Former NFL cornerback Brandon Browner has been sentenced to eight years in prison for attempting to kill his ex-girlfriend.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office confirmed Browner was sentenced on Tuesday after pleading no contest to attempted murder as part of a deal with prosecutors.
He also pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to a child, according to TMZ Sports.
Browner was arrested in La Verne, California, on July 8 and charged with four felonies, which included attempted murder and two misdemeanors after he broke into his ex-girlfriend's home through a window.
The 34-year-old reportedly threatened to kill the woman, before smothering her in a carpet. The woman, whose kids were present at the scene at the time of the incident, had a previous relationship with Browner. He had been arrested for violence against the woman earlier this year.
According to the La Verne Police Department, he was also arrested on charges of burglary, robbery, false imprisonment and child endangerment. The first three charges were dropped as part of the agreement his legal team had reached with the prosecution.
Browner was immediately remanded into custody, where he has been since the arrest in July. TMZ Sports reported he has got credit for 300 days for good behavior during the time spent in jail so far.
A former Pro Bowl cornerback and a two-time Super Bowl winner, Browner played in the NFL for 11 seasons after leaving Oregon State in 2005 and being selected as an undrafted free agent by the Denver Broncos in the same year.
Browner missed the entirety of his first season in the league with a fractured forearm and was subsequently waived by the Broncos, before spending five seasons in Canada with the Calgary Stampeders.
In 2011, he returned to the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks. An original member of Seattle's "Legion of Boom" defense, Browner established himself as a crucial cog in the Seahawks team that won the NFC with a 13-3 record—the joint-best in franchise history—in 2013 and then thrashed the Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII.
Widely ranked as one of the best defenses in the history of the NFL, the Seahawks' defense became the first team since the 1985 Chicago Bears to lead the league in points allowed, yards allowed and takeaways.
Browner added another ring to his trophy cabinet a year later, preventing his former teammates from doing so. Having moved to the New England Patriots in March 2014, Browner helped Bill Belichick's team to beat the Seahawks 28-24 in Super Bowl XLIX.
Despite two Super Bowl titles in two seasons, Browner moved on again in the summer of 2015, signing for the New Orleans Saints, before returning to Seattle a year later as the Seahawks attempted to reform the Legion of Boom.
However, he was released after three preseason games and left the NFL soon afterward.
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