Brown attended Wilkinson County High School in Irwinton, Georgia, and was a student and a letterman in football, baseball, and tennis.

[1] Brown became a free agent following the strike settlement in 1994 and signed with the Baltimore Orioles for a season, posting a 10–9 record with 117 strikeouts and a 3.60 ERA.

[3] In his first season with the Marlins, Brown posted a 17–11 record with 159 strikeouts and an MLB best 1.89 ERA, finishing second in the Cy Young Award voting.

[4] In 1997, Brown threw a one-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers in his first appearance[5] and a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants on June 10, 1997.

[8] Following the disassembly of the Marlins' championship team, Brown was traded to the San Diego Padres for Derrek Lee and prospects, where he pitched one season.

Masterful during the National League Division Series against the Houston Astros,[10] San Diego won both of Brown's starts by a 2–1 score.

[11] As the Game 1 starter opposing Randy Johnson, he allowed no runs in eight innings and struck out 16 Astros, a career-high, and second to that point in MLB playoff history only to Bob Gibson's 17-strikeout performance in the 1968 World Series.

[12] He helped lead the Padres to the World Series with a three-hit shutout against the Braves in the NLCS,[13] though he did blow a save in Game 5 during a rare relief appearance.

After leading the NL in ERA during an injury-plagued 2000 season, his performance began to dwindle as Brown was hampered by injuries and poor run support.

[17] On December 11, 2003, Brown was traded to the New York Yankees as part of a deal that sent Jeff Weaver, Yhency Brazobán, Brandon Weeden, and $2.6 million in cash to Los Angeles.

He left with the bases loaded in the second inning (allowing Johnny Damon to subsequently hit the first pitch from Javier Vasquez for a grand slam).

The report documents allegations by Kirk Radomski that he sold Brown human growth hormone and Deca-Durabolin over a period of two or three years beginning in either 2000 or 2001.