Courtney Leonard Brown (born February 10, 1984) is an American former professional

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 ...

player who was a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

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 the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or Cal Poly) is a public university in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States, - Cites the location of the university and shows that the university ...

. He was also a member of 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 ...

Early life

Brown attended

Saint Mary's College High School Saint Mary's College High School is a coeducational Catholic school located in Albany, California, United States. It came into being as part of Saint Mary's College of California, founded in 1863 by the Catholic Church, and put under the auspic ...

, where he played as a

and

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He received all-league honors at

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 ...

as a senior. In track, he qualified for the CIF State Finals. He was a four-year honor-roll member. He accepted a football scholarship from

California Polytechnic State University California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or Cal Poly) is a public university in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States, - Cites the location of the university and shows that the university ...

, a

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate A ...

school. In 2002, he started as a

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

and caught nine passes for 139 yards (15.4-yard average). In 2003, he was moved to left cornerback where he started six out of the eight games he appeared in, finishing with 16

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

, two

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s and one pass defensed. He missed the last three games with an ankle sprain. In 2004, he sustained a season-ending left knee injury in the season opener against Humboldt State. In 2005, he started at right cornerback, intercepting seven passes (tied for the school record), breaking up 12 passes and making 44 tackles. He was selected for All-

Great West Conference The Great West Conference (GWC) was an NCAA college athletic conference in the continental United States. Originally a football-only league, it became an all-sports entity during the 2008–09 season. The GWC stopped sponsoring football following ...

First Team honors following the year. As a senior in 2006, he played in 11 games, registering 51 tackles (1.5 for loss), one interception and seven passes defensed. He allowed only 29 receptions and no

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s from opponents. He finished his college career with 31 starts, 111 tackles (1.5 for loss), 10 interceptions, 22 passes defensed and nine receptions for 139 yards. At a pro day event hosted by San Jose State on March 6, 2007, Brown recorded a 40-yard dash time of 4.32 seconds.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Brown was selected by the

in the seventh round (with the 212th overall pick) of the

2007 NFL draft The 2007 NFL draft was the 72nd annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draf ...

. Brown came up with an interception during a preseason game at Minnesota on August 30. The team decided to keep him instead of Abram Elam during the last cuts of the preseason on September 2, which was a decision they would later come to regret. On September 26, he suffered a left biceps injury in practice and was inactive for five games. He played in eight games and had two defensive tackles, four

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

tackles and one fumble recovery. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, he was switched to

strong safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free sa ...

, recording one start, six tackles and three

tackles. He was waived on September 5,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, because of his tackling limitations.

New York Giants

After spending the 2009 season out of football, Brown signed a future contract with the

on January 6,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. He was placed on the

injured reserve list 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 t ...

with an ankle injury on September 4,

. He wasn't re-signed after his contract expired.

References

External links

Cowboys learning a lot about Courtney Brown
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Courtney 1984 births Living people Players of American football from Berkeley, California American football wide receivers American football cornerbacks American football safeties Cal Poly Mustangs football players Dallas Cowboys players New York Giants players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen