Sydney Brown (born March 21, 2000) is a Canadian professional

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 ...

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 ...

for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

of 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

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the College athletics, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's Varsity team, varsity sports. The university op ...

Early life

Brown originally attended the London South Collegiate Institute in London, Ontario, Canada before transferring to Saint Stephen's Episcopal School in

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

in 2016, along with his twin brother, Chase Brown. Over his junior and senior seasons, he combined to have 132 tackles and three

interceptions In ball-playing 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 a player of the same team bu ...

. He committed to the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

to play

College career

As a true freshman at Illinois in 2018, Brown started all 10 games he played in and had 55 tackles and one interceptions. In 2019, his brother, Chase joined Illinois after a year at

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

. That season, he started 10 of 11 games, recording 88 tackles, three interceptions and an interception returned for a touchdown. He started all six games in the

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

shortened 2020 season, finishing with 36 tackles. In 2021, Brown started all 12 games, and had 81 tackles and one sack. He returned to Illinois for his senior year in 2022.

Professional career

Brown was ranked the #3 Canadian prospect ahead of the 2023 CFL Draft, but ultimately went undrafted. The

selected Brown in the third round (66th overall) of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

. He notably became the last of five defensive backs drafted from the same Illinois' secondary spanning from 2018–2020. His fellow defensive backs from Illinois included

Nate Hobbs Nate Hobbs (born June 24, 1999) is an American professional football cornerback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini and was selected by the Raiders in the fi ...

(2021), Kerby Joseph (2022), Devon Witherspoon (2022), and Quan Martin (2023). In Week 17 against the

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 ...

, Brown recorded his first career interception and touchdown on the same play when he returned an interception 99 yards off a Kyler Murray pass. In Week 18 against 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 ...

, Brown tore his ACL, ending his season. Brown began the 2024 season on the reserve/ PUP list, and activated on October 19, 2024. Brown won a Super Bowl ring when the Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40–22 in Super Bowl LIX.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Personal life

Brown is the

identical twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

brother of

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

running back Chase Brown. The two were teammates at Illinois.

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles bioIllinois Fighting Illini bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Sydney 2000 births American football safeties Black Canadian players of American football Black Canadian sportsmen Canadian expatriate American football people in the United States Illinois Fighting Illini football players Living people Canadian football people from London, Ontario Philadelphia Eagles players Canadian twins Players of American football from Ontario