James Brown (born May 17, 1975) is a former American football quarterback. He was the starting quarterback of the Texas Longhorns from 1994 to 1997. At the time, he was only the second black quarterback to guide Texas through an entire season (after Donnie Little in 1978), and is credited for "opening doors" for future black quarterbacks at Texas, such as Casey Thompson and Vince Young.
Early life
Brown was born in Beaumont, Texas to J. W. Brown and Julia Brown. A West Brook Senior High School graduate, he came to UT as the state's top quarterback prospect.
Longhorns career
After redshirting in 1993, Brown entered the 1994 season as the backup to Shea Morenz. After Morenz was injured during a loss to Colorado, Brown took over the quarterback duties the following week against Oklahoma and led the Longhorns to a come-from-behind win. Morenz reclaimed the starting position the next week against Rice, but after Texas was stunningly upset in that game, Brown and Morenz proceeded to share the quarterback duties. In the 4th quarter of the Texas A&M game, which Texas lost, Morenz suffered a shoulder injury and left the game and Brown became the Longhorns starting quarterback for the final game of the season. In the Sun Bowl, Brown threw for 196 yards and ran for 43 more in a game Texas won over North Carolina in a 35–31 4th quarter comeback, thus solidifying his position as the starter. This became more apparent when Morenz decided to play professional baseball rather than return to the Longhorns.
In 1995 Brown started all but one game, due to an injury, and led Texas to the final SWC Championship, a 10–2–1 record, and a berth in the 1996 Sugar Bowl where Texas lost to Virginia Tech 28–10. He became the first Longhorn quarterback in 20 years to earn first-team All-Southwest Conference (SWC) honors (Marty Akins, 1975) and was also named SWC Offensive Player of the Year. In addition he was named the team's MVP.
In 1996, Brown started every game. After four early losses, including the Virginia game where he was pulled for Richard Walton, Brown guided Texas through a late-season surge that was capped off by an upset of defending national champion number 3 Nebraska in the inaugural Big 12 championship game. That was followed by a trip to a second straight Bowl Alliance game as the Longhorns went to the 1997 Fiesta Bowl. Though Brown threw for 254 yards in that game, Texas lost to Penn State 38–15.
Brown's senior season in 1997 started with him injuring his ankle in the Rutgers game. He was replaced by Walton in that game and again the next week against UCLA. Texas lost 66–3 and the season fell apart. Brown threw twice as many interceptions that season as touchdowns. Late in the season, he was pulled for Walton in the Colorado game after throwing 4 interceptions. Texas went 4–7 and head coach John Mackovic was fired when it was over. During a trip to the Blue-Gray All Star game he was the game's MVP.
Brown finished with 30 Longhorn records, including passing yards (7,638), total offense (8,049) and touchdown passes (53). His record as a starter was 25–13–1.
Roll left
In the aforementioned Big 12 title game against #3 Nebraska, the Longhorns were leading 30–27 with 2:31 left in the fourth quarter, but faced fourth-and-1 at their own 28. Texas coach John Mackovic decided to gamble for the first down, calling "roll left", a staple of the team's goal-line offense. The play called for Brown to fake to running back Priest Holmes and roll to his left. Before the play, Mackovic told him on the sidelines "come to run", intending for Brown to run for the first down, but the play included an option to pass if it was there. Brown took the snap, but as he rolled out, he saw his tight end Derek Lewis behind Nebraska's defense. He stopped and threw the ball to the wide-open Lewis, who ran down the sideline for a 61-yard gain to the Nebraska 10-yard line. The Longhorns sealed the win and Big 12 title when Holmes ran for a touchdown on the next play.
After several years in pro football, he returned to Texas for his final semester and completed his coursework in sport management. He received his degree in December 2001.