Tag: Tim Brown

Upcoming ‘The Perfect 10’ documentary features 3 Raiders greats to go from Heisman to Hall

Only 10 people have ever won a Heisman and gone onto the Hall of Fame. And 3 of them are Raiders greats. Set your DVRs Raider Nation.

“This is an amazing feat, man. Only ten guys have been able to accomplish this. More men have walked the moon than to have been able to accomplish what we’ve accomplished,” said Tim Brown in front of six other NFL legends to open the upcoming FOX documentary ‘The Perfect 10’.

Those seven legends all have something special in common. They’re being called ‘The Perfect 10’ because they make up the ten men in the world have hoisted both the Heisman Trophy and have a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

‘The Perfect 10’ will premiere on FOX this Saturday, February 11 at 5 pm Pacific (8pm ET). And if you’re a Raiders fan, you will want to set your DVR.

No team is more well represented in this exclusive club than the Raiders.

Of the seven NFL legends in that room, three are Raiders greats.

The first to join the club was Marcus Allen. Then it was Tim Brown in 2015. And Charles Woodson completed the ten in 2021.

“To have this individual type of accomplishment and to have it be so few who have done it is really mind boggling, you know,” Woodson told Raiders Wire. “I was thinking earlier about the amount of kids who played little league football, high school football, college football, the few that make it to the NFL, and then to just carve that down to just ten guys that have done something like that with the history of the game, that is really quite amazing and hard to put it into words.”

Woodson said as a kid he had imagined himself winning the Heisman Trophy and winning championships (something he also did) but the Hall of Fame was not something he grew up imagining. And even the Heisman seemed out of reach once he switched to defense at Michigan.

“When I got to college and chose to play defense, that dream was pretty much…that was a wrap. Because defensive players don’t win that award,” Woodson said of his Heisman hopes. “So, for me to get to my junior year and to have the success we had as a team, to make the plays at the right time that I made as an individual player, when those things start to happen, that’s when it’s like ‘oh man’ and that dream that was kind of a fleeting thought in my mind was back. . . Then to be invited to the ceremony and ultimately have my name called, holy cow, that was an incredible moment.”

The four other NFL legends on hand for ‘The Perfect 10’ include Earl Campbell, Tony Dorsett, Barry Sanders, and Roger Staubach. The three not present are OJ Simpson, and Doak Walker (deceased), and Paul Hornung (deceased).

Notre Dame Heisman Trophy winner lights up Tommy Rees

Who had Tim Brown coming off the top rope for Tommy Rees on Saturday?

Notre Dame’s most recent Heisman Trophy winner didn’t mince words when he took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the Fighting Irish offensive coordinator situation. As you know by now, [autotag]Tommy Rees[/autotag] took the OC job at Alabama on Friday, leaving a big spot to fill.

According to College Football and Pro Football Hall of Famer [autotag]Tim Brown[/autotag] though, perhaps it will not be that hard to live without Rees. Brown put out a three-part series of tweets that called out Rees as a play-caller. Here is what the 1987 Heisman Trophy winner had to say:

Mercy!

I’ve been a pretty big Rees supporter while also acknowledging some of his “cuteness” or whatever you’d like to call it, making me rather upset at times.  I have a hard time putting too much blame on the passing situation last year seeing as 10 of the 12 regular-season games were started by a quarterback that couldn’t stretch the field whatsoever.

That said, props to [autotag]Tim Brown[/autotag] for speaking his mind. Our own Mike Chen wrote about how the loss of Rees isn’t that big of a deal. Although I don’t think he’s irreplaceable, I think he’s far from just run of the mill, either.  It’s a situation that I see as a very good assistant leaving, but the chances of adding a similar caliber one are pretty strong.

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A look at Notre Dame’s Heisman Trophy drought

How long until it ends?

Another Heisman weekend. Another year without a Notre Dame winner, let alone a Notre Dame finalist.

Wide receiver [autotag]Tim Brown[/autotag] was the last Notre Dame player to bring home the award 35 long years ago, yet, in spite of that drought, the Fighting Irish still remain atop the leaderboard (tied with Oklahoma, Ohio State and USC) of schools with seven Heisman winners.

[autotag]Manti Te’o[/autotag] came very close in 2012 to interrupting the hiatus, but alas, here we sit waiting for the next Irish great to step to the forefront at the Downtown Athletic Club.

In honor of this weekend’s award ceremony, let’s take a look at the last 35 years and how close the Irish have come to breaking the drought.

Tim Brown through the years as legend turns 56

How high is Tim Brown on the list of all-time Notre Dame greats?

The most recent Notre Dame player to win a Heisman Trophy turns 55 today as the great Timmy Brown gets ready to blow out the birthday candles tonight.

Brown starred at Notre Dame from 1984-87 as he left campus the owner of 19 school records.  Despite his individual success with the Irish, his 22 career touchdowns in blue and gold helped Notre Dame to just a 25-21 record during his time.

Brown would go on to be drafted by the Los Angeles Raiders and star for the silver and black from 1998-2003 in a career that would send him to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Celebrate Tim Brown’s birthday by taking a look at a few pictures throughout the years:

Who are the Nebraska recruits that got away?

An impressive list of players that almost attended Nebraska!

Recruiting cycles never end. And Nebraska has had its ups and downs on the trail over the last several years, but what about recruits of Husker past? What about the ones that got away? The big-time players that all most took the field for the Big Red and instead decided to go another way.

We’ve compiled a list of famous players who got away from the Nebraska Cornhusker football program over the years. From NFL greats to MLB all-stars, you’ll see an exciting group. Players, you knew where almost Huskers and even a few you never knew about before today. So strap in and take a scroll and see a list (a partial list anyway) of the big-time recruits who decided to go to a different school for one reason or another. How different would football history be if just one of these names made another choice? This is about to get interesting.

All-time Raiders draft picks from Notre Dame

A couple of these eight picks wound up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Although recent years haven’t seen them competing for championships with anything near regularity, but the Raiders are a team that just makes the NFL better and more interesting when they’re good.

The Raiders are looking to get help on their defense in the 2021 NFL draft as they allowed the third-most points of anyone in the league last season, 29.9 per game to be exact.

Could that first-round pick end up being Notre Dame star Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah?

If it is, he’d be the ninth Notre Dame player to ever be drafted by the Raiders franchise.  Here are the first eight to do so:

1961 Myron Pottios, LB:  3rd round, 21st overall (AFL)
1964 George Bednar, OL: 3rd round, 23rd overall (AFL)
1974 Dave Casper, TE: 2nd round, 45th overall
1975 Steve Sylvester, C: 10th round, 259th overall
1984 Stacey Toran, DB: 6th round, 168th overall
1987 Steve Beuerlein, QB: 4th round, 110th overall
1988 Tim Brown, WR: 1st round, 6th overall
1991 Raghib Ismail, WR: 4th round, 100th overall

Davante Adams wore Tim Brown’s jersey as a kid, now looks to take his Raiders records

Lifelong Raiders fan Davante Adams wore Tim Brown’s jersey ‘until the numbers fell off’. Now he looks to take Brown’s franchise records

Late last week, Davante Adams learned he had been traded to the Raiders, where he will reunite with his college QB Derek Carr. He looks forward to the first time he takes the field for the Raiders, but this is by far not the first time Adams had donned a Raiders jersey. He’s been sporting the Silver & Black for as long as he can remember.

“I grew up in east Palo Alto. I was a Raiders fan my whole life, so it is a dream to be a Raider,” Adams said in his introductory press conference. “In the third-grade yearbook, I said I wanted to be an NFL star or an NBA star and I was wearing a Charles Woodson jersey at the time. It’s been documented forever, so I guess you could say it’s meant to be.”

Woodson is a Hall of Fame Raiders legend. But Adams is a wide receiver, so of course, he had a special place for Mr. Raider himself; Tim Brown.

“My whole family was Raider fans, so I knew a lot about the history since I was young too,” Adams added. “Just growing up it was all Raiders. Anything Raiders was what I was about. I had a Tim Brown jersey, CWood. Those got worn until the numbers fell off. Rich Gannon, everything. I’m just looking forward to coming in and trying to leave my footprint as well as I can.”

Tim Brown held the franchise record for most catches in a season (104) until 2020 when Darren Waller surpassed him (107). But Brown still retains the record for receiving yards (1408) as well as catches by a wide receiver.

Adams has thrice surpassed 104 catches in his career, and last season put up 1553 yards receiving, which would easily be a Raiders record. And in case you’re wondering, yes he would have done it in 16 games as well as he had 1498 yards after week 16.

Those numbers make him seem the most likely receiver to surpass Brown’s franchise records, both of which have stood for 25 years.

“I haven’t had the chance to speak to Tim yet. Or Mr. Brown I should say,” said Adams. “But I would love to. So, if at any point, I don’t know if he’ll see this, but I would love to talk to him at some point. I can’t promise that I’ll leave those records alone, because I am definitely, definitely looking for that.”

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Hunter Renfrow joins two Hall of Famers as only Raiders wide receivers with 90 catches in a season

Hunter Renfrow just became just the third Raiders wide receiver to reach 90 catches in a season. Joining Hall of Famers Tim Brown and Jerry Ric.

Hunter Renfrow came into Sunday’s game with 89 catches. One more and he would join elite company with the Raiders. Only two other wide receivers in Raiders franchise history have put up at least 90 catches in a season — Hall of Famers Tim Brown and Jerry Rice.

Brown did it four times and Rice did it once as a Raider.

Renfrow now joins them.

On the fifth play of the game for the Raiders offense, the prolific slot receiver made a nifty, leaping 18-yard grab to give him 90 catches on the season.

The catch, tied him for eighth all-time in a single season for the Raiders. He added a second catch to put him at 91 for the season on the next drive. That one was for a TD.

And with the rest of this game and two more games after, he can keep climbing the list. Here is that list:

1. TE Darren Waller – 107 (2020)
2. WR Tim Brown – 104 (1997)
3. TE Todd Christensen – 95 (1986)
4. TE Todd Christensen – 92 (1983)
4. WR Jerry Rice – 92 (2002)
6. WR Tim Brown – 91 (2001)
6. RB Charlie Garner – 91 (2002)
6. WR Hunter Renfrow – 91 (2021)
8. WR Tim Brown – 90 (1996)
8. WR Tim Brown – 90 (1999)
8. TE Darren Waller – 90 (2019)

Expect Renfrow’s ranking on this list to continue to rise as this game goes along.

Five candidates that could break Notre Dame’s Heisman drought

Who can break this streak?

The Irish are tied for the nations lead with 7 winners of the most prestigious award in college football, the Heisman Trophy and the newest member of the fraternity will be introduced on Saturday night. Unfortunately Notre Dame has not brought the award home to South Bend since wide receiver Tim Brown did in 1987. Linebacker Manti Te’o almost win in 2012, but no dice there. The drought has lasted longer than it should and there are some players that could end that streak. Here are five current or future members of the Irish football team that could eventually raise the Heisman.

Former Notre Dame stars congratulate Brian Kelly

In no more than four words describe Brian Kelly’s tenure at Notre Dame.

After a dominating fourth quarter in which Notre Dame ran off 31 straight points to beat Wisconsin 41-13 on Saturday, Brian Kelly became the winningest head coach in program history.  His 106 wins now top Knute Rockne for the most ever by a Notre Dame head coach and some former Fighting Irish players took to social media to congratulate him.

Here are some of those messages: