Tudor: Ted Brown ACC’s Best RB
In today’s News & Observer, Caulton Tudor profiles his pick for the ACC’s all-time best running back, Ted Brown (link):
By the time Brown ended his career with the Pack – a total of 43 games – he had rushed for 4,602 yards and 51 touchdowns, plus 82 pass receptions for another 760 yards. Those totals don’t include 399 additional rushing yards in three bowl games.
Brown’s rushing record still stands, although Boston College’s Montel Harris will begin 2011 with 3,600 yards through 37 games.
That the record has stood this long continues to surprise Brown.
“Oh, gosh, yes, I’m surprised by that,” Brown, 54, said. “I sort of keep an eye on who’s doing what, but I’m not jealous of that record at all. Somebody will go past me, and that’s fine. That’s the way it should be in sports.
Ted Brown was before many of our time. But there are certainly many SFN regulars out there with their own Ted Brown stories. Additionally, we have featured and discussed Ted some in the past and you can click here for a link to his tag.
13 Responses to “Tudor: Ted Brown ACC’s Best RB”
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He wasn’t before my time. I was fortunate to have seen him play many times, including the game where he absolutely ran all over Penn St for 250 yards. Had the best combination of balance and speed I’ve ever seen. He was very hard to bring down. And his stats speak for themselves. I’m sure many will debate the best RB list. But I think it’s hard to argue who’s at the top.
He was an absolute beast. He was durable, tough, hard to tackle, humble. The Penn State game was Ted Brown at his best against one of the best defenses in the country.
One of the best tackle breakers I’ve ever seen and once he broke two or three tackles he took off like he was shot out of a cannon! Great selection. Mustafa reminds me of Ted a little.
Ted Brown was a beast!
Lord. How many stars would have he garnered? Was he even a blue chipper?
Ted Brown is my all-time favorite. He was the perfect mix of size, speed, agility, strength and toughness.
When TB was at STATE, I was young; a Saturday game at Carter Finley was a special treat for me, especially to see my hero.
When I couldn’t go to the games, I made sure to listen to Wally Ausley and Gary Dornburg. To me, it was just like being there.
Those were magical times …
Ted Brown was probably the best ever. However, during the Lou Holtz time, we had probaly the best group of running backs in one backfield at a time. We had 4 rb’s (in the same backfield and all played).that all played (or drafted) in the NFL.
Willie Burden – drafted by Detroit but then moved to the CFL and was POY several times and is in the HOF
Charlie Young – played with the Cowboys – not sure if he was ever a starter or did too much there – played at least 3 years with them and was the 22 pick in the 74 draft
Roland Hooks – played with the Buffalo Bills for 7 years
Stan Fritts – played for the Cinncinatti Bengals for 2 years
Brown was a freshman when I was and I still vividly remember him shredding defenses seemly at will. Of course he was running behind a beast of a center too. But TB was a very very special college player who never got enough national recognition in my opinion.
He was pretty good friends with a couple of my fraternity brothers, one who was on the team with him, and I remember him coming over occasionally for a party. He was always friendly, but really quiet – usually just stood in the corner and watched the craziness that was a fraternity party in thoses days. But come Saturday he was a terror.
The sad thing is that Ted is 54 and I believe our last ACC football championship occurred the year after he left for the NFL. So not only “Ted Brown was before many of our time”, our last fb championship was as well.
Remove the fumbles, attitude, injuries and the most nimble, bruising back during my time is you know who (can’t bare to speak the name). Was Ted Brown comparable to him, 2x better? It would be hard to imagine 2x but I haven’t seen video of Ted Brown. From the legends he seems like he was part John Riggins part Marcus Allen/Gayle Sayers.
Its hard to imagine that combination in a back. I guess the closest in current day NFL is Adrian Peterson maybe.
I was fortunate enough to watch Ted play all four years. Fond memories.
C’mon StateFans, you gotta put old Teddy on the banner!
“Was Ted Brown comparable to him, 2x better?”
Way more than 2 times. Ted Brown OWNED the game. Of course it was a different game, but Ted, from my view in the stands, was one of the hardest guys to get on the ground that I have seen play the college game. He didn’t run over people often (although he was no slouch in that department if need be) but he always appeared to find a seam and be through it in a flash. Knew how to use his blocking – how to set the defender up with the block – which is a skill missing in many really talented running backs today in my opinion. His abuse of quality run defenses of the day will always stick in my mind.