American football player (1952–2012)

Clifton "Cliff" Brown, Sr. (June 14, 1952:– December 10, 2012) was an American football quarterback for the University of Notre Dame, and was the first African-American quarterback to start a game for the prestigious program.

After future Hall-of-Famer Joe Theismann graduated in 1971, Irish head coach Ara Parseghian selected Pat Steenberge to start the first two games of the next season. Following a leg injury to Steenberge, backup Bill Etter started the next two games, and then he too suffered a knee injury that ended his season. Cliff Brown then went into action in the second quarter against Miami, and led the team to a 17–0 victory. Brown started all of the remaining games in the season, losing only to USC and LSU.

The following year, sop*re Tom Clements started at quarterback, and Brown was the primary backup for both the 1972 and 1973 seasons. Brown's last touchdown at Notre Dame came in the final regular-season game of the 1973 national championship season—a 6-yard run at the end of a 44–0 rout of Miami. Brown was selected in the 17th round of the 1974 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles as a running back; he did not make the final roster.

Brown died on December 10, 2012 at the age of 60.

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