John Brown (offensive tackle)

John Calvin Brown Jr. (born June 9, 1939) is a former American football tackle who played eleven seasons for two National Football League (NFL) teams, the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Brown played high school football at Camden High School in his hometown. He played tackle at Syracuse University alongside Ernie Davis. They became close friends in college, which included a 1959 championship for the school, the only one in team history.

In 1961, Brown was drafted by the San Diego Chargers and the Cleveland Browns. He did not play in the 1961 season. However, he chose to go to the Cleveland Browns to be teammates with Davis, who had been quickly traded to Cleveland when he refused to play for his draft team in the Washington Redskins. Davis never took the field in Cleveland in a pro game due to being diagnosed with leukemia in the summer of 1962, with Brown sharing a bungalow with him in Cleveland while Davis went through treatment in the hospital.

After his career ended, he became interested in banking, where he later rose to being an executive before retirement. Brown named his youngest son after Davis and had Marie Davis Fleming serve as the child's godmother. As of 2023, he lives in Pittsburgh.

In the 2008 movie The Express, the character of Jack Buckley (played by Omar Benson Miller), depicted as the best friend of Davis and his roommate, is based on Brown.