Philadelphia Eagles and former University of Miami star defensive lineman Jerome Brown and a 12-year-old nephew were killed Thursday when the Corvette he was driving skidded off a slippery road in Brooksville and hit a palm tree.
Brooksville Police Chief Ed Tincher said more details on the accident would not be released until today. Earlier, he told reporters at the scene that Brown, 27, was leaving a Chevrolet dealer about 5 p.m. when his Corvette skidded and flipped over on rain-slicked road off of Highway U.S. 41.
The name of the nephew was not immediately released.
A witness, who declined to give his name, said Brown’s car was demolished.
“He hit a palm tree when he left the shoulder of the road,” the Brooksville man told the Ocala Star-Banner for today’s editions. “(The car) rolled over and wound up against a light pole.”
The news reached Philadelphia quickly. Defensive end Reggie White shared his feelings about Brown with thousands of people attending a Billy Graham crusade at Veterans Stadium.
“Today, I lost a great friend; Philadelphia lost a great player,” said Brown, a Baptist minister. “All the stuff you heard about Jerome Brown, what they had said about him, even the negative stuff, this man was one of the greatest people I’ve ever met and knew in my life.
“He had the utmost respect for people and cared about people.”
Brown was born and raised in Brooksville and spent his offseason there.
“I feel a great deal of sorrow for his mother and dad,” said Dub Palmer, who coached Brown in football at Hernando High. “It’s just going to be rough.”
The powerful 6-foot-2, 295-pound tackle anchored the Eagles’ defensive line. He went to the Pro Bowl the past two seasons.
“This football team is obviously devastated because of this loss,” coach Rich Kotite said. “Everybody who met him was touched. He certainly touched me. It hasn’t quite sunken in yet.”
Fellow tackle Mike Golic fought back tears.
“At this point you don’t give a damn about football. We lost a great friend,” Golic said. “His attitude was the attitude of the Eagles — trash- talking and hard-hitting. It went back all the way to (former Eagles coach) Buddy Ryan.”
Known for his flamboyance, Brown symbolized the outlaw image of the Eagles during Ryan’s tenure. He spent all of last season’s training camp holding out for more money, but when he returned with a contract worth more than $1 million with incentives, he gave his new coach, Kotite, a hug as he headed toward the field for the Eagles’ first game in 1991.
“This is a devastating loss to his family, his friends, his community and obviously to this football team,” Eagles General Manager Harry Gamble said. “He was warm and caring. He was a special person.”
The Eagles took Brown as the ninth draft pick in 1987 after an All- American season at Miami.
“It is very difficult to express how deeply this hurts,” said Jimmy Johnson, Dallas Cowboys coach and Brown’s coach at UM. “Jerome Brown was as warm and caring a human being as I’ve ever known. He loved life, he loved people.
“He had a gift for being able to touch a person’s life and make you laugh,” Johnson said. “He will be deeply missed by not only those of us who were close to him, but also by the many people who loved to watch him perform. My deepest sympathy goes out to Jerome’s entire family and the Brooksville community. This is a very sad and difficult moment.”
Brown was known for his humor and pranks in the locker room and for his kindness off the field, volunteering to work with children in Philadelphia and starting a football camp this year in his hometown.
“He came in this year and had seven or eight Eagles players with him, including Randall Cunningham and Reggie White,” Palmer said. “It was great. The kids here just loved it.
Ryan, reached in Los Angeles, said the Eagles will miss Brown’s leadership.
“He was the best defensive lineman in the league,” Ryan said. “He wound them (the Eagles) up on game day.
“I went down and drafted him because he was our kind of player,” Ryan said. “He was a personable young man. The first night he came to Philly he went to an event with us against the cruelty of animals. That’s the kind of person he is.”
Brown recorded 150 tackles and nine sacks last year. He had 547 tackles and 29 sacks in his five-year pro career.
Brown remained active in Brooksville affairs despite maintaining a home in Cherry Hill, N.J., much of the year.
He helped raise money in 1988 for an 11-year-old girl who was in a coma after an automobile accident in Brooksville and two years ago stood in defiance with others in the black community at a Ku Klux Klan rally in his hometown.
In the spring of 1990, Brown pulled a trucker from the cab of an overturned vehicle and then, on a night off from training camp, was at his New Jersey home when he saved a neighboring family by alerting them to a house fire.
“Obviously myself and those around us were shocked,” said Ernie Chatman, who coached Brown in junior high basketball and high school baseball. “He was a pleasure to coach, to work with and be around… I was fortunate to coach him.”
Chatman said he talked to a few of Brown’s former high school teammates Thursday night and the reaction was similiar.
“Everybody is in disbelief,” Chatman said. “It’s just like any other time something like this happens. People are sitting around asking why? How?”
Brown was a first-team All-America at Miami and a finalist for the Outland Trophy in 1986. He was one of the few freshmen to see action on the Hurricanes’ 1983 national championship team.
Brown finished his career at UM with 183 tackles, 21 sacks and four fumble recoveries. But he may be best remembered for his antics during the week of the 1987 Fiesta Bowl against Penn State.
The ‘Canes would lose the game 14-10 and the national championship, but Brown was coined the Miami Mouth with his brash remarks.
During a talent show, Brown and two teammates performed a rap song. But Brown stopped the other two players, who provided the rhythm, and said, “That’s enough. We’re not up here to be monkeys for you all. We’re here to play football.”
Brown continued to unzip his jacket and took off his pants, revealing army fatigues.
“Let me ask you a question,” he said. “Did the Japanese sit down and have dinner with the enemy before they bombed Pearl Harbor? Let’s go.”
The entire team left.
“After hearing about it, I started thinking back to all the memories at Miami,” said Vinny Testaverde, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former UM quarterback. “I was remembering how much fun Jerome used to have… There were so many good times.
“We did a lot of things, that’s why it’s hitting me so hard now. We were so close,” Testaverde said. “On the field he was certainly one of the best.”
— Sun-Sentinel wire services contributed to this report.
MEMORIES OF JEROME
— COLLEGE: All-America at Miami in 1986. Started in four New Year’s Day bowls — ’84 Orange, ’85 and ’87 Fiesta, ’86 Sugar.
— PROS: Drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles with ninth pick in 1987. Went to the Pro Bowl in 1991 and ’92.
— HEROICS: Brown helped raise money for 11-year-old girl in coma in Brooksville, pulled trucker from overturned vehicle and alerted family in burning house in 1990.
