Rush Brown Jr. (June 27, 1954 – February 6, 2020) was an American 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 played

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for four seasons for 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)'s

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

. He started 32 of his first 41 games, but appeared in only six of his last 16 games (with 1 start). Brown was selected to the NFL All-Rookie Team in 1980. Brown attended

Scotland High School Scotland High School is located in Laurinburg, North Carolina. It is a part of the Scotland County Schools district. Athletics Scotland is a member of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) and is classified as a 3A school. ...

Laurinburg, North Carolina Laurinburg is a city in and the county seat of Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Fayetteville and is home t ...

. He enlisted in the U.S. Army right after high school. He was stationed in Europe, and was assigned to the 60th Ordnance Group in Zweibrucken, Germany. Brown was invited to play football in the U.S. Air Force, since there was no football team in the U.S. Army. He later was named the 1975 Player of the Year in the United States Air Force of Europe football league. While playing football for the U.S. Air Force, Brown attracted attention from a professor who encouraged him to attend

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...

. Rush ended his military career as a second lieutenant before pursuing an education at Ball State. Brown died on February 6, 2020, at age 65.Rush Brown Jr.
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References

1954 births 2020 deaths American football defensive linemen Ball State Cardinals football players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players Jacksonville Bulls players Arizona Outlaws players United States Air Force officers 20th-century American sportsmen {{defensive-lineman-1950s-stub