Reginald Dwayne Brown (born September 28, 1974) 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

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

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 was selected in the first round (17th overall) of the

1996 NFL draft The 1996 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 NFL draft, draft was held April 20–21, 1996 NFL seas ...

by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. 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

Texas A&M Aggies The Texas A&M Aggies are the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "wikt:aggie#Etymology 2, Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also simply referr ...

. Brown suffered a

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue that extends from the medulla oblongata in the lower brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone) of vertebrate animals. The center of the spinal c ...

contusion A bruise, also known as a contusion, is a type of hematoma of tissue, the most common cause being capillaries damaged by trauma, causing localized bleeding that extravasates into the surrounding interstitial tissues. Most bruises occur clo ...

in the final game of the 1997 season. The injury nearly left him

paralyzed Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, r ...

, and it ended his professional football career.

College

Brown played

for

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

. He earned first team All-Southwest Conference honors for his senior season efforts, during which he recorded 90 tackles and two interceptions.

Professional career

Although not initially expected to be highly drafted, Brown's performance at the NFL combine boosted his stock. Brown was selected 17th overall by the Detroit Lions in the

. In his second season, he recorded 2.5 sacks to go along with two interceptions, both of which went for touchdown returns. Brown ultimately played in 26 games. In his final game, Brown suffered a

while assisting on a tackle of

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

halfback

Adrian Murrell Adrian Byran Murrell (born October 16, 1970) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the New York Jets in the fifth round of the 19 ...

in the final game of the 1997 season, the same game that saw

Barry Sanders Barry Sanders (born July 16, 1968) is an American former professional football running back who played for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. Sanders led the league in rushing yards four times and in rushin ...

cross the 2,000-yard mark for the season. He lay motionless for 17 minutes on the turf at the

Pontiac Silverdome The Pontiac Silverdome (also known as the Silverdome) was a stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. It opened in 1975 and sat on 199 acres (51 ha) of land. When the stadium opened, it featured a fiberglass fabric roof held up by air pressure, the fi ...

, briefly losing consciousness, with

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure used during cardiac or respiratory arrest that involves chest compressions, often combined with artificial ventilation, to preserve brain function and maintain circulation until sp ...

saving his life. Emergency surgery, rehabilitation, and use of a special back brace saved him from using a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Post-football career

Brown is mobile and active. In November 2015, Brown gave a presentation hosted by Texas A&M's sports medicine department in which he detailed the recovery from his spinal cord injury.

References

1974 births Living people Players of American football from Austin, Texas American football linebackers Texas A&M Aggies football players Detroit Lions players 20th-century American sportsmen {{linebacker-1970s-stub