Tom Brown, member of Minnesota’s 1960 national champions, dies at 89

Tom Brown, a two-way starter for the University of Minnesota football team that won the 1960 national championship, died on March 12. He was 89.

Brown excelled on the offensive line and also played defense for the Gophers. The 6-foot-1, 250-pounder was a first-team All-American and won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s top lineman, the Star-Tribune reported.

He also finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting, behind Navy’s Joe Bellino. Brown was the first lineman to finish that high in the Heisman voting, according to the newspaper.

“Tom Brown was one of the very best football players I have ever seen — anywhere,” former Gophers coach Murray Warmath told the Star Tribune in 2003. “He was a big, strong guy, and fast. The woods ain’t full of those kind of guys.”

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

Brown’s signature game came on Nov. 5, 1960. Minnesota, ranked No. 3 in The Associated Press poll, hosted top-ranked Iowa and defeated the Hawkeyes 27-10.

During a scoreless first quarter, Brown lined up over center during a punt and hit the center, causing the snap to sail over the punter’s head. The Gophers recovered and would later score.

He also stopped an Iowa drive deep in Gophers territory with a tackle for a 5-yard loss, the Star Tribune reported.

Warmath once referred to Brown as a “rolling boulder” who opened holes for Minnesota running backs, according to the newspaper.

Brown helped the Gophers rebound from a last-place finish in the Big Ten in 1959 with a trip to the Rose Bowl after the following season. Although Minnesota lost that game, they still were declared national champions based on their regular-season record.

Brown would play professionally in the Canadian Football League from 1961 to 1967. He helped the B.C. Lions to a Grey Cup championship in 1964 and would be inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame in 1984.

“Tom Brown was a dominant player on the field, but just as important, he carried himself with humility and took great pride in wearing the Maroon and Gold,” National Football Foundation chairman Archie Manning said in a statement. “His 1960 season remains one of the greatest ever by a lineman, and his place in the NFF College Football Hall of Fame is a testament to his remarkable achievements.”

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