NFL Draft: 10 worst No. 1 overall picks
By John Buhler
8. player. 53. . Defensive End. Cleveland Browns. Courtney Brown
With an expansion team in its second year of existence, it makes sense to address pass rusher with a high-end pick in the NFL Draft. Cleveland was a terrible 2-14 in its 1999 revival season and again had the No. 1 overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. The Browns went with Kentucky quarterback Couch in 1999 and opted to draft Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end Courtney Brown with the first pick in 2000.
Brown was an All-American in 1999 playing for Joe Paterno at Penn State. His pass rushing partner with the Nittany Lions in LaVar Arrington actually went the pick after him at No. 2 to the Washington Redskins.
While Brown had a strong rookie season in 2000 with 4.5 sacks and 61 tackles, injuries became a recurring issue in Brown’s frustrating NFL career. Brown would only play in 31 more games with the Browns over the next four seasons, recording only 17.0 sacks in his five years with the Browns. He would play the 2005 NFL season with the Denver Broncos before retiring from football at 27.
14 of Brown’s fellow 2000 first rounders would go on to make the Pro Bowl. A few, including Brian Urlacher, John Abraham, Shaun Alexander, and Jamal Lewis, could end up in the Hall of Fame with highly successful careers. With so many players making great impacts in the first round of the 2000 NFL Draft, Brown will be remembered as one of the biggest busts in NFL history. Injuries and playing on an expansion team derailed what may have been a promising NFL career.
Next: 7. David Carr, Houston Texans, 2002