Lomas Brown Lomas Brown , Jr . ( born March 30 , 1963 ) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League ( NFL ) for eighteen seasons in the 1980s , 1990s and early 2000s . Brown played college football for the University of Florida , and received consensus All - American honors . A first - round pick in the 1985 NFL Draft , he played professionally for the Detroit Lions and four other NFL teams . He is currently a sports broadcaster and analyst for ESPN and other television and radio networks . Early life . Brown was born in Miami , Florida . He attended Miami Springs High School in Miami Springs , Florida , where he was a stand - out offensive lineman for the Miami Springs Golden Hawks high school football team . In 2007 , the Florida High School Athletic Association ( FHSAA ) recognized Brown as one of the thirty - three all - time greatest Florida high school football players of the last 100 years by naming him to its " All - Century Team . " College career . Brown received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville , Florida , where he played for coach Charley Pell and coach Galen Hall ' s Florida Gators football teams from 1981 to 1984 . He started thirty - four games in his college career at Florida , all at tackle . Brown was a team captain , a first - team All - Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) selection and a consensus first - team All - American , and the winner of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy recognizing the best blocker in the SEC during his senior year in 1984 . He anchored the Gators ' outstanding offensive line , memorably dubbed " The Great Wall of Florida , " and which included Brown , Phil Bromley , Billy Hinson , Crawford Ker and Jeff Zimmerman in 1984 . Behind the blocking of Brown and his Great Wall teammates , the Gators ' quarterback Kerwin Bell , fullback John L . Williams and halfback Neal Anderson led the Gators to a 9 – 1 – 1 overall win - loss record and won their first SEC championship with a conference record of 5 – 0 – 1 . ( Unfortunately , the title was later vacated by the SEC university presidents because of NCAA rules violations committed by Charley Pell and the Gators coaching staff between 1979 and 1983 . ) Brown was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a " Gator Great " in 1995 . As part of its 2006 article series about the top 100 players of the first 100 years of Florida football , " The Gainesville Sun " recognized him as the No . 8 all - time Gator player . While Brown was a student at Florida , he was initiated as a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity ( Zeta Kappa Chapter ) . He later returned to the university during the NFL off - season to complete his bachelor ' s degree in health and human performance in 1996 . Professional career . The Detroit Lions selected Brown in the first round ( sixth pick overall ) in the 1985 NFL Draft , and he played for the Lions for eleven seasons ( – ) . In his long professional career , he also played for the Arizona Cardinals ( – ) , the Cleveland Browns ( ) , the New York Giants ( – ) , and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ( ) , with whom he won a Super Bowl before retiring after eighteen seasons in the NFL . Brown was a remarkably consistent starter in his unusually long - lived career , playing in 263 games and starting 251 of them , and was named to the NFC Pro Bowl team seven straight seasons from 1990 to 1996 . Brown is probably remembered most from his years in Detroit , where he gained the reputation as one of the league ' s premier offensive tackles . He was a pivotal piece on the offensive line that blocked for perhaps the greatest running back of all - time ( Barry Sanders ) . Brown was one of the most durable offensive linemen in the Detroit Lions ' history , starting all but one of the 164 games that he played for the Lions . Along with Kevin Glover , Brown was a key blocker on a line that paved the way for Sanders , who claimed NFL rushing titles in and . He blocked for Sanders for seven seasons ( – ) , and Sanders accumulated 10 , 172 yards ( an average of 4 . 9 yards per carry ) and seventy - three rushing touchdown s during that time . Brown was a member of Lions teams that made the playoffs in , , and , and he was a member of the 1991 and 1993 squads that won the NFC Central division title . In 1991 , the Lions set a franchise high with twelve regular season wins and earned a berth in the 1992 NFC Championship Game . Brown was also a charismatic and respected leader on the team , who graciously donated a great deal of time , energy and money to many charitable causes throughout the Metro Detroit area . Life after the NFL . Since his retirement from the NFL , Brown has spent some time with the NFL Network and ESPNEWS as an analyst and also co - hosts a sports radio show for WXYT - FM in Detroit , Michigan . He is currently an analyst on " ESPN First Take " , and is a co - host of the segment " Law Offices of Brooks and Brown . " During 2012 , Brown served as an assistant coach for the Andover Barons football team of Andover High School in Bloomfield Hills , Michigan . On December 22 , 2012 , Brown admitted during an interview on the SVP and Russillo show on ESPN Radio that he purposefully failed to block an Green Bay Packers defensive end Sean Jones during a 1994 game so teammate and quarterback Scott Mitchell would get injured and forced to leave the game . Mitchell was not hurt on the play . Mitchell was taken aback by Brown ' s comments , remarking , " I had Lomas in my home . I fed him dinner . I gave him and other offensive linemen gifts . I ' m dumbfounded that he would do such a thing . I mean , people get hurt playing this game . People have died playing football , and for him to allow someone to take a shot at a teammate , that ' s crazy . " Less than a week after the interview , Brown commented on the controversy during an episode of " ESPN First Take " . Lomas did express some remorse in admitting , " For my 18 - year career , they say you average probably about 1 , 000 plays or so per ( season ) . So I know I ' ve played well over 18 , 000 plays , excluding practice , in this league . It ' s one play out of the 18 , 000 that I regret . " At the same time , he also stood by his comments , stating , " I ' m not going to retract , I ' m not going to sit here and make excuses . . . I know America is looking at me and they ' re like ' Wow ! ' but I ' m not going to make excuses . . . . The one thing I can say is I should have been more tactful at how I said that . That was wrong on my part . I should have humbly said that . It came off boastful , and I shouldn ' t have said it that way . I said it , I can ' t take it back , but I shouldn ' t have said it the way I said it . "