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Willie Brown (March 21, 1942 – July 26, 2018) was an American college and professional football player and coach. A star college football player for the USC Tojans, he went on to play three seasons in the National Football League (NFL). After his playing career, he served as a coach for the Trojans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL.

Playing career

Brown played high school football at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, where he won the California Interscholastic Federation player of the year award in 1959.

Brown went on to play college football at the University of Southern California (USC). As he was a two-way player for the Trojans, he began as a tailback and kickoff returner but also played defensive back and flanker. In 1962, he led the Trojans, who went on to win the national championship, in rushing, kickoff returns and interceptions. In 1963, as the team captain, he led the team in receiving, scoring and interceptions.

He was also a standout baseball player, who was a center fielder and shortstop for the university's baseball team that won the 1963 College World Series.

In the 1964 NFL draft, the Los Angeles Rams selected him with the fourth pick of the third round, 32nd overall. He played two seasons with the Rams before finishing his playing career with the Philadelphia Eagles. He accumulated 133 rushing yards and 110 receiving yards in the NFL.

Coaching career

Brown returned to USC as an assistant football coach from 1968 to 1975 and helped the Trojans win national championships in 1972 and 1974. He also served as a Trojan baseball assistant in 1969 and in 1970, when USC won the 1970 College World Series.

In 1976 and 1978, he went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he served as the wide receivers coach and in 1977, the team's running backs coach. In his later years, Brown was an academic monitor for USC's Student-Athlete Academic Services from 1996 to 2016.

Personal life

Brown had two brothers, Oscar and Ollie, both of whom played Major League Baseball. Ollie, who was the first pick by the San Diego Padres in the 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft and was known as the “Original Padre”, died in 2015.

Brown died on July 26, 2018, in Carson, California, from cancer.

References

1. ^ "Willie Brown, who won national championships at USC as a player and coach in both football and baseball, dies at 76". Los Angeles Times. July 26, 2018.
2. ^ "Former Eagle Willie Brown, brother of former Phillie Ollie Brown, dies at 76". Philadelphia Tribune. July 27, 2018.
3. "Former USC tailback, NFL player Willie Brown dies at 76". Associated Press. July 26, 2018.
4. ^ In memoriam: Willie Brown, football star and assistant football, baseball coach
5. "Buccaneers media guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 10, 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2013.

External links

• Career statistics from Pro Football Reference

• 1942 births
• 2018 deaths
• All-American college football players
• Los Angeles Rams players
• Players of American football from Tuscaloosa, Alabama
• Long Beach Polytechnic High School alumni
• Philadelphia Eagles players
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches
• USC Trojans baseball players
• USC Trojans football players
• Deaths from cancer in California
• American football wide receivers
• American football running backs