The long-anticipated A.J. Brown episode of Bussin’ With The Boys dropped tonight and you can listen to it here:
The popular podcast hosted by Will Compton and Taylor Lewan has been a great source for those interested in behind the scenes stories from NFL locker rooms and this episode certainly didn’t disappoint. Brown and The Boys discussed what it was like to be a highly ranked recruit coming out of high school, how to go about getting noticed by colleges, and why he ultimately chose Ole Miss over Alabama and Mississippi State.
Then they got into who Brown views to be the best three wide receivers in the NFL right now, trash-talking with Jalen Ramsey and Tyrann Mathieu, and a fantastic Rashaan Evans story from virtual OTAs.
However, the topic that I want to dive into a little bit here is Brown’s undeniable swagger. It’s something that struck me the first time I saw him walking the sidelines at training camp in 2019, and everything he’s done since — including this podcast — has only served to reaffirm and reinforce my initial impression.
Brown is an alpha among alphas. When asked who the best wide receiver in the NFL will be in three years, he wastes no time in saying “me”. To borrow Mike Vrabel’s favorite phrase from 2019, Brown doesn’t just want to be good, he wants to be great, and that oozes from both his words and his actions.
AJB wasn’t your typical rookie according to Taylor Lewan. In fact, at one point in the pod, Lewan calls Brown “the biggest asshole rookie” he’s ever been around (in a good way) because of how fearless he was with regards to calling out teammates and holding them accountable. Lewan said “A.J. called me out on every single penalty I ever had. The first person I had to hear from was A.J.”
Obviously, the two are on good terms — and Lewan did get the penalties cleaned up and played some of the best football of his career down the stretch — but it speaks volumes about Brown’s football character that a rookie was willing to hold a three-time Pro Bowl left tackle accountable. Of course, you only get away with that if you, yourself, are producing and Brown did plenty of that on his way to a 1,051-yard, 8-touchdown debut.
Another nugget from the pod that speaks to who A.J. Brown is as a player: he famously got invited to California during the pre-draft process to train with Jerry Rice (like Brown, Rice was born and raised in Starkville, MS) and have it filmed as part of the NFL Network’s Destination Nashville series.
Brown and Rice ran the famous hill that the 49ers legend trained on every offseason during his storied NFL career, but Brown was disappointed to find out that the opportunity to be more photoshoot than workout when he arrived. AJB isn’t afraid of a little flash — as those Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses from the Rookie Premiere photos prove — but he’s about the work first and foremost.
That kind of mentality combined with his physical gifts will give him a chance to reach his goal of becoming the best wide receiver in the NFL within the next three years.
Please make sure to rate, review, subscribe, unsubscribe, and resubscribe to Bussin’ With The Boys on your favorite podcast platform and be sure to check out the YouTube channel tomorrow night for the video version of this episode.
I mean, who is the last Titans WR to get a second contract? Kendall Wright? AJB is going to the be the next.
Great article Mike! AJB definitely is what the Titans need and I look forward to his climb to be the best WR in the NFL.