Bob "Boomer" Brown—R.I.P.

By John Turney 

Bob Brown was more than a Hall-of-Fame offensive lineman. He was a legendary figure.

Don Shula called him the NFL's best-ever tackle. Gene Upshaw said he was "the most intimidating." George Allen said "at his best, no one was better." Carl Eller called him "my most feared competitor."

Brown passed away last Friday from complications of a stroke suffered in April, with his death announced by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was 81 and is survived by his wife Cecelia and son Robert Jr.

"On the field," said Hall-of-Fame president Jim Porter in a prepared statement, "he was as fierce an opponent as any defensive linemen or linebacker ever faced. He used every tactic and technique – and sometimes brute force – to crush the will of the person across the line from him. And took great pride in doing so."

Brown played a decade in the NFL for three teams - the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams and the Oakland Raiders -- and was voted to six Pro Bowls and the NFL's 1960s All-Decade team.

He was a first-team All-Pro in 1965 (AP, NEA), 1966 (AP, UPI, NEA, PFWA), 1968 (AP, UPI, NEA, PFWA), 1969 (AP, UPI, NEA, PFWA), 1970 (AP, NEA, PFWA), 1971 (NEA) and 1972 (PFWA). He was a second-team All-Pro twice—1964 (AP) and 1967 (AP, UPI).

He only failed to receive postseason honors in his final season of 1973. In a vote taken by the NFLPA, Brown was voted the NFL's best offensive lineman in 1969-70 by his peers. A 1966 poll of NFL media members produced the same result.

Bottom line: Bob Brown was elite. He was also smart, huge, athletic, competitive and, yes, "intimidating," as Upshaw said.

The second overall pick of the 1964 NFL draft (by Philadelphia) and the fourth of the '64 AFL draft (Denver), Brown turned down a $125,000 offer by the Broncos to play in Philadelphia because he believed the NFL was the better league ... and because he thought he had superior NFL talent.

"Boomer," as he was called, was not going to take the easy way out.

He hailed from Cleveland, Ohio, attending Cleveland East Tech, and from there was a top student at Nebraska. Graduating by the time he entered the NFL, he earned his master's degree while playing pro football - at the University of Pennsylvania.

So he was smart.

In fact, he was so smart that, as an undergraduate, he realized counselors weren't steering him to courses with enough credits to graduate in four years. They were, he believed, more interested in football than his education. So he took extra units each semester, maintaining a B+ average throughout.

As I said, smart.

The former All-American became an immediate starter in Philadelphia at right tackle. He had had massive size (6-4, 270 pounds) and was credited with a 4.4-second time in the 40 ... and that is not a misprint.

Four-point-four.

As a pro, he quickly added more size and strength. At over 300 pounds, he began a self-styled weight program that was ahead of its time. His military press was between 385-412 pounds, with Brown remarking that the "American record is 412 pounds."

The results were there for everyone to see ... and feel.

"He hit like a tank," said an Eagles' scout.

"Bob Brown was probably my most feared competitor," said Eller, "He would strike out at you. His intent was to do bodily harm. He wanted to inflict pain."

And he did, belting opposing linemen with repeated shots to their bodies with his powerful forearms. Not only did he hit like a tank; he hit with ill intent. 

"My philosophy is not to accept the blows, but to deliver them," Brown once told Sports Illustrated. "There are some choice areas like the spleen, when I can get at it."

While with the Eagles, he broke a thumb and had to wear a padded cast to protect it. However, he had trainers keep the thumb in a cast for the rest of his career so he could use it as a weapon. If a defensive end used a pass-rush technique exposing his ribs - like an inside "swim move" - Brown would jab the thumb into his opponent's midsection, often hurting him.

Veterans warned rookies about the danger, but they didn't always listen.

In 1971, Brown broke rookie Jack Youngblood's ribs that way. Two years later, he damaged Cardinals' rookie Andy Dorris's rib cage. Another unnamed rookie tried to beat Brown by going through, not around him. He quickly learned. It was a mistake.

"That rookie was like a head of cabbage," Brown told the media. "All head, no butt, and I ate him."

As a Ram, Brown's duals with Hall-of-Fame pass rusher Deacon Jones were legendary, not only in games but in practice. For two years they honed each other's skills by going head-to-head in practice ... the best vs. the best. It was so competitive that Rams' coaches sometimes had to stop them for fear that one would get hurt.

That was smart, too.

After leaving the Rams and tired of being head-slapped by the Deacon, Brown replaced his helmet screws with longer, sharpened ones that protruded -- causing a serious safety hazard for any hand that struck them ... as Jones later found out. Unaware of what Brown had done, Jones delivered a head slap and wound up with a hole in his left hand, leaving an ugly scar.

Maybe that's why, as a rookie in 1964, Brown was nicknamed "Barbed Wire" by the Eagles' trainer. Though the name didn't catch on, the message did: "Stay away from the man unless you want to suffer."

Yes, "Boomer" was nasty from Day One.

When he was traded to the Raiders, Brown wanted to let the rest of the tough-guy team know who was boss. So, on the first day of camp, he began warmups by throwing forearm after forearm at a goalpost at one end of the practice field. 

Boom! Boom! Boom! After a few shots, the goalpost broke and came down, and Brown's message was delivered. 

He later admitted he sawed the post the night before so it would break more easily. Yep, "Boomer" was smart. He made his point but didn't break his arm doing it.

"I am not a finesse lineman like some of them in the league," he said. "There is nothing fancy about me. I am about as fancy as a 16-pound sledgehammer."

But he was good. No, he was more than good. He was a great lineman, as Hall-of-Famers attest:

-- John Madden called him the "most devastating football player I've ever seen." 

-- “At his best, no one was better than big Bob Brown," said George Allen, “To do what Brown does requires great quickness, strength and self-confidence. Few men have such a combination of assets.”

-- Don Shula called him a better blocker than the great Jim Parker and considered Brown the best-ever NFL tackle, "He was a great - and I mean great - football player," Shula said.

-- Dick Stanfel said no one worked harder than Boomer, adding that "there is not an ounce of complacency in his entire body."

-- "Everything about Brown is bigger than life," said Chargers' great Ron Mix. "His size, his talent, his intelligence, his sensitivity. He's one of a kind." 

If there was a weakness, it was only with sore knees that were an issue for several years. In fact, they were such a concern that the risk of playing poorly led Brown to retire at 32 when he still "could play." He didn't want to age like the proverbial gunfighter who lost his skills and wound up "face down in the dirt." 

He played in 126 games, starting 124, and was voted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame 11 years later in what he called "the greatest thrill of my athletic career."

Heaven's football team just gained a great tackle, but here's hoping he didn't pound down the Pearly Gates as he did goalposts. Even they might not withstand the pounding of "Boomer" Brown.