Jonathan Bernard Brown (born November 28, 1975) 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

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

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) and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). 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 ...

for the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

and was selected by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in the third round of the

1998 NFL draft The 1998 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 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

. Brown finished his playing career in the CFL with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

and

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

. He was formerly the head coach for his high school alma mater, Booker T. Washington High School. Brown was also a member of 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 ...

Berlin Thunder The Berlin Thunder were a professional American football team in NFL Europe. History The Thunder came into existence as an expansion team, after the London/England Monarchs franchise shut down operations, prior to the 1999 season. Home games f ...

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

Amsterdam Admirals The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe. History The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, t ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

and

Indiana Firebirds The Indiana Firebirds were a team in the Arena Football League. The team was based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Home games were played at the Conseco Fieldhouse, also the home of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association and Indiana ...

College career

A 15-tackle, 5-sack game made him a standout Booker T. Washington High School in

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. Brown was an All-State defensive lineman and accepted a scholarship to

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. He played at UT from 1994-97 for Tennessee, where he was a 1997 All-SEC selection, a teammate of

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the In ...

and helped the Volunteers win the SEC title in 1997. His 13.5 sacks that season rank second in Tennessee history and his 27.5 career sacks rank fourth.

Professional career

Pre-Toronto Argonauts

Brown was drafted by the

in the third round of the

. As a rookie in 1998, Brown recorded 10

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 ...

and a

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

recovery during the pre-season and then played in four games during the season but did not record a stat. After initially making the Packers final roster in 1999, he was released on September 1. Brown signed with the

and joined their

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

in December 1999. He finished the season on the active roster but never made an appearance. After the 1999 season, Brown signed with the

for the 2000

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 ...

season. He led the NFLE with 10 sacks, 30 tackles and two forced fumbles. After the season, he was named the NFL Europe Co-Defensive

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

. During the 2001 offseason, Brown signed with the

and later joined their practice squad. On October 23, he was signed to the Rams active roster and helped the Rams make 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 ...

appearance against the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. For the season he totaled three appearances with no recorded stats. He was released in September 2002. Brown was drafted in the first round of the 2003 NFLE Free Agent Draft by the

. For the season he posted a team high 6.5 sacks and 26 tackles and was named All-NFL Europe.

Toronto Argonauts

He signed with the

on May 27, 2004, and became a starting

for Toronto. He started 16 games and missed two due to injury. His debut for the Argonauts came against the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

in the first week of the 2004 season. In his debut he recorded five tackles. Arguably his best game of the year came in Week 17 against the

where he recorded four sacks and added seven tackles on defense. Against 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 ...

in the CFL East championship he had two tackles and recovered one fumble. In the

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

he had five tackles in a Toronto win. Brown re-signed with the Argonauts for the 2005 season on June 16. He was named a CFL All-Star and an East Division All-Star after recording 13 sacks to finish second in the CFL. Brown started in all 18 games for Toronto all at defensive end. In week 4 of the season he recovered a fumble that turned into his first career CFL touchdown. Against the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

in week 11 he recorded his second highest sack total in a game with three. Three weeks later against

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

he had three tackles and two sacks. In a rematch against Montreal in week 16 he recorded a sack against Alouettes

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Anthony Calvillo Anthony Calvillo (born August 23, 1972) is an American professional Canadian football, football coach and former quarterback who is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football Lea ...

which resulted in a

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

. Once again, Toronto faced Montreal in the CFL East championship game and Brown recorded two tackles in the Argonauts loss. For the second straight season, Brown was named a CFL East All-Star in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. He led Toronto in sacks with six and for the second straight year he started all 18 games. Brown recorded three tackles, two sacks and was a runner up for the defensive player of the week during week five. He caught his first career

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 ...

against Hamilton in week 12. He returned the interception for 29 yards. For the third straight year Toronto appeared in the playoffs. In the CFL East semi-final game, Brown recorded two tackles in the overtime win over

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

. Against Montreal for the third straight year he had two tackles in Toronto's second straight loss in the division championship. On January 10, 2007, Brown signed a contract extension through 2008. He was named CFL East Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year for the first time in his career. He was named a CFL All-Star for the second time in his career and a CFL East All-Star for the third time. He was also nominated as an All-Time Argo at the defensive end position. Adding to his awards he was named a CFL Pro Players All-Star for the first time in his career. Brown tied a career-high with 13 sacks which was second in the league. In week three he had two tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery which led to a Toronto touchdown. Against Montreal in week six he had six defensive tackles, one special teams tackle and a sack. He had four tackles and a sack in week nine against Hamilton. Brown was named a CFL East All-Star for the fourth year in a row in 2008 and was named East Division Most Outstanding Defensive player. Also for the fourth straight year he led the Argonauts in sacks with seven. Against Winnipeg in Week 1, he had three tackles and a sack. Brown recorded four sacks, a sack and a fumble recovery against Edmonton in week six. After recording two sacks in week six against Winnipeg he passed Harold Hallman for most sacks in Toronto Argonauts team history. In the last game of the year against Saskatchewan he recorded six tackles.

BC Lions

On August 19, 2010, it was announced that Brown had signed with the

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Jonathan 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Chickasha, Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma American football defensive ends Tennessee Volunteers football players Green Bay Packers players Denver Broncos players Berlin Thunder players St. Louis Rams players Washington Redskins players Amsterdam Admirals players Indiana Firebirds players Canadian football defensive linemen Toronto Argonauts players BC Lions players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen