Cornell Desmond Brown (born March 15, 1975) is an American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former American college and professional

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in 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) for seven seasons. He played college football for

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, and earned

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors twice. Drafted late in the sixth round of the 1997 NFL draft, he played professionally for the NFL's

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

. In 2013, Brown was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame (the state-wide organization that honors sports figures from the state, or who contributed to sports programs in the state).

Early life

Born in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of Engle ...

, Brown attended E.C. Glass in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...

.databaseFootball.com, Players, . Retrieved February 4, 2012. He played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

for the E.C. Glass Hilltoppers, and led them to the state championship game in his senior year in 1992, losing to the Bethel High School team.

College career

Brown attended

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, where he played for coach

Frank Beamer Franklin Mitchell Beamer (born October 18, 1946) is an American former college football player and coach, most notably for the Virginia Tech Hokies football, Virginia Tech Hokies. Beamer was a cornerback, defensive cornerback for Virginia Tec ...

Virginia Tech Hokies football The Virginia Tech Hokies football team represents Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the sport of American football. The Hokies compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of th ...

team from 1993 to 1996. He earned first-team All-American honors as a defensive end in 1995, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American in 1996. He was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

Professional career

The Baltimore Ravens selected Brown in the sixth round (194th pick overall) of the 1997 NFL draft. He played for the Ravens from to .National Football League, Historical Players
Cornell Brown
Retrieved February 4, 2012. With the Ravens, he had success as a backup

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the lin ...

. He earned a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

ring when Baltimore defeated 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 ...

34–7 in

Super Bowl XXXV Super Bowl XXXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2000 Baltimore Ravens season, Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2000 New York Giants season, New York Giant ...

. Brown was hit with a drug charge in 2001 however, and was cut, although the charge was eventually dropped. After going back to

for a year, Brown was picked up by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. Cut again, he was re-signed by the Ravens, and played the remainder of his career for them from to . In his seven NFL seasons, he played in 108 regular season games, started twenty-five of them, and compiled 147 tackles, seven quarterback sacks and three forced fumbles.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Cornell Brown
Retrieved February 4, 2012. Brown was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Coaching

Brown began his coaching career as an intern with the

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

Cologne Centurions in 2005, then spent 2006 and 2007 as defensive line coach for the Frankfurt Galaxy in the spring and a graduate assistant on Frank Beamer's Virginia Tech coaching staff in the fall. Brown joined the Calgary staff in 2008. Brown was hired by Virginia Tech as the outside linebackers and assistant defensive line coach in 2011. Brown was hired by Norfolk State University to be the defensive coordinator in 2016 Brown was hired by Marshall University to be the defensive ends coach in 2017 Brown was hired by Tarleton State to be the defensive line coach in 2021.

Football family

Brown's brother is Ruben Brown, who was a

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

offensive lineman for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

.Pro Football Hall of Fame, History
Brothers in Pro Football
. Retrieved February 4, 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Cornell 1975 births Living people All-American college football players American football linebackers Baltimore Ravens players Oakland Raiders players Calgary Stampeders coaches Frankfurt Galaxy coaches Virginia Tech Hokies football coaches Virginia Tech Hokies football players