:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49833131/Ruben_Brown.0.0.jpg)
If you spend any time on Twitter, you no doubt have seen people posting certain Pitt players wearing uniform numbers that correspond with the number of days left until the football season kicks off. Jim did it last year and this year, Pat Narduzzi has been doing it.
I know we have a lot of younger readers here and also some folks that may not have spent their entire lives following Pitt sports. For that reason, I thought it would be cool to not only do the countdown here, but also give a brief writeup on the player to potentially help fans connect a little more with some of the all-time greats.
Quick disclaimer - this isn't necessarily about picking the best player for each number. Not only is that disputable in many instances, but it's not really the point of the exercise. So don't be offended if your favorite player doesn't make the list here. I'll probably mirror Narduzzi's list for the most part but may go off the board in a few instances.
These will also be brief, folks. It's the offseason and we all use this time to wind down a bit. These won't be theses or anything, but we'll cobble together a few facts for each guy.
Finally, feel free to add on to a player's accomplishments in the comments section. Some I'll leave out due to space/time and some I may not even know about. But this will be a good learning exercise for all of us.
Continuing our countdown today is offensive lineman Ruben Brown.
Yesterday, we had a look at Bill Fralic, one of the Panthers' top offensive linemen in the 1980s. Today, it's one of the best from the 1990s in Brown.
Brown was a USA Today All-American before coming to Pitt. He actually came to the Panthers as a defensive lineman before changing to offense after redshirting his first year due to injury. As an offensive lineman, he became a four-year starter, three-time All-Big East player, and in 1994, was an All-American. In 1995, he was drafted in the first round by the Buffalo Bills and became a nine-time Pro Bowler with them and the Chicago Bears.
In 2015, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as Pitt honored him at the North Carolina home game.
Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter@PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author and founder/editor @AnsonWhaley.