Brown wore the number 30 guernsey and became noted for his overall aggression and toughness. He debuted for the Hawks in 2002, and received a nomination for the Rising Star award. Brown was in the squad for the Australian international rules football team which competed in the International Rules Series in 2006. In 2007, Brown held down the centre half back position for Hawthorn, a position usually held by a taller man; Brown being only 179 cm. He was awarded a place in the All-Australian team for his efforts. The same year, Brown was fined $15,000 for giving misleading information to the AFL Tribunal about a misconduct charge involving West Coast's Chris Judd. Vision appeared to show Judd's hand on Brown's face with fingers around Brown's eyes. Brown's evidence at the Tribunal led to the charge against Judd being dropped. He was part of the Hawthorn premiership team of 2008 that beat Geelong. During trade week 2009, Brown was allegedly put up for trade, with Hawthorn supposedly chasing Port Adelaide star Shaun Burgoyne. Hawthorn fans and Brown reacted badly to this suggestion with club President Jeff Kennett and coach Alastair Clarkson subsequently confirming the story was untrue.
On 7 September 2010 it was rumoured that Brown would be leaving the Hawks to join new AFL club, the Gold Coast Suns. On 14 September2010, Brown declined a contract offer from Hawthorn, and he subsequently signed a contract with Gold Coast. In his second game for Gold Coast, Brown was suspended for four weeks. The AFL match review panel handed Brown a two-match suspension for an off-the-ball elbow to Callan Ward's face and a further two for a high bump on Barry Hall as he bent over to gather the ball. On 6 August 2011, Brown broke his pelvis while playing against Geelong at Skilled Stadium. The injury ended his 2011 season. At the end of the 2011 AFL season, Brown was removed from the Suns' leadership group after being involved in a bar fight during the club's end of season trip to Thailand. In November 2013, following a pre-season camp in Arizona, Brown was accused of breaking the jaw of a teammate, Steven May, during a fight in Los Angeles. May required an operation and had two plates implanted to repair the break in his left jaw. On 28 November 2013, Brown was suspended by the club pending the outcome of an investigation into this incident. On 4 December 2013 Brown was released from the Gold Coast Suns as a result of the incident with May. Brown's career ended with a total of 29 weeks suspension. This included a four-match ban for striking 's James Strauss in round 20, 2013, which happened to be his final AFL game; without the sacking, Brown would have missed the opening round of the 2014 season.
As of 2014, Brown is an AFL commentator on Saturday nights for Triple M From 2015, Brown appears as a political commentator on Channel 9's The Verdict with Karl Stefanovic. He is known for his right-wing political views.
