Ed Brown

The remarkable football career of Ed Brown began in 1948 as quarterback for Hartnell College. The 6-2, 200-pounder from San Luis Obispo quickly earned the nickname of “Bullseye’’ for his passing accuracy. He threw 22 touchdowns for the 8-2 Panthers and was chosen an All-American Junior College player.

The next year he was drafted into the Marine Corp and served two years while also playing on their football team. From there he was recruited and transferred to the University of San Francisco the next year. In his first season at USF Brown completed 18 passes for 432 yards and four touchdowns, caught seven touchdown passes, intercepted eight and was the team’s leading scorer with 56 points. He also ranked fourth in the nation in punting with an average of 43 yards, did all the point-after touchdowns and was considered one of the team’s best blockers.

In 1951, Brown quarterbacked the infamous “Undefeated, Untied and Uninvited” Dons to a 9 – 0 season. The USF roster included 9 future NFL’ers—including 5 who would become pro-bowlers and 3 who would be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. But with two African American players on the roster—Burl Toler and Ollie Matson—the team was told by the Gator Bowl, Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl committees that they would only receive an invitation to play in their games if they agreed to leave Toler and Matson at home. The Dons unanimously declined the terms and thus became “uninvited”.

Brown, meanwhile, was drafted in the sixth round of the 1952 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears and began a 12-year career which included two Pro Bowl appearances. In 1956 he led the NFL in passing efficiency and guided the Bears to the NFL championship game where they lost to the NY Giants. He played his last three years with the Pittsburg Steelers and passed for a career best 2,982 yards and 21 touchdowns in 1963.

For his career he passed for 15,960 yards and 102 touchdowns while also rushing for 960 yards 14 touchdowns.