He may be remembered more for his lawsuit against the N.F.L., but few players got more out of what they were given than Orlando Brown. He achieved his potential. Brown was found dead on Friday in his apartment in Baltimore. He was 40 years old:
When Orlando Brown arrived at the training camp of the old Cleveland Browns in 1993, he was, to say the least, an unlikely candidate for a lengthy N.F.L. career. He was slow, he didn’t have the quickest feet around, and he had little experience as a pass blocker. He made up for it with a positive attitude, the capacity for hard work, and a love for the game of football. It didn’t take long for Brown to develop into one of the better offensive tackles of the 1990s.
Brown was a defensive lineman at South Carolina State until the middle of his junior year. He finished his college career as a tackle on a run-first offense. When Cleveland’s pro personnel assistant, Scott Pioli, visited the campus to work out another player, Brown insisted on a tryout. He was obviously a project, but the Browns saw enough to sign him as a free agent after the draft. That summer, at training camp, Brown got into so many fights that Cleveland’s coach, Bill Belichick, sometimes had him wear just shorts and a T-shirt while everyone else was practicing in helmets and shoulder pads.
Brown, better knows as Zeus (a nickname given to him by his mother before he was born), spent his rookie year on injured reserve. He used that time diligently learning and refining the fundamentals of offensive line play. The organization was impressed with his desire to improve, both on the field and in the classroom. Brown studied a lot of tape that year of the Rams Hall of Fame right tackle Jackie Slater.
Halfway through the 1994 season, Brown became Cleveland’s starting right tackle. At first, the offensive coaches put a tight end next to him to help on passing downs, but, before long, he was on his own. Brown did a good job of picking up stunts and, by keeping his hands within the frame of the defender’s body, he was able to hold without being detected by the officials.
At 6-7 and about 360 pounds, Brown used his size, strength, power and toughness to intimidate the opponent. He understood the psychology of the line of scrimmage. The goal was to physically dominate the man across from you, to break his will, and to make him quit. While technique was important, once the game started, this was accomplished by any means necessary. “I love to see people bleed”, he once said. “I’m no big talker. I do my talking by hitting my man, throwing him to the ground, jumping on him.” (Leigh Montville, “Shall We Dance”, Sports Illustrated, Dec. 6, 1999)
Brown went with Cleveland when the franchise moved to Baltimore in 1996. After three years with the Ravens, he signed a 6-year, $27 million free-agent contract with the expansion Browns in 1999. Late that season he received national attention because of an accident that nearly blinded him.
Early in the second quarter of a Week 15 game against Jacksonville, the Browns were called for a false start penalty. The referee, Jeff Triplette, blew the whistle and threw his flag, which was weighted with BBs. The flag flew between the bars of Brown’s cage facemask and struck his right eye. Brown went to the sideline holding his eye but turned around and came back onto the field and shoved Triplette to the ground. He was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and was immediately ejected from the game. Three days later, the league suspended him indefinitely.
Brown had blurred vision and bleeding in the eye and was hospitalized for six days. Despite numerous treatments around the country, he wasn’t medically cleared to play again until early 2003. That March, Brown signed a free-agent contract with the Ravens. He played his final three seasons back in Baltimore wearing a tinted visor over his facemask and goggles underneath. In the meantime, his lawsuit against the N.F.L. was settled out of court in 2002.
The doctors told Brown that getting to the hospital so soon after the incident probably saved his eye. “People ask me what I’m going to do when I see that ref”, Brown said in 2003. “I’m going to kiss him, that’s what I’m going to do. If he hadn’t thrown me out, I would have lost my eye.” (Phil Taylor, “Seeing Is Believing”, Sports Illustrated, June 9, 2003)
Week after week, Brown lined up against defensive ends who were more athletically gifted than him. Many were high draft picks from major football powerhouses. And yet, most of the time, he was able to defeat them. He’s a great example of a self-made player, of the connection between hard work and results. When given the opportunity, Orlando Brown was ready.
Andy Barall writes about pro football history for The Fifth Down.
