Hall of Fame tackle, ex-Oakland Raider dies at 81

Bob Brown was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after a stellar 10-year NFL career as a tackle, including three seasons with the Raiders

Bob Brown, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after a stellar 10-year NFL career as a tackle, including three seasons with the Raiders in the early 1970s, died Friday evening in Oakland. He was 81.

Brown’s wife, Cecelia, said her husband died peacefully at a rehabilitation center surrounded by family and friends. Brown, enshrined in the Hall in 2004 by his son, Robert Jr., was admitted to the center after he suffered a stroke in April.

“On the field, he was as fierce an opponent as any defensive lineman or linebacker ever faced. He used every tactic and technique – and sometimes brute force – to crush the will of the person across the line from him. And took great pride in doing so,” Pro Football Hall of Fame President Jim Porter said in a statement. “Yet off the field, he demonstrated a quiet, soft-spoken, and caring nature.

“The Hall extends its thoughts and prayers to CeeCee and Robert Jr. for their loss.”

Brown, an All-American guard at Nebraska who was voted college football’s lineman of the year in 1963, was drafted in the first round in 1964 by both the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and the AFL’s Denver Broncos. Brown chose the Eagles and played in Philadelphia from 1964 to 1968, a time in which he was selected to the Pro Bowl and was named First-Team All-Pro three times.

Nicknamed “The Boomer,” Brown’s philosophy was simple. “I beat on people from the opening kickoff. I want to see results in the fourth quarter,” he once said. “I don’t want them to have as much left. I want them to not be sure they want to keep coming. I try to take a toll on them.”

An aggressive blocker, the 6-4, 280-pound Cleveland, Ohio, native was named All-NFL seven of his 10 seasons, as he went on to play for the Los Angeles Rams from 1969 to 1970, and the Oakland Raiders from 1971 to 1973. Named the NFL/NFC offensive lineman of the year three times, Brown was also chosen to play in six Pro Bowls – three with the Eagles, two with the Rams, and one final time with the Raiders.

In 1969, after five consecutive all-league seasons with the Eagles, Brown was traded to Los Angeles. That year, the Rams’ offensive line set an NFL record for protecting the passer.

“At his best, no one was better than big Bob Brown,” former Rams coach and fellow Hall of Famer George Allen once said.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced that its flag in Canton, Ohio will be flown at half-staff in his honor.

The Brown family said details about a memorial service would be announced later.