Hall of Fame
Position: Offensive Tackle
Years: 1991-1994
Place of Birth: Englewood, N.J.
Date of Birth: Feb 13, 1972
Jersey Number: 78
Height: 6-3"
Weight: 305
High School: E.C. Glass (Lynchburg, Va.)
After transitioning from defensive tackle to offensive tackle before his freshman year, Ruben Brown’s outstanding career at Pittsburgh culminated with his selection as a First Team All-American as a senior. He becomes the 19th Panther elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Following his All-America campaign in 1994, Brown claimed honors as the Washington D.C. Downtown Athletic Club’s National Outstanding Lineman. The senior team captain was a three-time All-Big East selection, garnering unanimous First Team honors in 1994 and Second Team laurels as a junior and sophomore. Playing for coaches Paul Hackett and Johnny Majors, a 1987 College Football Hall of Fame inductee as a player from Tennessee, Brown appeared in the 1995 Senior Bowl and the 1994 Blue-Gray All-Star Classic.
Selected in the first round of the 1995 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills, Brown spent 11 seasons between the Bills and the Chicago Bears. A nine-time Pro Bowl selection, he was elected to the Bills’ 50th Anniversary Team in 2009, and he was a member of the 2006 Bears team that appeared in Super Bowl XLI.
A three-time recipient of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, Brown has dedicated himself to community service. In 2001, he established the Ruben Brown Foundation, which raises and distributes funds to youth service and enrichment programs to ensure kids have an opportunity to enhance their personal gifts. Brown has received multiple awards for his work in the community, including the 2003 Salvation Army Community Service Award and 2010 Ralph C. Wilson Distinguished Service Award.
