Paul Brothers (born April 18, 1945) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

in the

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) for the

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 ...

and

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded on September 19, 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup cham ...

. He was selected by 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 ...

in the sixteenth round of the

1967 NFL/AFL draft The 1967 NFL/AFL draft was conducted March 14–15, 1967, at the Gotham Hotel in New York City. It was the first common draft between the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL), part of the AFL–NFL merger agreeme ...

. 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 ...

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

Early life

Brothers was a two-time All-State

Roseburg High School Roseburg High School is a public high school in Roseburg, Oregon, United States. Campus The campus is roughly and contains seven main buildings as well as a track and an artificial turf football field. Completed in 1926, the "Heritage Buildi ...

, where he led the team to a football state championship in 1961. Following graduation in 1963, he stayed in state to play at

in Corvallis.

College career

Brothers accepted a football scholarship from

to play under head coach

Tommy Prothro James Thompson Prothro Jr. (July 20, 1920 – May 14, 1995) was an American football coach and player. He was the head coach at Oregon State University from 1955 to 1964 and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1965 to 1970, com ...

. As a sophomore, he was named the starter at quarterback after a season opener loss against

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. He would lead the

Beavers Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

to 8 wins out of the next 9 games, the

Pac-8 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

title and the

Rose Bowl Rose Bowl or Rosebowl may refer to: * Rose Bowl Game, an annual American college football game * Rose Bowl (stadium), Pasadena, California, site of the football game, and the home stadium of the UCLA Football team * Rose Bowl (cricket ground), West ...

, where they lost 34-7 to the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

. In his senior season in 1966, under second-year head coach

Dee Andros Demosthenes Konstandies Andrecopoulos (October 17, 1924 – October 22, 2003) was an American college football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He was the head coach at the Idaho Vandals football, University of Idaho from 1962 to 1964 ...

, injuries forced him to split time with sophomore

Steve Preece Steven Packer Preece (born February 15, 1947) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive back for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to 1977. He played college football as an option quarterba ...

. Brothers finished his career as a three-year starter, recording 184 completions out of 404 attempts (45.5 avg.), 2,151 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, 17 interceptions, 376 carries for 1,090 yards (2.9-yard avg.) and 13 rushing touchdowns. At the time, he ranked second in school history behind

Terry Baker Terry Wayne Baker (born May 5, 1941) is an American former professional Gridiron football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football and college bas ...

in total offense. In 1997, he was inducted into the Oregon State University Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2010, he was inducted into the

Oregon Sports Hall of Fame The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall. Operated by the Oregon Sports ...

Professional career

Brothers was selected by the

in the 16th round (416th overall) of the

1967 NFL draft The 1967 NFL/AFL draft was conducted March 14–15, 1967, at the Gotham Hotel in New York City. It was the first common draft between the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL), part of the AFL–NFL merger agreeme ...

, but opted not to sign with the team. On March 15, 1967, he was signed by the

of the

, who already had veteran quarterback

Joe Kapp Joseph Robert Garcia Kapp (March 19, 1938 – May 8, 2023) was an American football player, coach, and executive. He played college football as a quarterback for the California Golden Bears. Kapp played professionally in the Canadian Footbal ...

, but did not know if he would re-sign. In July, he was waived after the Lions had previously acquired

Bernie Faloney Bernie Faloney (June 15, 1932 – June 14, 1999) was a professional football player in the Canadian Football League (primarily with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats) and an outstanding American college football player for the Maryland Terrapins. Born in ...

to be their starting quarterback. On August 5, Brothers was sent to the

Eugene Bombers The Eugene Bombers were a professional American football team based in Eugene, Oregon. The Bombers played their home games at Bethel Park in Eugene. The team was founded in 1966 as a member of the Pacific Football League. The Bombers qualified fo ...

of the

Continental Football League The Continental Football League (COFL) was a professional American football Minor league football (gridiron), minor league that operated in North America from 1965 through 1969. It was established following the collapse of the original United Fo ...

to gain more experience. In 1968, he was one of the three starters at quarterback that the Lions used during the season. In 1969 he was named the starter, registering 200 completions (tied for third in club history) out of 406 attempts, 2,671 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and 33 interceptions. In 1970, he posted 2,604 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. On September 8, 1971, he was released after starting 7 games with a 3-4 record. He started 48 games during his tenure with the Lions. On September 14, 1971, he began a five game trial with the

, eventually earning a permanent role. On June 17, 1973, he announced his retirement to focus on his real estate business in Oregon.

Coaching career

Brothers coached football and girls basketball at Marist High School in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

from 1975 to 1986 with a record of 196-139. He joined the

Willamette High School Willamette High School, or "Wil-Hi", is located in the Bethel-Danebo area of west Eugene, Oregon, United States. It is one of two high schools in the Bethel School District (Oregon), Bethel School District along with Kalapuya High School. History ...

girls basketball program before the 1993-94 season, where he had a coaching record of 437-122, 17 consecutive postseason appearances, and won four Class 5A state championships (2007, 2009, 2013 and 2014). He retired in 2014.

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brothers, Paul Living people 1945 births Players of American football from Roseburg, Oregon American football quarterbacks Canadian football quarterbacks Players of Canadian football from Oregon Oregon State Beavers football players Continental Football League players BC Lions players Ottawa Rough Riders players High school football coaches in Oregon High school basketball coaches in Oregon American women's basketball coaches