A.J. Brown says he’d love to play with Myles Garrett and reveals his pregame ritual featuring Adele
The Eagles wide receiver joined Donald De La Haye and Brad Wing on the Kickin’ It With Dee’ podcast
A.J. Brown has made quite a few headlines this season. First it was questions about his relationship with Jalen Hurts. Then he was spotted reading Inner Excellence on the sidelines in the playoffs. After the Super Bowl, he visited 10-year-old Philly plane crash victim Andre Howard in the hospital and found a unique way to display his uniform from the big game.
Most recently, the three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver joined Donald De La Haye and Brad Wing on the Kickin’ It With Dee podcast and discussed everything from his pregame routine to the true meaning behind his Instagram post just two days after the Birds’ Super Bowl win. And, of course, his desire to play with Myles Garrett, who requested a trade earlier this month. Here’s everything you missed …
‘Hometown Grown’ pregame ritual
Every player has their own pregame ritual or playlist they love to listen to, whether it’s Saquon Barkley listening to Rod Wave or Brown listening to … Adele?
“Listen, I’m gonna give my little insight,” Brown said. “I’m usually listening to Jeezy, my second favorite rapper. J-Cole is my favorite rapper. But when I get in that mode right before, I’m going to watch some Julio [Jones] highlights really quick. First of all, I’m in a room by myself, pitch black, watching Julio — because I’m like [expletive], if he can do it, I can do it. But this one song. Hometown Grown by Adele, just takes me there. I’m telling you, I don’t know what it do, it just takes me there.”
‘That’s my fix’
Just two days after the Eagles' 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on the biggest stage in football, A.J. Brown went on social media admitting that the championship glow had started to fade.
The wide receiver explained what the post meant.
“You know I wrote the post and it was just like — it wasn’t fulfilling, it didn’t do anything for me,” Brown said. “Coming into this game, it’s like, alright, we are playing for the Lombardi Trophy. We all adopted that mindset when we first got into the league. This is what we’re doing it for.”
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But after the game, things didn’t feel the way Brown expected.
“I tried to adopt that feeling,” he said. “And I’m in the locker room after we win. Bro, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do anything. And I’m in the locker room with a bottle of Ace of Spades trying to drink and enjoy it with my teammates. I’m smoking a cigar, I’m trying to feel how I pictured it … I was totally wrong. I even sat down in the locker room for a second because I got tipsy because I don’t drink. It didn’t take me long. So, I was just like, ‘Man, this is cool, but I’m ready to go.‘”
Brown finished the Super Bowl with 43 receiving yards and a touchdown. But despite a dominant win over the two-time defending champs on the biggest stage, the wide receiver says he still didn’t feel fulfilled. Instead, he said, that sense of fulfillment comes from the everyday grind.
“I really love the game,” Brown said. “And it ain’t for attention. It ain’t for money. It ain’t for cars, clothes. It’s not even for the trophy. It’s the daily grind and me putting in that time and believing in something that nobody can see but me … The part where I get the thrill from is like when somebody challenges me and tries to take what’s on my plate. That’s my fix. How dare you think you about to take what I worked so damn hard for?”
This seems like a good sign for what’s to come next season.
Offseason moves?
Staying on the topic of next season, Brown listed one very specific player that he would love to play with: Myles Garrett.
“I would say Myles Garrett,” Brown said when asked about any offseason additions. “Adding him with Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith. I don’t know what’s going to happen to Josh Sweat or Milton [Williams].”
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Ahead of Super Bowl LIX, Garrett requested a trade from the Browns after playing in Cleveland for eight seasons. The 29-year-old has earned five straight Pro Bowl honors and is coming off his seventh straight double-digit sack season. If there was any general manager who could pull off such a move, it would be Howie Roseman.
“He really put us in [a] position to win,” Brown said. “I know the players have to make plays, and the coaches have to coach, but he really put us in the position to win from the jump, and it paid off.”