Ralph Davis Brown II (born September 16, 1978) 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 ...

for 10 seasons 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). 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

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

, earning consensus

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 in 1999. He played professionally for 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 ...

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

and

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

of the NFL. He has biological children, but has given up his parental rights to them.

Early life

Brown was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He attended Charles Bursch Elementary School in

Baldwin Park, California Baldwin Park is a city located in the central San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 72,176, down from 75,390 at the 2010 United States c ...

as a child where he grew up. He also attended

Bishop Amat Memorial High School Bishop Amat Memorial High School is a co-ed Catholic high school serving the San Gabriel Valley in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and was founded in 1957. The campus is located in La Puente, California, approximately east of dow ...

La Puente, California La Puente ( Spanish for "The Bridge") is a city in east Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city had a population of 39,816 at the 2010 census and is approximately east of downtown Los Angeles. History The original inhabitan ...

, where he was listed as the second-best defensive back in the country by Blue Chip and named to the Dream Team in 1995. He was named to ''

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''s second-team All-America squad in the same year. During Ralph's senior season, he was seventh in the state in rushing with 2,246 yards on 311 carries and scored the game-winning touchdown in the Lancers' Division I championship win over Los Angeles' Loyola High in 1995. He earned

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CI ...

Player of the Year and MVP, and the ''

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'' Back-of-the-Year honors, scoring 29 times, including a school-record 6 in one game. Defensively, he had 57 tackles and six interceptions. He also lettered three times in track. As a sophomore and junior Brown notched all-state honors as a cornerback.

College career

Brown attended the University of Nebraska, where he played for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers football The Nebraska Cornhuskers football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska has played its home games at Memorial Stadium (Linc ...

team from 1996 to 1999. He finished career with 143

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 ...

, including 88 solo and is third on the Cornhuskers career list with 11

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 first with 253 interception return yards. Brown also set a school record with 50

pass deflections In 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, f ...

. He was recognized as a consensus first-team

, having been named to the first teams of

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, ''

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'' and the ''

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'' as a senior in 1999. He was also a semifinalist for the

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athle ...

, given to the top

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 ...

in the country. In 1997 and 1998, he was an All- Big Twelve Conference first team selection. Brown was then an All-American third-team pick by the

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and ''College Football News'' in 1998. He became a member of the Big Twelve Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll in 1997. One of six

true freshmen Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

who saw action for the

Huskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and ...

in 1996, but the only one who earned a

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role. Brown became the first position player at Nebraska to start his first game as a true freshman since

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

College statistics

Notes - Statistics include bowl game performances.

Professional career

He was selected in the fifth round (140th overall) of the

2000 NFL draft The 2000 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Theat ...

by the

. He played four seasons with the Giants from 2000 to 2003. In his first year Brown played in two games. He was inactive for the season opener vs.

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and saw his 1st NFL action at

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, playing only on

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 ...

. His only action was on special teams at

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. He was forced to leave game in the 3rd quarter after taking a knee to the abdomen. Brown's injury was diagnosed as a laceration to the kidney. He was placed on season-ending

injured reserve 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 ...

on October 2. Next year played in eight games, with no starts and finished season with two assisted tackles on defense and five special teams tackles (4 solo). 2002 was his best year so far, he played in all 16 games, including his first two NFL starts, at

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and at

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. He was a reserve in NFC Wild Card game at

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. He began the season as the dime (sixth) cornerback, but also played nickel corner. He finished with 25 tackles (19 solo), one interception, one

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, three passes defensed and eight special teams tackles (six solo). In his last season with the Giants, Brown contributed in the secondary as a reserve and spot starter and on special teams, providing depth to the defensive backfield. He demonstrated nose for the ball on several key plays last season. Brown played in 11 games, starting seven. He missed three games with a shoulder injury and was assigned to injured reserve prior to Week 16 at

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. He finished the season with 41 tackles (28 solo), one sack, one forced fumble, two interceptions and one touchdown. Brown also played for the

from 2004 to 2005, the

in 2006, and the

from 2007 through 2009.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Ralph 1978 births Living people American football cornerbacks Arizona Cardinals players Cleveland Browns players Minnesota Vikings players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players New York Giants players All-American college football players People from the San Gabriel Valley Players of American football from Los Angeles County, California People from Hacienda Heights, California 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen Bishop Amat Memorial High School alumni