John C. Brown is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 tackle who played 10 seasons for two National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 teams: the Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 and the Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

. He played tackle at Syracuse University

Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...

 alongside Ernie Davis

Ernie Davis

Ernest "Ernie" Davis was an American football running back and the first African-American athlete to win the Heisman Trophy. Wearing number 44, Davis competed collegiately for Syracuse University before being drafted by the Washington Redskins, then almost immediately traded to the Cleveland...

. He experienced a great deal of discrimination.

Brown played high school football

High school football

High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....

 at Camden High School

Camden High School (New Jersey)

Camden High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the city of Camden, New Jersey, United States. The school is part of the Camden City Public Schools, which is classified as an Abbott District. The school,...

 in his hometown. His son Ernie Davis Brown also played football for Syracuse University as a tackle in the early 1990s. He played briefly for the Pittsburgh Steelers and married his college sweetheart.

In the 2008 film The Express

The Express

The Express is a 2008 American sports film produced by John Davis and directed by Gary Fleder. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Charles Leavitt from a book titled Ernie Davis: The Elmira Express, authored by Robert C. Gallagher...

, Brown, referred to as Jack Buckley, was portrayed by Omar Benson Miller

Omar Benson Miller

Omar Benson Miller is an American actor.-Early life:Miller was raised in Long Beach and Anaheim, California, and graduated from San Jose State University.-Career:...

.