Gary Brown, the former Nittany Lion, passed away Sunday night after being treated for cancer and transitioning to hospice care. He was just 52 years old.
Brown had a tremendous career at Penn State over four seasons with over 1,500 yards and scoring 25 touchdowns. Brown took that career at Penn State though and turned it into an even more successful coaching career. The Williamsport native would start his career at Pennsylvania colleges Lycoming and Susquehanna before making the jump to the bigger schools on his resume.
He would join the Rutgers staff in 2008 as running backs coach and then make his NFL jump by being on the Cleveland Browns staff till 2012. His most notable stop though would come when Jerry Jones brought him to Dallas where he would coach Darren McFadden, Demarco Murray, and Ezekiel Elliott. Jones released a statement on the passing of Brown, he mentions his “big heart” as well as “big smile and personality”.
The heartfelt sentiments also poured in from players like Demarco Murray who took to Twitter.
Great Father, Husband, Coach, and Mentor. Appreciate you and your family more than anything GB… Thank you for teaching me the way on the field and in life. Appreciate you Gary Brown. 🙏🏾
— DeMarco Murray (@DeMarcoMurray) April 11, 2022
His final cochin spot would come in the form of returning to the college ranks. Brown would be added to Paul Chryst’s staff at Wisconsin where they have themselves as a running back factory. Their latest product, Braelon Allen, also took to Twitter to share his pain in the loss at Gary Brown.
This one hurts…rest easy coach. pic.twitter.com/i3iN5H2Zli
— Braelon Allen (@BraelonAllen) April 11, 2022
Brown had started his battle with cancer back in 2009 when he was with Cleveland. He battled cancer in his liver and colon and he fought it and won after surgery and rounds of chemotherapy. Sadly his cancer had returned in his pancreas this time during his time at Wisconsin. He didn’t coach in 2020 before returning in 2021 but he did miss the team’s Las Vegas Bowl appearance in December due to treatment.
Brown is survived by his wife, Kim, daughters Malena and Dorianna, and son Tre.
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