Bob Boomer Brown – The Meanest Nastiest and Best Offensive Lineman of All Time?
There are a few great players that for some reason sneak under the radar. It might be because they were unliked by the league , they played for numerous or losing teams but they are never recognized for their greatness. Such a player was Bob Boomer Brown.
Brown was a massive individual in high school he was out of shape 280 lbs and his brother Ulysses got him into shape. He followed his brother to Nebraska where Brown was a two way star. While he was primarily known as a 250 pound guard he also played linebacker. Brown even had the game clinching interception in the 1962 Gotham Blow. Yes Gotham as in Batman Gotham City city.
As a senior he again climbed to 280 lbs but this time it was muscle. He was quick and agile for his size. Nebraska was one of the few schools that had a weight training program at the time and Brown used that to gain 30 lbs of muscle by his senior year.
Brown helped them to their first big 8 title since 1940 with a 10-1 record. In their 1964 Orange bowl victory he threw a key block on a 68 yard TD run which helped Nebraska defeat Auburn 13-7. Nebraska finished number 6 overall that year.
Brown was taken by the Philadelphia Eagles number 2 overall in the 1964 draft.
“During his five years with the Eagles’ (1964 to 1968), Brown played under head coach Joe Kuharich and offensive line coach Dick Stanfel (a member of the NFL 1950s All-Decade Team at guard and 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee). In Brown’s 2004 Hall of Fame induction speech, he described Kuharich as being like a second father to him; and Stanfel as being a genius offensive line tactician who was key in developing Brown’s mental attitude and technique as an offensive lineman in the NFL; adding that “Stanfel taught me how to take the talents that I brought to the Eagles and forged it into a workable tool that ultimately placed me here today”.[25]
Source: Wikipedia
After an all pro season in 1968 Brown asked to be traded. The Eagles were a terrible 2-12 and he wanted to go to a competitive team. He was traded to the Rams in 1969 who were still coached by hall of famer George Allen. Allen called him the finest offensive lineman in football and he again was all pro. In a poll of over 1000 players in 1969 Brown was selected as the top offensive lineman in the league. The Rams led the league in passing TDs in 1969 and started 11-0.
However, Bob Brown was again traded despite his stellar play.
Brown was traded by the Rams to the Oakland Raiders, along with two draft picks, in exchange for offensive tackle Harry Schuh and cornerback Kent McCloughan on June 23, 1971.
The Raiders were a team that fit his mood. Renegades and rebels and whackos. A famous story about Brown was on the first day of practice he walked out on the field, pounded on a goal post and the thing cracked in two and fell to the ground. From then on he was known as “Mr Brown”. He continued to make the pro bowl leading the way for Marv Hubbard and Charlie Smith and the raiders famed passing game led by Daryle Lamonica .
In 1973 injuries caught up to him and he had to retire. In 1971 he injured his knee and had cartilage damage limited him to 12 games. He did play every game in 1972, but only played 8 in 1973 due to nerve damage in his leg.
After 10 years of football he made first team all pro 5 times, second team all pro 4 times and made the pro bowl 6 times. He also was named to the all 1960s team.
His intellect was almost as large as his body too after joining the eagles he went to Penn University getting a masters in biology from an ivy league school. Not many all pro lineman can say that.
In my opinion he is the most dominant lineman of all time. The offensive lineman version of Dick Butkus. I feel he was lost in the shuffle due to playing for 3 teams and 5 of his 10 years being spent on the lowly Eagle’s 1960s teams. Also he danced to the beat of his own drummer and may have rubbed people the wrong way and that led to him not making the NFL Hall of Fame till 2004.
Below are highlights from his career, a fascinating interview with him and the NFL films tape Legendary Lineman in which the segment on brown comes on at 44 minutes of the final segment of the NFL films feature.
Bob Brown The Most Dominant Lineman in History
Interview with Bob Brown
Legendary Lineman
The Segment about Brown comes on at 44 minutes