14. Jerome Brown — Career ended at 27 in 1992

One of the great defensive linemen in NFL history who never really gets full credit for just how good he was, Jerome Brown was simply taken away from his fans with the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL too soon. A dominant defensive lineman at the University of Miami (and an All-American in 1986), Brown was the 9th overall pick in the 1987 NFL Draft.

Head coach Buddy Ryan used Brown and future Hall of Fame defensive end Reggie White to transform the Eagles into one of the most ferocious defensive teams of the 1980’s. Unfortunately, Brown was involved in a fatal car accident in the summer of 1992, when he crashed his Corvette at a high speed.