Daniel Brabham was a Veteran of the U.S. Air Force Reserves and was a football star at the University of Arkansas and LSU. He was a first-round pick for the Houston Oilers in 1963 and played five years for the Oilers and the Cincinnati Bengals. After football, Brabham became a math teacher in Tangipahoa Parish in Louisiana. Brabham loved his family and had many hobbies, including making music, writing poetry, and flying planes. Brabham died in 2011 at the age of 69. After his death, Dr. Ann McKee of the UNITE Brain Bank diagnosed him with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).
Daniel Brabham was an Air Force veteran, a teacher, a family man, an accomplished college and professional football player, and a lifelong crusader for change.
A former operator with Shell Chemical, native of Greensburg and resident of Prairieville, he passed away Sunday, January 23, 2011, in Baton Rouge, at the age of 69. He belonged to Carpenters Chapel United Methodist Church in Prairieville. He also formerly taught high school chemistry and math in Tangipahoa Parish. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force Reserves. He attended the University of Arkansas and LSU, receiving a bachelor’s degree in vocational agriculture and numerous academic recognitions through honor societies: Omicron Delta Phi, as well as being an Academic All-American.
He played football at college and professional levels, receiving distinction as an All-Southwest Conference recipient (1962) and as the third leading rusher in the SWC during his first year as a fullback. He was the first-round draft pick for the Houston Oilers and later traded to the Cincinnati Bengals, his career spanning from 1963-1968. He was a lifelong crusader for change, having smoking banned in his workplace in the 1980s and founding the Louisiana Fisherman’s Forum. He enjoyed genealogy (tracing his family history to Scotland and organizing reunions), handgrabbing for catfish (featured sportsman in Louisiana Conservationist and in a filmed documentary), aviation (acquired his pilot’s license), writing poetry and music, and spinning yarn surrounded by family and friends. Additionally, he was a steam locomotive and history buff, a self-taught player of the guitar and piano, and an avid reader.
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