Canadian defensive back Sydney Brown has joined his twin brother in the ranks of NFL touchdown scorers, taking an interception 99 yards to the house on Sunday for his first career major with the Philadelphia Eagles.
The native of London, Ont. ran underneath a deep pass from Arizona Cardinals’ quarterback Kyler Murray early in the second quarter of his team’s Week 17 game and caught the ball cleanly at the one-yard line. He showed off his speed down the right sideline, before cutting back inside through a crowd of offensive players to find paydirt. The play gave Philadelphia a 14-3 lead.
Philadelphia went on to lose the game 35-31. Brown finished with five tackles and a pass breakup in addition to his interception.
Brown’s touchdown comes three weeks after his identical twin brother, Cincinnati Bengals’ running back Chase Brown, recorded his first NFL major against the Indianapolis Colts. The 23-year-old rookie was clocked at 22.05 miles per hour on the 54-yard score, the second-fastest speed recorded by an NFL player to that point in the season.
According to Next Gen Stats, Sydney topped out at 21.52 miles per hour on his full-field run — slightly slower than his sibling but faster than any Eagles’ ball carrier over the last two seasons. In total, he travelled 126.7 yards over the course of his return, making it the longest distance travelled on a pick-six in the NFL since Week 5 of the 2018 season.
Brown was selected by the Eagles with the 66th overall pick in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft — two rounds higher than his ball-carrying brother. After battling a hamstring injury early in the season, he has played in 12 games and made five starts at safety, recording 40 total tackles and a forced fumble.
A five-year starter for the University of Illinois, Brown played 51 career games and amassed 319 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, two sacks, four forced fumbles, 26 pass breakups, 10 interceptions and three defensive touchdowns. He was a three-time All-Big Ten honoree in college and was named a second-team All-American by USA Today in his final season.
The five-foot-10, 211-pound defender blew up the 2023 NFL Combine, blazing an official 4.47-second forty-yard dash with a 1.51-second ten-yard split — the fourth fastest run by a safety that year. Brown posted a 10-foot, 10-inch broad jump and 40.5-inch vertical, good enough for second and third in the position group respectively. He also recorded 23 reps on the bench.
Brown is expected to continue to play a major role on the Eagles’ defence as they head towards the playoffs. Philadelphia is currently 11-5 and still have a chance to claim the top seed in the NFC East. They are scheduled to wrap up the 2023 regular season on Sunday, January 7 against the New York Giants (5-11).
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