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Keith Browner, former USC linebacker and member of a large NFL family, dies at 63

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Keith Browner, former USC linebacker and member of a large NFL family, dies at 63

Former USC and NFL linebacker Keith Browner died Tuesday morning in San Leandro, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau confirmed Wednesday. He was 63.

Keith Browner Jr. told TMZ that he talked to his father Monday night when the elder Browning was having stomach problems, vomiting and feeling tired. Browner Jr. said his father told him he would go to the hospital the next morning.

Browner was getting ready to go to the hospital Tuesday morning, according to TMZ, “when he curled over the side of a chair and collapsed to the floor next to his girlfriend.” TMZ also reported that “it appears” Browner suffered a heart attack and that his death was “unexpected and sudden.”

Alameda County authorities provided no cause of death Wednesday.

Born in Warren, Ohio, Browner was the fifth of six brothers, all of whom played college football and four of whom went on to play in the NFL. A second-round pick (30th overall) for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1984, Browner also played for the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Raiders and San Diego Chargers during a five-year NFL career.

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Oldest brother Ross Browner spent 10 years in the NFL, playing for the Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers. Jimmie Browner Jr. played two years with the Bengals. Joey Browner was a six-time Pro Bowl player who spent nine seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and one with the Buccaneers.

Browner Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps as a college and pro football player. A standout defensive end at Dorsey High, Browner Jr. played three seasons at California and one season with the Houston Texans.

A nephew, Ross Browner’s son Max Starks, played nine years for the Pittsburgh Steelers and one for the St. Louis Rams.

Browner — who was 14 when his father, Jimmie, died of cancer at age 49 — said his mother Julia was the driving force behind her sons’ passion for the sport.

“She’s the one who always urged us to play,” he told the Dayton Daily News in 2023, “and sometimes she’d be right out there with us in the yard when we were having pick-up games.”

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A three-sport standout at Warren Harding High, Browner spent four seasons at USC (1980-83), overlapping with brother Joey for the first three. He was named a captain for his final season and finished his college career with six interceptions in 34 games played.

Browner made the NFL’s all-rookie team in 1984. After three years with the Buccaneers, he split the 1987 season between the 49ers and Raiders before spending his final NFL season with the Chargers.

He finished his NFL career with 10.5 sacks, four interceptions (including one returned 55 yards for the Chargers against the Seattle Seahawks in 1988) and five fumble recoveries, then played two seasons in the Canadian Football League and six in the Arena Football League.

Browner is survived by his son and four daughters.

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Ex-NBC host Chuck Todd rips College Football Playoff officials over Alabama getting into field

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Ex-NBC host Chuck Todd rips College Football Playoff officials over Alabama getting into field

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Former NBC host Chuck Todd ripped the College Football Playoff Committee on Sunday as the Alabama Crimson Tide made the postseason despite having three losses on the year.

Alabama lost to the Georgia Bulldogs 28-7 in the SEC Championship and had two other losses to the Florida State Seminoles and the Oklahoma Sooners. Alabama defeated Georgia by three points early in the season.

Alabama head coach Kalen Deboer speaks to an official during the first half of a Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football game between Georgia and Alabama, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

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As the Crimson Tide were given the No. 9 seed in the College Football Playoff, Todd expressed his frustration with officials over the decision.

“Wow. Bama doesn’t move? What a corrupt joke of a cmte,” he wrote in a post on X. “Regardless of who gets the 10 slot.”

Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer believed in his team’s resume to make the College Football Playoff regardless of what the pundits were saying.

Former NBC broadcaster Chuck Todd made his opinion known on the CFP on Dec. 7, 2025. (Jack Gruber/USA TODAY Staff)

2025 CFP TITLE ODDS: OHIO STATE FAVORED AFTER BRACKET REVEAL

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“When it’s not in your control, there’s always anxious times,” he said Sunday, via AL.com. “Really still felt good about what we accomplished all season long. You just trust that resume, if you want to call it that, is what’s going to provide the information to help make this type of decision.”

Alabama will take on Oklahoma in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

The Crimson Tide were ranked higher than the Miami Hurricanes, who were narrowly put into the field over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Todd, a Miami native, was excited that the Hurricanes were able to get into the field.

Alabama running back Dre Washington (20) runs against Georgia during the first half of a Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football game, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

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“Well, hallelujah. College Station here we come,” he wrote on X.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

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Prep talk: Are you ready for former Rolling Hills Prep star Benny Gealer on a matzah box?

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Prep talk: Are you ready for former Rolling Hills Prep star Benny Gealer on a matzah box?

Jewish mothers are proud when their son or daughter become successful in sports, but then there’s the greatest honor of all: their child appearing on a matzah box.

Former Rolling Hills Prep guard Benny Gealer, a senior at Stanford averaging 10.6 points this season, is a candidate for the L’Cheisman trophy, sponsored by Manischewitz looking to honor the top Jewish college sports athletes.

Forget the $10,000 prize money. The most important reward in the mind of his mother is that the winner gets to appear on a limited-edition cover of its matzah box.

So the Gealer family is all in.

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Gealer was an All-CIF guard at Rolling Hills Prep who went to Stanford as a walk-on and is now starting.

Here’s the link to vote for your favorite Jewish college sports athlete.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

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Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds miss out on latest chance to enter Baseball Hall of Fame

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Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds miss out on latest chance to enter Baseball Hall of Fame

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Jeff Kent has been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee.

Kent, the 2000 NL MVP winner who played the majority of his career at second base, received 14 of the possible 16 votes from the committee to earn his place in Cooperstown as a part of the Class of 2026.

Kent was the only candidate to receive the necessary 75% of votes from the 16-person committee. The next closest was Carlos Delgado, who received nine of the 16 votes.

Meanwhile, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Gary Sheffield — all players linked to using performance-enhancing drugs in their careers — each received less than five votes. Fernando Valenzuela also did not receive the votes necessary.

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Clemens received support from President Donald Trump ahead of the committee’s vote.

“Roger Clemens, who won 354 games, went through his own Witch Hunt. HE WAS ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES!!! If he doesn’t get into the Hall of Fame, he should sue the hell out of Major League Baseball!” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier Sunday.

“It was the Obama DOJ (of course!) that viciously went after the great Roger Clemens. ROGER WAS FULLY ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES!!!”

This is a developing story. More to come.

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