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Former Green Bay Packers Player's Death Announced Monday

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Apr 28, 2025 4:27 PM ET

Tom Brown, a safety who won three straight championships with Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers, died at age 84.

The Packers and the University of Maryland, where Brown excelled as a two-sport star, confirmed his passing on Monday.

A first-team All-American baseball player, Brown batted .387 at Maryland. He signed with the Washington Senators shortly after Green Bay drafted him with a second-round pick in 1963.

Brown played 61 games for the Senators before shifting his focus to football. He recalled the process during a 2009 interview.

"I met Coach Lombardi on the steps of Sensenbrenner Hall the first day," Brown said. "I had just left baseball with the York White Roses in the Washington Senators' organization. I told Coach Lombardi I'd make a decision by July 1st. So I said, 'OK.' He said, 'We'll send you a plane ticket and we'll see you at training camp.'"

Brown seemed to make the right choice. While he batted .147 at Washington, he registered 13 interceptions and six fumble recoveries in 71 career regular-season games for the Packers from 1964-69.

Brown won three consecutive titles, including the first two Super Bowls in NFL history. He notched two more interceptions in seven career playoff games, all victories.

Maryland, which inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 1995, noted that Brown became the first person to hit an MLB home run and win a Super Bowl. Deion Sanders is the only other person to replicate the feat.

"I went to the (Giants-Packers) championship game in 1962 up in Yankee Stadium," Brown recalled in 2009. It was a cold, windy, nasty day. The field was frozen. I went in the locker room and I said, 'These guys are big. I'm going to play baseball.'

"I think I could probably have played major league ball, but not as a starter. Probably as a utility player. But I had the opportunity to play with the Packers, and I took that opportunity."

Our thoughts go out to Brown's loved ones for their loss.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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