with 990 rushing yards, 360 receiving yards, and 12 combined touchdowns.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Brown is the

identical twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

brother of

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

safety Sydney Brown. The two were teammates at Illinois.

References

External links

Cincinnati Bengals bio

Illinois Fighting Illini bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Chase 2000 births American football running backs Canadian expatriate American football people in the United States Illinois Fighting Illini football players Jon Cornish Trophy winners Living people Canadian football people from London, Ontario Western Michigan Broncos football players Cincinnati Bengals players Canadian twins Players of American football from Ontario