A Family Legacy Written Into the Street Signs
Warren Township is putting the Browner name on a street sign. Trustees are dedicating a stretch of road as “Browner Way,” honoring a family that sent four sons to the NFL and built one of the most remarkable athletic bloodlines in Northeast Ohio history.
According to the Tribune Chronicle, township trustee Ed Anthony said plans call for a dedication ceremony, with a portion of Fifth Street from Tod Avenue SW to the Warren city limits designated “Browner Way.” Local reporting on the story has referred to the road as both “Sixth Street Browner Way” and a stretch of Fifth Street — the exact street name has been described inconsistently in coverage, so residents should watch for the sign itself once it goes up.
The honor centers on Jimmie and Julia Browner, who raised six sons and two daughters in Warren Township, in a home Jimmie built himself. Every one of the six sons played football at the former Warren Western Reserve High School. All six went on to college. Four made it to the NFL.
Four Brothers, One NFL Bloodline
Ross and Jim Browner both played college football at Notre Dame before reaching the pros. Ross became one of the most decorated defensive linemen in college football history, a unanimous All-American who won the Outland Trophy in 1976. The Cincinnati Bengals took him eighth overall in the 1978 NFL Draft, and he went on to set a Super Bowl record with 10 tackles by a defensive lineman against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XVI, according to the Tribune Chronicle. Ross died in January 2022 at age 67.
Jim Browner also starred at Notre Dame and helped his Western Reserve team win Ohio’s first-ever OHSAA football state championship before his NFL career. He died in March 2024 in Atlanta at age 68.
Keith Browner played linebacker at USC before a pro career that spanned the NFL, the CFL and the Arena Football League, where he won three ArenaBowl titles. He died in November 2025 at age 63.
Joey Browner may be the most decorated of the four. A defensive back at USC, he was selected 19th overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the 1983 NFL Draft and became a six-time Pro Bowler and four-time First-Team All-Pro. He was named to the NFL’s 1980s All-Decade Team and inducted into the Vikings Ring of Honor in 2013. Joey died this spring, and his family laid him to rest beside his parents in Ohio.
The Ones Who Didn’t Go Pro — And the Next Generation
Willard Browner rushed for over 1,000 yards himself at Western Reserve and played running back at Notre Dame before being drafted by the Chicago White Sox. Gerald Browner, the youngest of the six brothers, played football at the University of Georgia. Their sisters, Burdette (Vaughn) and Olivia, grew up alongside them on the family’s home turf in Warren Township.
The Browner name didn’t stop with that generation. Keith’s son, Keith Browner Jr., played defensive end in the NFL for the Houston Texans and Chicago Bears. Ross’s son, Max Starks, won two Super Bowl rings as an offensive lineman with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
| Browner Sibling | College | NFL Team(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Ross Browner | Notre Dame | Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers |
| Jim Browner | Notre Dame | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Keith Browner | USC | Buccaneers, 49ers, Raiders, Chargers |
| Joey Browner | USC | Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
Why This Honor, and Why Now
Warren G. Harding High School, which absorbed Western Reserve in a 1990 merger, still keeps a display dedicated to the Browner family. Trustee Anthony said the brothers stayed connected to the community long after their playing days ended, returning to run youth football camps in the area, per the Tribune Chronicle. That thread — a family that made it to the top of professional football and kept coming home — is at the center of why local officials are putting the name on a street sign now.
Two of the four Browner brothers who reached the NFL, Keith and Joey, have died within the past several months. The timing gives the dedication an added layer of tribute for a family whose living members, including Willard and Burdette, still call Warren Township home.
