Brown attended Florida A&M University Developmental Research School, where he practiced football and baseball.
He accepted a football scholarship from Prairie View A&M University under head coach Hoover J. Wright.
He received the Thomas Burton Award for the school's athlete having the highest grade average in science.
He missed his senior season, after being dismissed from Prairie View A&M following an incident of burned campus buildings, in response to the killing of halfback Wesley Davidson.
[1] Brown was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys after the 1969 NFL/AFL draft.