Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I watched a lot of Brown in college at Notre Dame. He was a 4-year starter and "looked the part"...he was big, he was durable, he could catch, and I don't remember any character issues. Giants take him #14 overall, and he is an immediate dud. What happened to him? Was there a deficiency in his game? Bad coaching/system? Did he have injury issues? I've never heard an explanation as to why his NFL career fizzled out like it did.

Nearly completely unrelated, what happened to Gary Butler, KC TE 1973? He was a high 2nd round pick who also looked the part, but...

A little effort never hurts...

NFL Career
He was drafted 14th overall in the 1992 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. As a rookie, he recorded 4 catches for 31 yards and followed that season up with 7 catches for 56 yards in 1993. In 1994, Brown mostly played a role on special teams.
He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 1995 NFL Expansion Draft. Brown missed the entire 1995 season as the result of a hit from Denver Broncos safety Tim Hauck during a preseason game. He suffered bruised ribs, a collapsed lung and damage to his spleen and kidney. He was in the hospital for 10 days and in a wheelchair a few weeks after that. Despite the injuries, his best season came in 1996 with the Jacksonville Jaguars when he recorded 17 catches for 141 yards. He followed it up in 1997 with 8 catches for 84 yards and 1 TD. In 1998, he went to the Oakland Raiders where he started 4 games and recorded 7 catches for 89 yards.
Post Football Life
Brown now resides in Clifton Park, New York with his wife, Kristin, his daughter, Sydney, and his son, Reece. Works for BlueRock Energy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Brown_(tight_end)

Bryan wrote:Nearly completely unrelated, what happened to Gary Butler, KC TE 1973? He was a high 2nd round pick who also looked the part, but...

In 1974, he had knee trouble that eventually resulted in season-ending surgery, and by the next year, Paul Wiggin was the new head coach. Butler started the season on IR, but was traded to the Bears in late October. The following year, he was back on IR to start the season, and then cut. However, in November, the Raiders signed him after Ted Kwalick suffered a season-ending injury, but he doesn't appear on any of the playoff game rosters that year, so I'm assuming he was either cut or placed (again) on IR.

During that offseason, he signed with the Giants, but then was quickly claimed on waivers by Tampa Bay. He was cut by the Bucs in '77 (which should have been a clear sign to quit), then spent about a week back the Chiefs in 1977's training camp before being cut. In early October, he was re-signed by the Bucs and got into three games, catching his only pass just days after being signed; a 21-yard grab in a 10-0 loss to the Redskins. So, to make a long story short, injuries pretty much derailed Butler's career.

What made it worse for Kansas City with the drafting of Butler was that they passed up players like Dan Fouts, Ron Jaworski, Greg Pruitt and Brad Van Pelt to take him. They had traded their first rounder for the Bears as compensation for signing free agent DT George Seals, who played two seasons for them.

Seals had a pretty telling comment of playing for the Bears in that era, saying when he joined the Chiefs, "I feel like a man who spent time in a concentration camp, then left his buddies behind."

Another couple of interesting can't miss high draft choice folks that had long but not all-star level careers: Dan Wilkinson and Quentin Jammer. First and fifth overall in their respective draft years and not an all-pro (1st or 2nd) or pro bowl between them.

Derek Brown was not the only first-round TE bust in 1992. The Jets drafted Johnny Mitchell out of Nebraska. I thought they had a good player, but he only lasted four years in New York before one in Dallas:

http://www.ganggreennation.com/2011/4/8 ... y-mitchell

I remember when ABC did a sideline interview with Brown during the 1992 London Monarchs at NY/NY Knights game and they talked about how he grew up overseas and grew up playing other sports (soccer I assume and if I remember correctly) ...

More high-round TE busts from the 1970s-1980s (round-overall selection):

1973: Paul Seymour, Bills (1-7)
1977: Mike Cobb, Bengals (1-22)
1978: Ken McAfee, 49ers (1-7)
1981: Clay Brown, Broncos (2-42)
1983: Tony Hunter, Bills (1-12)

BD Sullivan wrote:More high-round TE busts from the 1970s-1980s (round-overall selection):

1973: Paul Seymour, Bills (1-7)
1977: Mike Cobb, Bengals (1-22)
1978: Ken McAfee, 49ers (1-7)
1981: Clay Brown, Broncos (2-42)
1983: Tony Hunter, Bills (1-12)

Seymour was as good a blocking TE as the NFL had, but essentially was a 3rd tackle for Bills and OJ. Bust? Yeah, he was taken with the 7th overall . .. yeah, he wasn't worthy of that. But he was big part of OJ's running from 1973-77