FORMER BALTIMORE RAVENS PLAYER ORLANDO BROWN FOUND DEAD!

Former Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Orlando (Zeus) Brown - once injured when a referee beaned him with a weighted penalty flag - was found dead in his Charm City home Friday morning.

Baltimore police do not suspect foul play was involved in the 40-year-old ex-gridder's death, the Baltimore Sun reported. Firefighters were called to his home about 11 a.m. and found him unresponsive. An autopsy is expected.

The Ravens were told of his death at practice on Friday.

"He was huge to this organization," Ravens linebacker Jarrett Johnson told the Sun. "He came over with the team from the Browns. So a lot of people in the organization know him. It's devastating news. Zeus was one of the guys who came around a lot."

Johnson said Brown often came back to hang out with old teammates at team facilities.

"Just can't say enough about the guy," Johnson added. "Such a terrible loss."

Brown, whose first season in the NFL was in 1993, helped tutor some of the younger players on the Ravens this year, The Associated Press reported.

"We send our condolences to the family of Orlando Brown," Ravens coach John Harbaugh told reporters. "Everybody knew what he meant to this organization. We're forever grateful for what he did for the present team. We can't express enough sorrow for his loss."

Brown, a father of three, is remembered for a bizarre incident involving official Jeff Triplette in 1999, when the lineman played for Cleveland. Triplette threw a weighted flag that hit Brown in the right eye - prompting him to storm the field and shove the ref in retaliation.

Brown suffered an eye injury in the freak on-field mishap that led him to be hospitalized for six days. He also missed the next three seasons because of it - including the 2000 campaign that ended with the Ravens winning the Super Bowl.

He sued the NFL over the incident, eventually settling for $25 million. He later returned to the team for two seasons.

"It's disturbing, man," Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs told the Associated Press. "We don't even know the cause of death. It's just sad. He was a beast on the field and a gentle giant off of it. It's just very unfortunate that he had to leave us so young. My heart goes out to his family."



SOURCE