Brown was drafted by George Halas' Chicago Bears in the sixth round of the 1952 NFL Draft. But Brown was drafted by the Marines and spent two years in service. He did play for the Camp Pendleton football squad. Brown began playing in 1954 as the third string quarterback for the Bears, behind George Blanda and Zeke Bratkowski. In 1955, with Bratkowski in the military, Brown beat out Blanda for the starting job and led the Bears to an 8–4 record and a very close second-place finish to the Los Angeles Rams. Brown developed a reputation as a longball-throwing, shot-and-a-beer quarterback, connecting often with Harlon Hill, who led the league with nine touchdown receptions. Brown had his finest season in 1956, playing for new Bears' head coach Paddy Driscoll (Halas was still owner and GM and would soon return as coach). Brown led the league that year in passing, completing 96 of 168 passes for 1,667 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He had an amazing 9.9 yards per attempt. Hill remained his favorite target, catching 47 passes for 1,128 yards (a 24.0 yard per catch average), and 11 touchdowns. The Bears won the Western Conference with a 9-2-1 record, leading the league in rushing and scoring while finished second in rushing in rushing defense.
