Canadian Running Back, CFL Draft Pick Shines on Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is always the most important game of the NFL week, as the the stars shine brightest on the biggest stage.
Sometimes that light shines north of the American border, too.
A Canadian running back from London, Ontario was able to have the best game of his young career to close out Week 13 of the NFL season.
Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown has had a quiet season leading up to their Monday night game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, with two carries for six yards total. Brown has also been dealing with a hamstring injury that had him on injured reserve for a month. He got chance for more playing time and made the most of the opportunity.
His biggest play of the night came in the third quarter with the Bengals down 28-21. On the first play of the drive, Brown showed off his speed and rushed for a 31-yard gain getting Cincinnati to the Jaguars' 44-yard line.
Brown would finish as the second leading rusher in the game as he had nine carries for 61 yards, averaging 6.8 yards per rush. Cincinnati would hit a game-winning field goal in overtime to win 34-31.
GIVE CHASE BROWN THE BALL pic.twitter.com/5SEbP6x99y
— NFL Canada (@NFLCanada) December 5, 2023
The moment is significant as Brown has been making those plays his whole career. The Illinois graduate finished his collegiate career in 2022. Over his last two seasons, Brown totaled 3,558 yards rushing and 18 touchdowns, including two All-Big Ten honors. He also won the Jon Cornish Trophy last year for being the best Canadian player in the NCAA, rushing for 1,643 yards and 10 touchdowns.
While he would get drafted in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft by the Bengals, Brown was also a target for the CFL. He went into the offseason ranked as the second-best Canadian prospect going into the CFL Draft.
There was a reason expectation that Brown would play in the NFL, but the 2023 Grey Cup champions Montreal Alouettes at least own his rights after drafting him in the seventh round of the 2023 CFL Draft.
After his Monday night performance, he could be seeing more playing time down the stretch of the NFL season. The CFL shouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility in the future though. Either way, Canada can be happy to see one of their running backs perform well on Monday night.
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Anthony Miller has been covering professional spring football since 2019 including XFL, USFL, and CFL. He was a local news reporter in Texas before transitioning to sports. Other sites he writes for includes College Football Network and NTZ Network.