Ex-Stampeder charged with attempted murder
Prosecutors say member of ’08 Grey Cup champions tried to kill his ex-girlfriend
POMONA, CALIF. Prosecutors say former Calgary Stampeders cornerback Brandon Browner has been charged with trying to kill his ex-girlfriend after breaking into her Southern California home.
Browner, who won a Grey Cup with the Stampeders before going on to claim Super Bowls with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, was arrested Sunday east of Los Angeles.
The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office says the 33-year-old was charged Tuesday with attempted murder, first-degree residential robbery and other counts. It wasn’t immediately clear if he has a lawyer. Arraignment is scheduled for July 30.
Prosecutors say Browner broke into the apartment, chased and dragged the woman and then tried to smother her in a carpet. Prosecutors say he also stole a Rolex watch valued at about $20,000.
Browner is from nearby Pomona and played for the NCAA’s Oregon
I had a really good time up there in Canada. Chance to get out of the States, live a different life, different culture.
State Beavers before playing in the Canadian Football League.
Browner played four seasons with the Stampeders from 200710.
He was a three-time league allstar and won a Grey Cup in 2008 before signing with the Seahawks before the 2011 NFL season.
With the Stampeders, Browner made 88 tackles and counted eight interceptions, including one for a touchdown during the 2009 campaign.
When he reflected on his four years in the CFL prior to the 2015 Super Bowl, Browner told Postmedia Network: “I had a really good time up there in Canada. Chance to get out of the States, live a different life, different culture ... Practice was pretty easy.”
Browner talked of then- Stamps head coach John Hufnagel and then-Stamps defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones, with whom he won the 2008 Grey Cup, as being great coaches.
Once with the Seahawks in 2012, he was suspended four games for failing a drug test. Then in 2013, he violated the league’s drug policy again and was banned from playing in the Seahawks’ Super Bowl victory over the Denver Broncos.
Marijuana was the reason for both suspensions.
When the Patriots signed the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Browner, he told Postmedia Network: “I’m trying to clean up my image a little bit, but I truly believe everybody makes mistakes.
“Just on this level, my mistakes are magnified and blown up a little bit. The reason I say I want to clean it up a little bit, not more so for the media but for the kids and elderly fans that watch the game.”