Ji'Ayir Brown

Ji'Ayir A'Veon Brown (born January 25, 2000) is an American professional football safety for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Lackawanna Falcons and Penn State Nittany Lions. Brown was drafted by the 49ers in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft.

Early life Brown was born on January 25, 2000, in Trenton, New Jersey where he attended and played high school football for Trenton Central High School.

College career Brown attended Lackawanna College in 2018 and 2019. In 2019, he was the Northeast JC Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

In 2020, Brown transferred to Penn State University. After spending his first year as a backup, Brown took over as a starter in 2021. In 13 starts, he had 73 tackles, six interceptions, and a touchdown. Brown returned to Penn State in 2022. He was named the defensive MVP of the 2023 Rose Bowl.

Professional career

2023 The San Francisco 49ers selected Brown in the third round (87th overall) of the 2023 NFL draft. The 49ers orchestrated a trade with the Minnesota Vikings in order to secure their ability to draft him by trading their third- (102nd overall), fifth- (164th overall), and seventh-round (222nd overall) picks to the Vikings in return for their third-round (87th overall) pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Brown was the fourth safety selected in 2023.

On May 13, 2023, the 49ers signed Brown to a four-year, $5.39 million rookie contract that included a signing bonus of $924,224.

Throughout training camp, Brown competed for the role as the starting free safety against veteran Tashaun Gipson under defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. Head coach Kyle Shanahan named Brown the No. 2 free safety on the depth chart behind Gipson and Talanoa Hufanga.

Brown made his professional regular season debut in the season-opening 30–7 road victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, but was limited to nine snaps on special teams. During Week 11 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Talanoa Hufanga suffered a knee injury in the third quarter and Brown had to replace him. Brown finished the 27–14 victory with four tackles, a season-high three pass deflections, and his first career interception on a pass attempt thrown by Baker Mayfield to wide receiver Chris Godwin to seal the victory for the 49ers.

On November 21, 2023, Brown was officially named the starting strong safety for the remainder of the season after Hufanga was placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL. During Week 12 against the Seattle Seahawks, Brown earned his first career start and recorded four tackles in the 35–13 road victory. Two weeks later against the Seahawks, he tied his season-high of six combined tackles (five solo), made one pass deflection, and intercepted a pass by Drew Lock to wide receiver D. K. Metcalf in the 28–16 victory. During Week 16 against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football, Brown had five tackles before leaving the eventual 33–19 loss in the third quarter with a knee injury. He subsequently remained inactive for the last two games (Weeks 17–18) of the regular season due to his injury.

Brown finished his rookie season with 35 combined tackles (22 solo), four pass deflections, and two interceptions in 15 games and five starts. He was also named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team and received an overall grade of 73.4 from Pro Football Focus as a rookie in 2023. The 49ers finished atop the NFC West with a 12-5 record and earned a first-round bye in the playoffs. During the NFC Championship Game against the Detroit Lions, Brown had 10 tackles in the 34–31 comeback victory as the 49ers advanced to Super Bowl LVIII. In the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs, he recorded 11 tackles, a pass deflection, and an interception off of Patrick Mahomes during the 25–22 overtime loss.

2024 Brown entered the 2024 season as the 49ers' presumptive starting safety, but was benched in favor of rookie Malik Mustapha near the end of the season after struggling in multiple games.

Brown finished his second professional season with 77 combined tackles (48 solo), six pass deflections, and an interception in 17 games and 13 starts.

2025 During Week 12 against the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football, Brown had five tackles, two pass deflections, and intercepted Bryce Young twice in the 20–9 victory. Brown was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance.

NFL career statistics LegendBoldCareer high

Regular season Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles GP GS Cmb Solo Ast TFL Sck PD Int Yds Avg Lng TD FF FR Yds TD 2023 SF 15 5 35 22 13 0 0.0 4 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2024 SF 17 13 77 48 29 3 0.0 6 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2025 SF 17 13 76 44 32 2 0.0 6 2 4 2.0 4 0 1 0 0 0 Career 49 31 188 114 74 5 0.0 16 5 4 0.8 4 0 1 0 0 0

Postseason YearTeamGamesTacklesInterceptionsFumbles GP GS Cmb Solo Ast TFL Sck PD Int Yds Avg Lng TD FF FR Yds TD 2023 SF 2 2 21 12 9 0 0.0 1 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2025 SF 1 1 4 2 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0Career 3 3 25 14 11 0 0.0 1 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0