Football He played college football for the Maryland State College Hawks (now the
University of Maryland Eastern Shore) for four years, from 1956-1959, where he was an industrial arts major. He played for
College Football Hall of Fame coach
Vernon "Skip" McCain. Brown was a defensive lineman. Over his four years, the Hawks had a 24-5-1 record, kept opposing teams to an average 7.3 points per game, and outscored opponents 693 to 213. He was one of only four players who played outside of the major college football conferences to start in the game. The Colts won 29-0, in a game in which collegian Don Brown of the
Houston Cougars (who would go on to play for the first
Houston Oilers team) was nearly killed when notoriously violent Colts linebacker
Bill Pellington hit him so hard that Brown swallowed his tongue and stopped breathing. He was saved by the frantic intervention of doctors and trainers. On the other hand, Colts offensive lineman
Alex Sandusky encouraged Roger Brown throughout the game, and gave him guidance on how to correct his mistakes. During his school days at UMES, Brown worked as a
DJ at an
AM radio station in
Salisbury, Maryland, the largest city on Maryland's Eastern Shore, where he was known as the "Big Nyack". He began at
WICO AM and then went to
WJDY. He had also been involved with a group creating an unauthorized radio broadcast at UMES, using a transmitter they built themselves. College officials shut it down. ==Professional career==