The Vikings announced Sunday that former Pro Bowl fullback Bill Brown has died. Brown was 80.
Brown’s widow, Darlene Brown, told Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press that the family would donate Brown’s brain to Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center, where it will be determined if he had the disease.
The team held a moment of silence for Brown before its game against Detroit.
Former Vikings quarterback Rich Gannon, Brown’s son-in-law, tweeted that Brown “passed away peacefully,” via the Associated Press.
“He was an incredible man who was so good to me and everyone he ever met!” Gannon wrote.
Brown made four Pro Bowls in 14 NFL seasons.
The Bears drafted Brown in the second round in 1961 out of Illinois. They traded him to the Vikings after his rookie season.
Brown, nicknamed “Boom Boom,” ranks fourth in Vikings history with 5,757 rushing yards. He also scored 52 rushing touchdowns and 75 total touchdowns in his career in Minnesota.
He had 1,569 total yards and 16 touchdowns in 14 games in 1974, his best season.
