| Memphis Showboats | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Defensive Line coach | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born: | March 15, 1975 Englewood, New Jersey, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 240 lb (109 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Lynchburg (VA) E. C. Glass | ||||||||||
| College: | Virginia Tech | ||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1997 / Round: 6 / Pick: 194 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| As a player: | |||||||||||
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| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
| As a coach: | |||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||||
Cornell Desmond Brown (born March 15, 1975) is an American football coach for the Memphis Showboats of the United Football League (UFL). He was a former American college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for Virginia Tech, and earned All-American honors twice. Drafted late in the sixth round of the 1997 NFL Draft, he played professionally for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. In 2013, Brown was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame (the state-wide organization that honors sports figures from the state, or who contributed to sports programs in the state).
Born in Englewood, New Jersey, Brown attended E.C. Glass in Lynchburg, Virginia.[1] He played high school football for the E.C. Glass Hilltoppers, and led them to the state championship game in his senior year in 1992, losing to the Bethel High School team.
Brown attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where he played for coach Frank Beamer's Virginia Tech Hokies football team from 1993 to 1996. He earned first-team All-American honors as a defensive end in 1995, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American in 1996. He was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.[2]
The Baltimore Ravens selected Brown in the sixth round (194th pick overall) of the 1997 NFL Draft.[3] He played for the Ravens from 1997 to 2000.[4] With the Ravens, he had success as a backup outside linebacker. He earned a Super Bowl ring when Baltimore defeated the New York Giants 34–7 in Super Bowl XXXV. Brown was hit with a drug charge in 2001 however, and was cut, although the charge was eventually dropped. After going back to Virginia Tech for a year, Brown was picked up by the Oakland Raiders. Cut again, he was re-signed by the Ravens, and played the remainder of his career for them from 2002 to 2004.[5] In his seven NFL seasons, he played in 108 regular season games, started twenty-five of them, and compiled 147 tackles, seven quarterback sacks and three forced fumbles.[5] Brown was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.
Brown began his coaching career as an intern with the NFL Europe Cologne Centurions in 2005, then spent 2006 and 2007 as defensive line coach for the Frankfurt Galaxy in the spring and a graduate assistant on Frank Beamer's Virginia Tech coaching staff in the fall. Brown joined the Calgary staff in 2008.
Brown was hired by Virginia Tech as the outside linebackers and assistant defensive line coach in 2011.[6]
Brown was hired by Norfolk State University to be the defensive coordinator in 2016
Brown was hired by Marshall University to be the defensive ends coach in 2017
Brown was hired by Tarleton State to be the defensive line coach in 2021.
Brown was hired by the Memphis Showboats to be the defensive line coach on January 4, 2024.[7]
Brown's brother is Ruben Brown, who was a Pro Bowl offensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears.[8]