Josh Brent Joshua Aaron Price - Brent ( born January 30 , 1988 ) is an American football nose tackle for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League . He was drafted by Dallas in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL Supplemental Draft . Early years . Brent was born in Tulare , California , the son of LaTasha Brent , and grew up in Bloomington , Illinois , where he attended Central Catholic High School . As a junior , he recorded 109 tackles , 31 for losses and six sacks , he also earned All - Area , All - Region and All - State honors . As a senior , he recorded 90 tackles , 19 for losses and eight sacks , he was also named a " PrepStar " All - American , " Chicago Tribune " first - team All - State , " SuperPrep " All - American and " Champaign News - Gazette " first - team All - State . Coming out of high school , Brent was ranked the no . 3 in the " Best of the Midwest " by the " Detroit Free Press " , rated among the Top - 100 recruits nationally at 80th and a four - star recruit by Rivals . com and by Scout . com . He also ranked the 11th best player in the Midwest by " SuperPrep " , as well as the ninth - best defensive tackle and fifth ranked player in the state of Illinois by Rivals . com . He was also ranked 13th at defensive tackle in the nation by Scout . com . While at Central Catholic , Brent was a four - year letterman in basketball and track . As a freshman he made the state finals in the shot put , as a sophomore and junior , he was a state runner - up . He was also a three - time all - state selection in track . He was also teammates with tight end Michael Hoomanawanui . College career . Brent attended the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign where he played football for the Fighting Illini . In 2007 , as a true freshman , Brent played in 10 games . He recorded eight tackles and 0 . 5 sacks . In 2008 as a sophomore , he recorded 34 tackles and 1 . 5 sacks in 10 games with eight starts . In 2009 as a junior , he started all 12 games , recording 29 tackles and three sacks . Professional career . Dallas Cowboys . After he was ruled academically ineligible to play his senior season , he decided to enter the Supplemental Draft . He was taken in the seventh round by the Dallas Cowboys , who had not drafted any players in the supplemental draft since 1995 . Brent was later placed on the reserve / non - football illness list after being charged with the death of Jerry Brown . Personal life . Brent pleaded guilty to a charge of driving under the influence on June 2 , 2009 , as a result of an incident from the previous February . He was sentenced to two years probation and 60 days in jail . He was also fined and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service . On December 8 , 2012 , Brent was charged with intoxication manslaughter in Irving , Texas , after a motor vehicle accident in which he was the driver killed his teammate , Jerry Brown . Police documents showed that Brent was driving at least 110 mph and may have been driving as fast as 134 mph right before the crash , on a road where the posted speed limit was 45 mph . Brent later failed a sobriety test and would face 2 to 20 years in prison if convicted . Brent was found by the police pulling out his friend and teammate . Jerry Brown ' s mother begged the Cowboys to keep Brent as a teammate and not forget him . Josh Brent was invited by teammates to attend the game against the Steelers . Upon hearing how his attending was being perceived by the media and social network sites Brent approached Cowboys staff and excused himself for the second half . He also refused to mention the club he was at to police . That club had 12 Cowboy players there that night . On December 26 , 2012 , a grand jury indicted Brent on one count of intoxication manslaughter .