Ed Brown Charles Edward Brown ( October 26 , 1928 – August 2 , 2007 ) was an American football quarterback and punter in the National Football League . Prior to the NFL . Brown went to high school in San Luis Obispo , California , and Hartnell College in Salinas , California . He played for the University of San Francisco Dons through 1951 . On his senior year ( 1951 ) , he quarterbacked the Dons to an undefeated 9 - 0 season , but the team did not receive a Bowl invitation , largely due to racism towards the black players on the team . Despite the increasing integration of college and pro football , the major bowls that year did not select teams that had black players , or they asked the teams to not bring their black players . The Dons refused to send a white - only squad , so they were snubbed . The 1951 Dons featured Ollie Matson and Burl Toler , both superb players who happened to be African - American . Matson played with great success in the NFL and made the Pro Football Hall of Fame . Toler went on to become the first black official in the NFL . The 1951 Dons are sometimes considered the greatest collection of players ever on one college team . Besides Matson , Toler , and Brown , the Dons had Gino Marchetti , Bob St . Clair , Dick Stanfel , and five other players who made the NFL . In addition , the Dons ' head coach Joe Kuharich went on to coach in the NFL and the Dons ' athletic news director ( publicist ) was none other than Pete Rozelle . Despite their great success ( or maybe because of it ) , USF discontinued its football program after the 1951 season due to the high cost of running a top - notch football team . NFL career . Chicago Bears Years . Brown was drafted by George Halas ' Chicago Bears in the sixth round of the 1952 NFL Draft . But Brown was drafted by the Marines and spent two years in service . He did play for the Camp Pendleton football squad . Brown began playing in 1954 as the third string quarterback for the Bears , behind George Blanda and Zeke Bratkowski . In 1955 , with Bratkowski in the military , Brown beat out Blanda for the starting job and led the Bears to an 8 - 4 record and a very close second place finish to the Los Angeles Rams . Brown developed a reputation as a long - ball throwing , downfield quarterback , connecting often with Harlon Hill , who led the league with 9 touchdown receptions . Brown had his finest season in 1956 , playing for new Bears ' head coach Paddy Driscoll ( Halas was still owner and GM and would soon return as coach ) . Brown led the league that year in passing , completing 96 of 168 passes for 1 , 667 yards , 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions . He had an amazing 9 . 9 yards per attempt . Hill remained his favorite target , catching 47 passes for 1 , 128 yards ( a 24 . 0 yard per catch average ) , and 11 touchdowns . The Bears won the Western Conference with a 9 - 2 - 1 record , leading the league in rushing and scoring while finished second in rushing in rushing defense . They met the New York Giants in the 1956 Championship Game on December 30 at Yankee Stadium . The 1956 game was the second " sneakers " game in Bears - Giants history ( the first was in 1934 ) , with the Giants again gaining an advantage by switching to sneakers vice cleats on an icy field . The Giants destroyed the Bears 47 - 7 , intercepting Brown twice , sacking him multiple times for - 34 yards and shutting down Rick Casares and the Bears ' running attack . The Bears completed 20 of 47 passes for only 247 yards and no touchdowns . It got so bad that the Bears abandoned the T - formation and switched to a single - wing variant in the third quarter . In 1957 , the Bears appeared to still be affected by the 1956 title game , slumping to 5 - 7 with an anemic running attack and a mediocre year by Ed Brown . All of Brown ' s numbers were down from the previous season . Zeke Bratkowski got back from military service and began to challenge Brown for the quarterback job . In 1958 , George Halas took back the coaching job and pushed the Bears back into second place at 8 - 4 , one game behind the Baltimore Colts . Brown played better , throwing for 1 , 418 yards and 10 touchdowns . Brown again had a good year in 1959 but the Bears finished at 8 - 4 again , again second behind Baltimore . Brown passed for a career high 1 , 881 yards and 13 touchdowns . By 1960 , Brown began to slow up and fall out of favor with Halas , so Bratkowski got more and more playing time . Brown completed only 40 % of his passes that year as the Bears finished in fifth . In 1961 , Brown was benched in favor of newly acquired Billy Wade . Throughout his years with the Bears ( except 1961 ) , Brown was their starting punter , leading the league in punts attempted in 1959 with 64 . With the Steelers . Before the 1962 season , Brown was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers where he remained a back - up , now to Bobby Layne . Brown got another chance to start in 1963 for the Steelers and , still specializing in the long - ball , had his biggest numbers , completing 168 of 362 passes for 2 , 982 yards , 21 touchdowns , and 20 interceptions . The next year , 1964 , Brown played his last year as a starter , throwing for 1 , 990 yards for the mediocre Steelers . He played one more season as a backup , was waived and picked up by Baltimore late in the season . Brown played in the season finale behind running back Tom Matte who was filling in at quarterback after injuries to both Johnny Unitas and Gary Cuozzo . Brown completed 3 of 5 passes , including an 81 - yard touchdown . He was ineligible under existing rules to play in the Colts playoff loss to eventual champion Green Bay . Brown retired after the 1965 season . Brown also punted for the Steelers , starting each year except his last . Brown finished with 949 completions , 1 , 987 attempts , 15 , 600 yards , 102 touchdown passes , and 138 interceptions . He rushed for 960 yards and 14 touchdowns during his career . Brown also finished with 498 punts and a 40 . 5 yard average per punt . At the end of 2006 , Brown ranked 137 on the all - time Death . Brown died on August 2 , 2007 in Kennewick , Washington of prostate cancer .