Eddie Lee Brown (born December 18, 1962) 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

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 ...

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

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 ...

from 1985 to 1991. 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 ...

at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

College career

Brown was part of the

1983 Miami Hurricanes football team The 1983 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their 58th season of football, the independent Hurricanes were led by fifth-year head coach Howard Schnellenberge ...

that upset

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 ...

in the

1984 Orange Bowl The 1984 Orange Bowl was the 50th Orange Bowl, edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Miami Orange Bowl, Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Monday, January 2. Part of the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season#Bowl games, 198 ...

to earn Miami's first national championship. The following year, Brown was a consensus first-team

All-America 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 ...

n and was the first wide receiver in UM history to amass over 1,000 yards receiving, with 220 of those yards (on 10 catches) coming in the famous "

Hail Flutie The Hail Flutie game, also known as the Miracle in Miami, is a college football game in 1984 that took place between the Boston College Eagles and the Miami Hurricanes on November 23. It has been regarded by FOX Sports writer Kevin Hench as ...

" shootout with

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

. Brown would leave Miami with school career records for receptions, receiving yards and receiving

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 ...

Professional career

In the

1985 NFL draft The 1985 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The NFL draft, draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985 NFL season, 1985, at the Omni Park Central Hotel in New York City, New ...

, Brown was the second receiver selected (after

Al Toon Albert Lee Toon Jr. (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. A two-time First-team All-Big Ten pick at the Un ...

) and the 13th pick overall by the Cincinnati Bengals, three picks ahead of

Jerry Rice Jerry Lee Rice (born October 13, 1962) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played for 20 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He won three Super Bowl titles with the San Francisco 49ers before two shorter ...

. In

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

he won the

NFL Rookie of the Year Award Various entities present an NFL Rookie of the Year award each season to the top rookies in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official honor. Since 2011, th ...

with 53 receptions for 942 yards and eight touchdowns. In

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, Brown caught 53 passes for 1,273 yards and nine touchdowns, topping the high-powered Bengals offense in yards and leading the Bengals to the 1988 AFC Championship and

Super Bowl XXIII Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

. The season earned Brown his only trip to the

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 ...

. His 1,273 receiving yards was a franchise record, and his 24 yards per catch average is an NFL single-season record that still stands for receivers with 50+ receptions. Brown's team record for receiving yards was later surpassed by

Chad Johnson Chad Ochocinco Johnson (born Chad Javon Johnson, January 9, 1978), known from 2008 to 2012 as Chad Ochocinco, is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He ...

's 1,355 yards in 2003, but it took Johnson 37 more receptions than Brown (90) to reach this mark. Brown also set a franchise record for most receiving yards in a single game (216) in the 1988 season, which stood until surpassed by Johnson's 260 receiving yards in a game during the 2006 season. Brown caught a career-high 59 passes in what would be his final NFL season in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

. A ruptured disc in his neck was discovered early in Bengals training camp in 1992. He underwent surgery and missed the season. In 1993, he was granted free agency but eventually returned to Cincinnati after experiencing a slow market for his services. He was released during the final preseason cuts in 1993 and never played again. He finished his seven-year NFL career with 363 catches (seventh in Bengals history) for 6,134 yards (fifth) and 41 touchdowns (fourth), along with 164 rushing yards.Pro-Football-Reference.com
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NFL career statistics

Regular season

Other Information

Eddie Brown is notable for claiming workers compensation benefits in California, for games he played in California while he played for Cincinnati. California declined to grant Brown worker's compensation benefits because Brown was only playing in California temporarily. Brown v. Cincinnati Bengals, 2013 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 353.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Eddie 1962 births Living people All-American college football players American Conference Pro Bowl players American football wide receivers Cincinnati Bengals players Miami Hurricanes football players NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year winners Navarro Bulldogs football players Players of American football from Miami Miami Senior High School alumni