Original Seahawk Brown dies at 52

Dave Brown, an original Seahawk and one of nine men enshrined in the NFL team's Ring of Honor, died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack while playing basketball at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

One of Brown's sons, Aaron, was in the pickup game with him, according to a Texas Tech spokesman.

Brown, who would have turned 53 Monday, recently had completed his fifth season as cornerbacks coach on the Texas Tech football staff.

Friends and colleagues were stunned by his death because they considered him to be in excellent physical condition.

"He was in incredible shape," said Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

The Seahawks will honor Brown with a moment of silence at Saturday's playoff game at Qwest Field.

"Dave lived a great life that anyone could be proud of," Leach said in a statement. "He was one of the best people I have ever known. He had a tremendous impact on our program based on the kind of person he was. He will be missed, but we are honored to have had the opportunity to know him."

Brown was selected in the 1976 expansion draft by Seattle from the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he earned a Super Bowl ring as a rookie in 1975. The cornerback was a Seahawk from 1976 to 1986, earning Pro Bowl honors in 1984, and finished his career with three seasons for Green Bay.

Brown is the Seahawks' career leader with 50 interceptions, and finished with 62 in his NFL career, which ties him for No. 7 in league history.

Brown returned to the Seahawks as cornerbacks coach from 1992 to '98. He was named to the Ring of Honor in 1992.

After the Seahawks' head-coaching change after the 1998 season, Brown was out of football for three years. He joined the Texas Tech staff in 2001. Last fall, the team had the nation's 15th-best pass defense during a 9-3 season.

Brown was active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and held weekly Bible studies for Texas Tech athletes.

"Dave Brown was a leader. Dave Brown was a family man. Dave Brown was dedicated. Dave Brown was a man who believed in God," said Charle Young, a former Seahawks teammate. "There's no sadness in that. Any person that believes in God is going to a better place. And that was Dave."

Brown was playing in a pickup basketball game with Aaron at the Texas Tech Recreation Center when he collapsed, according to a Tech spokesman. Efforts were made to revive him at the scene. He was taken to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Brown's other son, Sterling, lives in Seattle and lettered at the University of Washington as a basketball player in 2000-01 and 2001-02. Both sons were athletes at Woodinville High School.

Brown also is survived by his wife, Rhonda.

The two-time All-American defensive back at Michigan was named to the school's all-century team. He was born in Akron, Ohio.

"He's one of the greatest athletes I've ever seen," former Michigan and Seahawks safety Don Dufek told the Lubbock newspaper. "I was fortunate to play with him all through college and the pros. ... The remarkable thing is he never got hurt. I never remember him hardly being sick."

Former Seahawks teammate Jim Zorn, now the club's quarterbacks coach, was stunned by the news.

"I'm totally numb. It is really a shock," he said. "We've just lost a really good friend."

Gary Wright, Seahawks vice president of administration, said, "I don't know anybody who didn't love Dave Brown. He stood out as an athlete and a human being. He will be missed."

Assistant Tech coach Ruffin McNeill told the Lubbock newspaper that the first thing Brown told him was, "I'm a Christian who coaches."

"He lived by The Word and was a man of God," McNeill said. "Not one day did he ever waver from that."

Times staff reporter José Miguel Romero, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and Texas Tech sports information contributed to this report.