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Top 10 NFL careers of Tennessee football DBs

By Caleb Calhoun

11 Sep 1994: Defensive back Terry McDaniel of the Los Angeles Raiders returns an intereception for a touchdown during a game against the Seattle Seahawks at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. The Seahawks won the game, 38-9.
11 Sep 1994: Defensive back Terry McDaniel of the Los Angeles Raiders returns an intereception for a touchdown during a game against the Seattle Seahawks at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. The Seahawks won the game, 38-9. /
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Photo by Nate Fine/Getty Images
Photo by Nate Fine/Getty Images /

Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Eddie Brown. 9. 839. 1971-1973. Years in NFL: 6. player

Teams played for:

  • Cleveland Browns; 1974-1975
  • Washington Redskins; 1975-1977
  • Los Angeles Rams; 1978-1979

Similar to wide receivers, some Tennessee football defensive backs were able to earn spots on this list because of what they did as return specialists. Eddie Brown is one of those guys, and his play in that area was impossible to ignore.

Playing for Bill Battle for three years and with Condredge Holloway for two of them, Brown had a great run on Rocky Top with three straight top 20 finishes and two 10-win seasons. He earned All-American honors as a senior in 1973 with five interceptions and two punts returned for a touchdown., Throughout his career on Rocky Top, Brown had 10 picks.

Despite such an elite run, Brown fell to the eighth round of the 1974 NFL Draft. The 5’11” 187-pound safety spent a year and a half with the Cleveland Browns, where he barely saw any action, but midway through the 1975 season, he was traded to the Washington Redskins.

In D.C, Brown two full years, 1976 and 1977, where he was a star. He earned back to back Pro Bowls and back to back All-Pro honors as a return specialist, leading the league with 646 punt return yards in 1976 along with a touchdown.

After that run, he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams, where he spent the final two years of his career. In 1979, he had his best year as a defender with three picks, helping the Rams to the Super Bowl, where he had an interception in a losing effort. Brown played in the USFL in the 1980s. He finished his six-year NFL run with multiple Pro Bowls, 72 games overall and eight interceptions.

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