Cornerback Terrence Brown, quietly one of Stanford’s most improved defenders this season, announced Tuesday he would forgo a fifth year on the Farm and enter the NFL Draft.
“My admission to Stanford University in 2009 was a life-changing event for me, and all of the faculty, students and staff I have met since have truly blessed and enriched me,” Brown said in a statement. “I will forever and always be a Cardinal.”
He will still earn his degree in Science, Technology and Society this spring.
Brown started all 14 games for the Cardinal (12-2, 8-1 Pac-12) and was the team’s fifth-leading tackler with 65 stops this season. His 10 passes defended ranked only behind the figures posted by safeties Jordan Richards (15) and Ed Reynolds (11) and he notched two breakups each in Stanford’s upsets of top-five opponents USC and Oregon.
Brown also started nine times in 2011 while appearing in every game.
The announcement made Brown the third redshirt junior to pass up a fifth year this week, after tight ends Zach Ertz and Levine Toilolo announced their departure Monday. But with Shayne Skov, Ben Gardner and Trent Murphy tweeting their decisions to stay at Stanford on Sunday, the Cardinal still returns nine starting defenders.
Sophomore Wayne Lyons and junior Barry Browning will be expected to step up in Brown’s absence.