Alex James Brown grew up in Jasper, Florida, where he played quarterback and linebacker in high school in addition to track & field and basketball. After being redshirted his freshman year in ’97, he had a decent year as backup to Jevon Kearse. As a full-time starter, he had a monster year with 56 tackles, 7.5 sacks, and 12 TFLs. Alex will forever be remembered for sacking Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin five times in the upset of the #2 Volunteers. Mr. Brown was named 1st-team All American, 1st team All-SEC, and was a finalist for the Lombardi Award. In his junior year, Alex moved over to defensive end and had a similar year statistically with 50 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 14 TFL, 4 blocked passes, 1 fumble, and 3 blocked kicks. Once again he was named 1st team All-SEC, but 2nd-team All-American. As a senior, Alex racked up 45 tackles and 13 sacks on the way to another All-SEC and consensus All-American award. He was also named 2001 SEC Defensive Player of the Year, a finalist once again for the Lombardi Award, and finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Award. Alex’s career stats at Florida are rather impressive: 161 tackles, 47 TFL (6th best in Gator history), and 33 sacks (Gator career record).
