BIOGRAPHY:

Greg Brown’s brilliant four-sport prep career was filled with bouncing balls, swinging bats, jumping hurdles, and—most importantly—touchdowns. During his 1985-89 career as a Bulldog, Brown collected plenty of honors and memories in every sport he played; however, it was his exploits on the football field that helped solidify Bettendorf’s place as an elite 4A program.

There have been many great Bettendorf ball carriers and Brown is unquestionably one of them.  As a junior, he led the Bulldogs to a perfect 12-0 season en route to winning the Class 4A state championship with a 7-6 victory over West Des Moines Dowling.  Brown earned 2nd team All-State running back honors while leading all Class 4A rushers in ’87 with 1,515 yards along with 26 touchdowns.  During his senior year as a team-elected co-captain, Brown again led the #1-ranked Bulldogs through the season undefeated—this time collecting a school-record 13 wins—as the Dawgs won a second-consecutive Class 4A state title with their 28-12 victory over the Newton Cardinals. Incidentally, this latter feat—winning the 1987 and ’88 titles in a row—was the first time in 4A history that a school won back-to-back titles.

Brown’s senior campaign also earned him honors such as “Iowa Back of the Year” by the Touchdown Club of Atlanta while simultaneously being named to the 1st Team All-State Elite squad as a running back who rushed for 1,722 yards and 26 touchdowns; his ’88 squad also earned a national ranking of #18 by the L.A. Times.  In total, Greg Brown amassed 3,237 yards and 52 touchdowns during his final two years as a Bulldog—which still ranks second and third, respectively, in those statistical categories.       

The soft-spoken Brown—although pursued by major colleges such as the University of Iowa and Nebraska to play football—initially elected to pursue his dream of playing basketball in college. However, the 1989 Quad City Times “Athlete of the Year” eventually found his way back onto the gridiron and was a four-year letterwinner and two-year starter for the Southern Illinois Salukis during the 1990-93 seasons.   

Brown, who was inducted into the Iowa Football Players Hall of Fame on Friday, November 19, 2004, became only the second Bettendorf player inducted into the Iowa High School Football Hall of Fame—ironically, in front of a Bettendorf crowd witnessing the 2004 Bulldogs claim the school’s sixth state championship.  After receiving his plaque at midfield during the halftime induction ceremony, Brown received a loud ovation and said, “It’s hard to believe these kids that are playing for the state title were all babies when I was playing for one.”  Brown currently lives in Houston, Texas, where he teaches and coaches.