Alex Brown (American football)

Infobox NFLactive
name=Alex Brown


currentteam=Chicago Bears
currentnumber=96
currentposition=Defensive end
birthdate=birth date and age|1979|6|4
birthplace=Jasper, Florida
heightft=6
heightin=3
weight=260
debutyear=2002
debutteam=Chicago Bears
college=Florida
draftyear=2002
draftround=4
draftpick=104
pastteams=
* Chicago Bears (2002-present)
nfl=BRO246330

Alex Brown (born June 4, 1979 in Jasper, Florida) is a National Football League defensive end for the Chicago Bears. The 2008 season will be his eighth year in the National Football League.

College career

He attended University of Florida from 1998 to 2001. Brown is a member of the Zeta Kappa Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity at the University of Florida. During his career, he was named an All-American, he was a three-time first-team All SEC, and a Lombardi Award semifinalist and finalist.

His best college game came in 1999, when he sacked Tennessee Volunteers' Quarterback Tee Martin five times. He was also a three-time SEC defensive player of the week. The honors came September 18, 1999, October 30, 1999 and October 6, 2001.

Brown saw action at outside linebacker in 1998 as a true freshman, recording 10 tackles with two sacks and three tackles for a loss (TFLs). He was the backup to All-American Jevon Kearse.

In 1999, Brown was an All-American by Walter Camp and The Football News. He was also one of 12 semi-finalists for the Lombardi Award. He recorded 56 tackles with 7.5 sacks and 12 TFLs as a sophomore.

In 2000, Brown was a consensus second-team All-American and was once again one of the 12 semi-finalists for the Lombardi Award. Brown started every game at right defensive end, recording 50 tackles with 10.5 sacks, 14 TFLs and four passes defended, while forcing a fumble and blocking three kicks.

In his senior season of 2001, Brown was a consensus All-America, being named first-team by virtually all collegiate polls. He was also the 2001 SEC Defensive Player of the Year and one of the four finalists for the Lombardi Award. Brown was one of five finalists of the Bronko Nagurski Trophy [http://www.gatorzone.com/football/media/2006/pdf/143-146.pdf] after recording 45 tackles and a career-best 13 sacks. Brown was also voted the Associated Press SEC Defensive Player-of-the-Year.

In his career, Brown totaled 161 tackles with 47 total stops behind the line of scrimmage (sixth-best total in school history) and holds the school record of 33 career sacks.

("* represents NFL Combine")

NFL career

Brown became a starter in his rookie season, logging 2.5 sacks in nine starts at defensive end. Brown has recorded 29 sacks since then as the Chicago Bears starting right defensive end. In a week nine contest, on November 7, 2004, versus the New York Giants, Brown recorded a career-high 4 sacks to go along with eight tackles, including six solos stops. He also forced a fumble and batted down a pass at the line of scrimmage. For his efforts Brown was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Week by Pro Football Weekly. Noted for playing the run very well, Brown was a Pro Bowl alternate in both 2005 and 2006.

So far in his NFL career, Brown has played 96 games and has 31.5 career sacks. He has also picked off four passes (two in 2006) and deflected 33 passes, an unusually high number for a defensive end.

References

External links

* [http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/301991 Alex Brown's Profile on NFL.com]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=5990 Alex Brown's Profile on ESPN.com]

Sources

* [http://www.nflplayers.com/players/player.aspx?id=33080 Alex Brown's NFL PLAYERS profile]