| Dru Brown | |
| Team: | Ottawa Redblacks |
| Birth Date: | 21 March 1997 |
| Birth Place: | Palo Alto, California, U.S. |
| Status: | Active |
| Import: | yes |
| Position1: | Quarterback |
| Height Ft: | 5 |
| Height In: | 11 |
| Weight Lb: | 200 |
| College: | San Mateo (2015) Hawaii (2016–2017) Oklahoma State (2018–2019) |
| Hand: | Right |
| High School: | Los Gatos (Los Gatos, California) |
| Nfldraftedyear: | 2020 |
| Nfldraftedround: | Undrafted |
| Playing Team1: | Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
| Playing Years2: | –present |
| Playing Team2: | Ottawa Redblacks |
| Career Highlights: |
|
| Cfl: | dru-brown/164252/ |
| Statlabel1: | Passing completions |
| Statvalue1: | 102 |
| Statlabel2: | Passing attempts |
| Statvalue2: | 153 |
| Statlabel3: | Passing yards |
| Statvalue3: | 1,484 |
| Statlabel4: | TD–INT |
| Statvalue4: | 14–2 |
| Statlabel5: | Rushing yards |
| Statvalue5: | 113 |
| Statlabel6: | Rushing touchdowns |
| Statvalue6: | 5 |
Dru Brown (born March 21, 1997) is an American professional football quarterback for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Oklahoma State and Hawaii.
Brown did not start until his senior season of high school and did not receive any Division I offers.[1] He attended the College of San Mateo in his freshman year, playing in 11 games, and completed 104 of 194 passes for 1,870 yards and 21 touchdowns.[2] He then transferred to Hawaii Rainbow Warriors for the 2016 season.
After not playing in Hawaii's first three games, Brown entered the Rainbow Warriors fourth game against the Arizona Wildcats in the second half, replacing Ikaika Woolsey. Brown was able to direct the Rainbow Warriors to three touchdown drives in the second half, but they lost to Arizona 47–28.[3] He was named the starting quarterback before the Rainbow Warriors match against Nevada Wolf Pack.[4] Against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in the 2016 Hawaii Bowl, he threw for 274 yards and four touchdowns while also accounting for a rushing touchdown en route to a 52–35 victory.[5] He was also named one of the game's most valuable player for his efforts.
Coming off of Hawaii's first bowl victory in ten years, Brown was once again named the starting quarterback for the 2017 season. He threw for 2,785 yards and 18 touchdowns that season on a struggling Rainbow Warriors team that lost nine of the last ten games, mostly attributed to a battered offensive line whose position coach left mid-way through the season, and top receiver John Ursua lost to a torn anterior cruciate ligament.[6] After the 2017 season, he announced his intention to transfer,[7] enrolled at Oklahoma State as a graduate transfer, and was immediately eligible to play.[8] He finished his career at Hawaii with 5,273 career passing yards and 37 touchdowns.[9]
At Oklahoma State, Brown joined a crowded QB room competing for the Cowboys starting quarterback job following the departure of the four-year starter Mason Rudolph.[10] Brown was named the primary back-up quarterback to the starter Taylor Cornelius before the start of 2018 season.[11] Despite playing in the Cowboys' 2018 Liberty Bowl, Brown was able to redshirt under the NCAA's new redshirt policy and keep his final year of eligibility.
Following Cornelius' graduation and departure, Brown was one of the favorites to win the starting quarterback job, competing for it with redshirt freshman Spencer Sanders. Brown was once again named the primary back-up as Sanders was named the starting quarterback for the Cowboys' season opener against the Oregon State Beavers.[12]
After Sanders suffered a hand injury in the middle of a game against the Kansas Jayhawks, Brown entered the game in relief and threw a touchdown pass on his first play.[13] He finished the game with 3 completions on 5 attempts for 70 yards and a touchdown in the 31–6 victory.[14] He started his first career game as a Cowboy against the West Virginia Mountaineers the following week, where he racked up 196 yards and two touchdowns in a 20–13 victory.[15] For his performance against West Virginia, he was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.[16]
| Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Record | Comp | Att | Pct | Yards | Avg | TD | Int | Rate | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | ||
| San Mateo Bulldogs | |||||||||||||||
| 2015 | 11 | 7–4 | 104 | 194 | 53.6 | 1,879 | 9.7 | 21 | 8 | 162.4 | 63 | 188 | 3.0 | 6 | |
| Hawaii Rainbow Warriors | |||||||||||||||
| 2016 | 13 | 7–4 | 209 | 335 | 62.4 | 2,488 | 7.4 | 19 | 7 | 139.3 | 88 | 306 | 3.5 | 4 | |
| 2017 | 12 | 3–9 | 254 | 412 | 61.7 | 2,785 | 6.8 | 18 | 8 | 129.0 | 58 | 7 | 0.1 | 2 | |
| Oklahoma State Cowboys | |||||||||||||||
| 2018 | 1 | 0–0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 7 | 1–2 | 72 | 107 | 67.3 | 810 | 7.6 | 7 | 1 | 150.6 | 23 | 6 | 0.3 | 1 | |
| Career | 44 | 18−19 | 639 | 1,048 | 58.1 | 7,962 | 8.4 | 65 | 24 | 149.1 | 132 | 507 | 3 | 13 | |
Following his college career, Brown was added to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers roster on March 11, 2020.[17] However, he did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the 2020 CFL season. In 2021, he was the fourth string quarterback and spent most of the year on the practice roster.[18] However, after the Blue Bombers clinched first place, Brown dressed in his first professional game on November 13, 2023, against the Montreal Alouettes.[18] He played in the final two regular season games in 2021, where he completed seven of 14 pass attempts for 49 yards.[18] He did not dress in either of the team's post-season games and was on the practice roster for the team's 108th Grey Cup championship over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.[18]
During the first game of the 2022 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season, Brown came in to the game late in the fourth quarter to complete a game-winning field goal drive. He entered the game after starting quarterback Zach Collaros was pulled from play by injury spotters after he took a hit to the head.[19] During the 2023 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season, Brown again took over the offence after Collaros left the game with an upper body injury after a high hit during a week 9 game against the Edmonton Elks. He brought the Bombers back from a 22 point deficit throwing for 307 yards and four touchdowns as the Bombers beat the Elks 38-29.[20] He made two starts in 2023, winning both of them, and set a new CFL record for the most touchdown passes (9) without recording an interception.[21]
As a pending free agent, Brown's playing rights were traded to the Ottawa Redblacks on January 18, 2024, in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2024 CFL Draft.[22] On January 24, 2024, it was announced that Brown had signed a two-year contract, with a minimum $286,000 plus $54,000 in playtime incentives in 2024, and a minimum $355,000 plus $45,000 in playtime incentives in 2025.[23]
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WPG | Season cancelled | ||||||||||||||||
| WPG | 2 | 0 | 0–0 | 7 | 14 | 50.0 | 49 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 58.3 | 7 | 44 | 6.3 | 0 | ||
| WPG | 18 | 1 | 0–1 | 33 | 50 | 66.0 | 452 | 9.0 | 5 | 2 | 111.4 | 19 | 39 | 2.1 | 3 | ||
| WPG | 18 | 2 | 2–0 | 62 | 89 | 69.7 | 983 | 11.0 | 9 | 0 | 139.9 | 11 | 30 | 2.7 | 2 | ||
| CFL Career | 38 | 3 | 2–1 | 102 | 153 | 66.7 | 1,484 | 9.7 | 14 | 2 | 123.1 | 37 | 113 | 3.1 | 5 | ||