{"id":841376,"date":"2026-03-29T18:27:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T18:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/841376\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T18:27:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T18:27:18","slug":"former-vikings-6-time-pro-bowler-has-reportedly-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/841376\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Vikings&#8217; 6-Time Pro Bowler Has Reportedly Died"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"520\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Minnesota-Vikings-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Minnesota Vikings\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>A Minnesota Vikings helmet on the field before a practice at U.S. Bank Stadium on August 07, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/minnesota-vikings\/\" title=\"Minnesota Vikings\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"208162\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Minnesota Vikings<\/a> have paid tribute to a former star on Sunday afternoon. Joey Browner reportedly passed away on March 28 at the age of 65.<\/p>\n<p>Browner, who was selected by the Vikings with the No. 19 overall pick in the 1983 <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/\" title=\"NFL\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"208164\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFL<\/a> Draft out of USC, had a lot of success throughout his career. He played with Minnesota for all but one season of his career between 1983 and 1991. He finished out his final NFL season with the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/tampa-bay-buccaneers\/\" title=\"Tampa Bay Buccaneers\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"208161\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Of note, Browner is a member of the Vikings\u2019 Ring of Honor.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout his NFL career, Browner played in 145 total games. He racked up 37 career interceptions, 17 forced fumbles, 17 fumble recoveries, and three defensive touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota Vikings, Fans Post Tribute to Joey Browner on Sunday<\/p>\n<p>In a post on social media, Minnesota paid its respects to Browner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Vikings are mourning the loss of Ring of Honor Safety Joey Browner,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/vikings\/status\/2038294217546461411\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">the post read<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBrowner, a 6-time Pro Bowler and 4-time 1st Team All-Pro, was named to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team and a part of the 50 Greatest Vikings announced in 2010.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An interesting fact about Browner is that he is one of only two safeties to have been drafted in the first round by the franchise. The other is Harrison Smith.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of this writing, Browner ranks fifth in all-time interceptions for the Vikings\u2019 franchise. He was also named to the NFL\u2019s 1980\u2019s Team of the Decade and was named one of the 50 Greatest Vikings back in 2010.<\/p>\n<p>NFL Fans React to News of Browner\u2019s Death<\/p>\n<p>Fans quickly took to the comments section to share their memories and prayers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDamn I loved this guy growning up! The hockey elbow pads. A legend,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jayjayGoFast\/status\/2038306082041598188\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">one fan wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/El_Jefe_Mayor\/status\/2038301977277243416\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Another chimed in<\/a>, \u201cRarely gets talked about. One of my favorites of the 80s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJoey Browner was deserving of the Hall of Fame, it\u2019s a shame it hasn\u2019t happened. May he rest in peace,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/B_GNation1\/status\/2038312349140935120\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">a third fan commented<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RobOviatt1\/status\/2038308084842389691\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">A fourth fan said<\/a>, \u201cIf you grew up in NE Ohio, the Browner brothers are legends. Great players and people. Saddened to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery Sad to hear this news and from a <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/detroit-lions\/\" title=\"Detroit Lions\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"208163\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Detroit Lions<\/a> guy, it was an honor watching his greatness,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/bushwood_c\/status\/2038314277149282385\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">a fifth comment read<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Our thoughts and prayers are with Browner\u2019s family and friends during this difficult time. His NFL career was an overwhelming success and fans are remembering him fondly following the news of his passing.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/emasseysports\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Evan Massey<\/a> Evan Massey is a sports reporter and analyst located in Indianapolis, Indiana who covers the NFL, NBA, MLB, WNBA, and college sports. He has been featured on many publications, including Newsweek, Athlon Sports, ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Sporting News, and many others. In his free time, Evan enjoys spending time with his wife and son. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/emasseysports\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Evan Massey<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Vikings\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty A Minnesota Vikings helmet on the field before a practice at U.S. Bank Stadium on August 07,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":841377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2073],"tags":[7,233,259,2529,6,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-841376","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-vikings","11":"tag-minnesotavikings","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116313880177621008","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}