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Keith Browner Sr., a linebacker who is remembered by football fans both for playing in the NFL and for having three brothers and a son who played in the NFL as well, has died at the age of 63. His son Keith Browner Jr. confirmed the death to TMZ.com, which reported that the cause appears to be a heart attack. Browner was a star at USC and was selected by the Buccaneers with the 30th overall pick in the 1984 NFL draft. After three years with the Buccaneers he had brief stints with the Raiders, 49ers and Chargers. Keith Sr. may be remembered as much for being one of the all-time great football families as he is for his individual accomplishments. Keith was the fifth of six boys, and all six brothers played major college football. Four played in the NFL. Oldest brother Ross Browner played for the Bengals from 1978 to 1986 and the Packers in 1987. The next brother, Jimmie Browner, played for the Bengals in 1979 and 1980. The third brother, Willard Browner, played at Notre Dame. The fourth brother, Joey Browner, was the Vikings’ first-round pick in 1983. He played nine seasons in Minnesota and one in Tampa Bay. The youngest brother, Gerald Browner, played college football at Georgia. Son Keith Browner Jr. played for the Texans from 2012 to 2014. Ross Browner’s son Rylan Browner played at Arizona. Ross Browner was also the biological father of Max Starks, who played for the Steelers from 2004 to 2012. Ross Browner did not learn about Starks until Starks was 17, but they eventually developed a close relationship. Keith Sr. credited his parents for setting their six boys up for success, his father for working to provide for the family and his mother for her love and support at home. “With him working the graveyard shift, he never got to see any of us play sports,” Keith Sr. told the Dayton Daily News about his father. “He’d just hear about the three older boys — Ross, Jimmie, and Willard — on the radio. He passed [at age 49 from cancer] when I was 14.” Keith Sr. added about his mother, “She’s the one who always urged us to play and sometimes she’d be right out there with us in the yard when we were having pick-up games.” Keith Sr. said that at one point, producers were talking about making a movie that told the story of the Browner family, one of the great families the sport of football has ever known.
