Ruben Parnell Brown (born February 13, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a guard for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers. He was selected by the Buffalo Bills 14th overall in the 1995 NFL draft.
Brown played nine seasons for the Bills and four more for the Chicago Bears, starting all 181 games in which he played. He was a four-time All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowl selection, including eight consecutive Pro Bowl selections with the Bills from 1996 to 2003. He is the older brother of former NFL linebacker Cornell Brown.
Brown attended E. C. Glass High School in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Professional career
Buffalo Bills
Brown was the starting left guard for the
Buffalo Bills, where he was named to eight consecutive AFC
Pro Bowl teams from to .
He was also a four-time 2nd-team All-Pro.
Brown was a three-time nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award during his tenure with Buffalo.
Chicago Bears
Brown signed with the
Chicago Bears in 2004, but only started in nine games due to injuries.
He had a revival in his career in the 2006 season after the Bears made Super Bowl XLI, and was named to the 2007 Pro Bowl. In 2007, Brown played in eight games before being placed on
injured reserve by the Bears on November 8, 2007, due to an injured shoulder.
Brown became a free agent after the 2007 season. He expressed interest in returning to Chicago, commenting his three-year stint with the Bears rejuvenated his career.[Mayer, Larry, Brown confident Smith will help Bears right ship , chicagobears.com, Retrieved on January 13, 2007.] The Bears did re-sign Brown.
Retirement
After spending the 2008 season out of football, Brown officially announced his retirement on February 2, 2009.
Broadcasting career
Brown currently co-hosts
The Enforcers, a weekly television show in Buffalo, NY, with former
Buffalo Sabres player
Rob Ray. Brown is also a regular pundit on Canadian talkshow "Off the Record", which airs on TSN. He also served as an analyst for the syndication network broadcasting the Fall Experimental Football League.
Brown has co-hosted, along with Mike Catalana, Bills Tonight, the Bills' official weekly post game on MSG Western New York, since 2016.
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