Sydney Brown

STATS

 YEAR (GP/GS)    TKLS   TFL      SACK     FF     PD    INT

2018: (10/10)     55       2.0      0.0         0       6       1

2019: (11/10)     88       2.5      0.0         0       4       3

2020: (6/6)         36       0.5      0.0         1       0       0

2021: (12/12)     81       1.5      1.0         2       3       0

2022: (12/12)     59       3.5      1.0         1       13     6

Total: (51/50)    319     10.0    2.0         4       26     10

HISTORY -- From College Profile

2022 SENIOR

• Team captain
• USA Today All-American second team
• PFF All-American third team
• CBS All-American honorable mention
• All-Big Ten first team (coaches)
• All-Big Ten second team (media)
• Accepted an invitation to the Reese's Senior Bowl
• Draft Network National Team Practice Player of the Week at the Reese's Senior Bowl
• Second nationally and first in the Big Ten with six interceptions,
• Started all 12 regular season games at safety
• Sat out the ReliaQuest Bowl to prepare for the NFL Draft
• 59 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, 1.0 sacks, six interceptions, seven pass breakups, one quarterback hurry, one fumble recovery, and one forced fumble on the season
• Third in the nation and led the Big Ten in interceptions (6), tied for seventh in a single season in Illinois history
• Highest graded safety in the nation in man coverage (89.9), according to PFF 
• Eighth in the nation in forced incompletions (8), according to PFF
• Fourth in the Big Ten in passes defended (13)
• Fourth on the team in tackles (59)
• Tied for fourth on the team in touchdowns (2)
• Two interceptions at Nebraska 10/29/22 and at Northwestern 11/26/22, giving him three career games with two interceptions
• Tied career high with 1.5 TFLs at Nebraska 10/29/22
• Forced fumble against Virginia 9/10/22
• Illinois’ Wright Commitment to Excellence Award winner, along with his brother Chase Brown
• Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week, Bednarik Award National Player of the Week, Senior Bowl Player of the Week, and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after two interceptions, a 39-yard interception return touchdown, and a 53-yard fumble return touchdown in Illinois' 41-3 victory at Northwestern 11/26/22
• 10 career interceptions ranked tied for eighth in the Illini record book, most since Eugene Wilson (11 from 1999-02)
• First player with two interceptions, one interception return touchdown, and one fumble return touchdown in the same game in over 10 years
• Two interceptions at Nebraska 10/29/22; first Illini with two interceptions since he also did it at Michigan State 11/9/19
• Senior Bowl watch list
• Football Canada Jon Cornish Trophy watch list
• Athlon Preseason All-Big Ten second team 

2021 JUNIOR

• All-Big Ten honorable mention (coaches and media)
• Started all 12 games
• 81 tackles, 1.5 TFLs, 1.0 sack, three pass breakups, and two forced fumbles on the season
• Led Illinois with 81 tackles, including a team-best 50 solo tackles
• Tied for the team lead with two forced fumbles
• 18th in the Big Ten in tackles per game (6.8)
• Nine tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1.0 sack and one forced fumble in Illinois' road win over No. 20 Minnesota 11/6/21
• Team-high six tackles and a forced fumble against Charlotte 10/2/21
• Team-high seven tackles and a pass breakup against Purdue 9/25/21
• No. 5 Canadian Football League draft prospect according to the CFL scouting bureau
• Illinois team defensive MVP against Nebraska 8/28/21

2020 JUNIOR

• Started six games at safety
• Missed the final two games due to injury
• 36 tackles, 0.5 TFL, one forced fumble on the season
• First career forced fumble at Wisconsin 10/23/20
• Athlon Preseason All-Big Ten second team
• Phil Steele Preseason All-Big Ten fourth team

2019 SOPHOMORE

• Played in 11 games and started 10 at safety
• All- Big Ten third team (coaches)
• All-Big Ten honorable mention (media)
• 88 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, three interceptions on the season
• Second in the Big Ten in interceptions (3) and sixth in tackles per game (8.0)
• Tied for the team lead in interceptions (3) and was second in tackles (88)
• Career-high 13 tackles, two interceptions, and a 76-yard interception returned for a touchdown at Michigan State in the biggest comeback in Illinois history
• Did not play in the first two games of the season due to injury

2018 FRESHMAN

• Played and started in 10 games (seven starts at safety and three at nickel)
• Tied for second-most starts by an Illinois true freshman defensive back, behind only Vontae Davis’ 11
• Second on the team in PBUs (5) and fifth in tackles (55)
• 55 tackles, 2.0 TFLs, five PBUs, one interception and one QB hurry on season
• First career interception against Purdue 10/13/18
• First career start in the season opener vs. Kent State 9/1/18
• Missed the South Florida and Iowa games with injuries

HIGH SCHOOL

• Transferred to St. Stephen’s Episcopal School from London South Collegiate Institute
• Played for head coach Todd Creneti at St. Stephen’s
• Led St. Stephen’s Episcopal to back-to-back Sunshine State Athletic Conference independent state championships
• 51 tackles, 7.0 TFLs, two interceptions, five passes defensed, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble as a senior
• 81 tackles, 2.0 TFLs, one INT and five PBUs as a junior
• Also ran track in high school
• Florida state finalist in 400m, 4x400m and 4x100m as a senior
• Florida state finalist in the 4x100m as a junior

PERSONAL

• Born March 21, 2000
• Son of Darren Issac and Raechel Brown
• Twin brother, Chase and one sister, Mya
• Hometown is London, Ontario, Canada
• Father played in CFL for three seasons
• Father played for the London Beefeaters of the Canadian Junior Football League from 1991-92
• Mother was a figure skater
• Twin brother, Chase, played football at Western Michigan one season before transferring to Illinois in 2019
• Picked Illinois because, “I personally choose to attend the University of Illinois because of how much the University had to offer as a student and as an athlete. From all the schools that I had visited before coming to visit Illinois, none of them could compete with how special the University is itself.”
• Majoring in recreation, sport, and tourism

2022

fumbles
REC	LOST	FUM
1.0	0.0	0.0

defensive
TFL	QB HUR	TOT	TD	PD	SACKS	SOLO
3.5	1.0	59.0	1.0	7.0	1.0	40.0

interceptions
TD	AVG	YDS	INT
1.0	14.3	86.0	6.0

2021

defensive
TFL	QB HUR	TOT	TD	PD	SACKS	SOLO
1.5	0.0	69.0	0.0	3.0	1.0	43.0

2020

defensive
TFL	QB HUR	TOT	TD	PD	SACKS	SOLO
0.5	0.0	36.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	20.0

2019

defensive
TFL	QB HUR	TOT	TD	PD	SACKS	SOLO
2.5	0.0	88.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	51.0

interceptions
TD	AVG	YDS	INT
1.0	28.0	84.0	3.0

2018

defensive
TFL	QB HUR	TOT	TD	PD	SACKS	SOLO
2.0	1.0	55.0	0.0	5.0	0.0	25.0

interceptions
TD	AVG	YDS	INT
0.0	2.0	2.0	1.0