:Gary Brown (running back)

{{Short description|American football player and coach (1969–2022)}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Gary Brown

| number = 33

| position = Running back

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1969|7|1}}

| birth_place = Williamsport, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|4|10|1969|7|1}}

| death_place = Williamsport, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 11

| weight_lb = 230

| high_school = Williamsport Area

| college = Penn State

| draftyear = 1991

| draftround = 8

| draftpick = 214

| pastteams =

Houston Oilers ({{NFL Year|1991|1995}})
San Diego Chargers ({{NFL Year|1997}})
New York Giants ({{NFL Year|1998|1999}})

| pastcoaching =

Lycoming (2003–2005)
Running backs coach
Susquehanna (2006–2007)
Offensive coordinator
Rutgers (2008)
Running backs coach
Cleveland Browns ({{NFL Year|2009|2012}})
Running backs coach
Dallas Cowboys ({{NFL Year|2013|2019}})
Running backs coach
Wisconsin (2021)
Running backs coach

| statlabel1 = Rushing yards

| statvalue1 = 4,300

| statlabel2 = Average

| statvalue2 = 4.2

| statlabel3 = Touchdowns

| statvalue3 = 21

| pfr = BrowGa00

}}

Gary Leroy Brown (July 1, 1969 – April 10, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a running back for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for three teams from 1991 to 1999. Brown played college football at Penn State and was drafted by the Houston Oilers in the eighth round of the 1991 NFL draft.{{Cite web |title=1991 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1991/draft.htm |access-date=2023-05-07 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} He was also the running backs coach at the University of Wisconsin.

Playing career

{{expand section|What happened at Penn State that led him to be drafted? Also need an elaboration on his eight years in the NFL|date=April 2022}}

{{NFL predraft

| height ft = 5

| height in = 10 1/8

| weight = 220

| dash = 4.75

| ten split = 1.70

| twenty split = 2.81

| shuttle = 4.65

| cone drill =

| vertical = 29.0

| broad ft = 9

| broad in = 3

| bench = 17

| arm span = 30

| hand span = 9 1/4

| wonderlic =

| note = All values from NFL Combine{{Cite web |url=https://nflcombineresults.com/playerpage.php?i=24892 |title=Gary Brown, Combine Results, RB - Penn State |website=nflcombineresults.com |access-date=April 10, 2022}}

}}

Brown played for three teams during his time in the NFL and rushed for over 1,000 yards twice in his career, first with the Houston Oilers during the 1993 season with 1,002 yards and then for the New York Giants during the 1998 season with 1,063 yards.

Coaching career

After retiring from professional football following the 1999 season, Gary returned to Williamsport and was hired as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Williamsport High School, and at Lycoming College from 2003 to 2005.{{cite web|url=http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/team/coaches_detail.php?id=74 |title=Coaches: Gary Brown |accessdate=February 20, 2009 |publisher=Cleveland Browns website |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091127163319/http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/team/coaches_detail.php?id=74 |archivedate=November 27, 2009 }} From 2006 to 2007, he served as offensive coordinator at Susquehanna University. In February 2008, he was named running backs coach at Rutgers University.{{Cite web |last=Brink |first=Wes |title=Gary Brown joins Rutgers staff as running backs coach |url=http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/506500.html?nav=5023 |publisher=Williamsport Sun-Gazette |accessdate=March 1, 2008}} Brown accepted a position with the Cleveland Browns in February 2009, as the running backs coach on Eric Mangini's staff.{{cite web | url = http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/522902.html?nav=5017 | title = Gary Brown to Cleveland Browns | accessdate = February 18, 2009 | publisher = Williamsport Sun-Gazette}} In February 2013, Brown was hired with the Dallas Cowboys as their running backs coach. In March 2021, Brown was hired as the running backs coach at the University of Wisconsin.{{Cite web|last=Hamm|first=Drew|date=2021-03-25|title=Report: Wisconsin has hired former Cowboys RB coach Gary Brown [UPDATE: confirmed by UW]|url=https://www.buckys5thquarter.com/2021/3/25/22350406/reports-wisconsin-badgers-has-hired-former-dallas-cowboys-running-backs-coach-gary-brown|access-date=2021-03-27|website=Bucky's 5th Quarter|language=en}}

Death

The 52-year-old coach and father of three had been in hospice care in his hometown of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, due to ongoing health concerns, which had led to him stepping down from coaching. Brown died April 10, 2022, from cancer.[https://www.click2houston.com/sports/local/2022/04/11/former-houston-oilers-running-back-gary-brown-has-died-at-age-52-reports-say/ Former Houston Oilers running back Gary Brown has died at age 52, reports say]

NFL career statistics

Year	Team	GP	Att	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD	Rec	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD
class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
1991	HOU \| 11 \|\| 8 \|\| 85 \|\| 10.6 \|\| 39 \|\| 1 \|\| 2 \|\| 1 \|\| 0.5 \|\| 4 \|\| 0
1992	HOU \| 16 \|\| 19 \|\| 87 \|\| 4.6 \|\| 26 \|\| 1 \|\| 1 \|\| 5 \|\| 5.0 \|\| 5 \|\| 0
1993	HOU \| 16 \|\| 195 \|\| 1,002 \|\| 5.1 \|\| 26 \|\| 6 \|\| 21 \|\| 240 \|\| 11.4 \|\| 38 \|\| 2
1994	HOU \| 12 \|\| 169 \|\| 648 \|\| 3.8 \|\| 18 \|\| 4 \|\| 18 \|\| 194 \|\| 10.8 \|\| 24 \|\| 1
1995	HOU \| 10 \|\| 86 \|\| 293 \|\| 3.4 \|\| 21 \|\| 0 \|\| 6 \|\| 16 \|\| 2.7 \|\| 7 \|\| 0
1997	SD \| 15 \|\| 253 \|\| 945 \|\| 3.7 \|\| 32 \|\| 4 \|\| 21 \|\| 137 \|\| 6.5 \|\| 27 \|\| 0
1998	NYG \| 16 \|\| 247 \|\| 1,063 \|\| 4.3 \|\| 45 \|\| 5 \|\| 13 \|\| 36 \|\| 2.8 \|\| 12 \|\| 0
1999	NYG \| 3 \|\| 55 \|\| 177 \|\| 3.2 \|\| 28 \|\| 0 \|\| 2 \|\| 2 \|\| 1.0 \|\| 1 \|\| 0
colspan="2"\| Career \|\| 99 \|\| 1,032 \|\| 4,300 \|\| 4.2 \|\| 45 \|\| 21 \|\| 84 \|\| 631 \|\| 7.5 \|\| 38 \|\| 3