Eagles star A.J. Brown’s selflessness contributes to his success in the NFL: ‘That’s how I was raised’

It was picture day for the Starkville High School football team. Standing inside the boys’ locker room, first-year head coach Ricky Woods opened the box of uniforms and grabbed the first jersey.

He turned to senior receiver A.J. Brown and asked, “You want No. 1?”

“A.J. was wearing No. 15. I came in, and I had No. 1 available,” said Woods, who retired from coaching last season after 33 years. “He said, ‘Yeah, I’d like to take No. 1, but I gotta talk to my father.’ He talked to his father and came back in and said, ‘My daddy doesn’t want me to wear No. 1; that [means] I’m the best player on the team.”

Woods paused with a smile on his face. For the short period of time he’d been at Starkville since leaving the coaching position at Peabody High School in Tennessee, Woods knew Brown was the best player on the Mississippi high school team. He was sure of it the first time he watched the Yellowjackets play in their 2015 spring game. After one play that featured Brown, Woods stood on the sidelines and turned to his wife saying, “That’s a real player right there.”

“I think No. 1 is going to be all right,” Woods responded.

Still, Brown checked back with his dad for permission. The memory stuck with Woods. It embodies who the 25-year-old was at a time when everybody else around him saw he could play at the next level. But his family’s influence helped maintain his humility.

Even now, the Eagles’ No. 1 wide receiver will give little credit to himself. The spotlight doesn’t phase Brown, who compiled 11 touchdowns and 88 receptions in his first season with the NFC champions.

“I just think that’s how I was raised,” Brown told The Inquirer on Wednesday. “My senior year was so special to me. We won a state championship with a team that was not as talented as my junior year. Ricky was a great coach. He helped our team tremendously.”

But this Sunday, he’ll be chasing a victory that would top Starkville’s 2015 state championship. After being traded from the Tennessee Titans during the 2022 NFL draft, the two-time Pro Bowler could earn his first Super Bowl ring when the Eagles face the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.

And there’ll be a familiar face when Brown steps on the field at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., but he’ll be wearing red. Chiefs linebacker Willie Gay, who grew up about five minutes away from Brown, knew during their Pop Warner days that the Eagles receiver had a natural gift.

“He was always a great athlete at everything he did, whether it was baseball, basketball, football,” Gay said Thursday. “He was always the best around our area. It’s great to see us both here.”

» READ MORE: More than a dual-threat QB: Jalen Hurts’ unprecedented Super Bowl run could make history

At first, Brown didn’t consider himself NFL-caliber. Despite competing in other sports, he didn’t join the high school football team until his sophomore year.

Gay, a freshman at the time, recalls Brown’s commitment leaning toward baseball, where the 6-foot-1, 226-pound Brown played center field. He even almost extended that career to the pros, signing with the San Diego Padres after being drafted in 2016.

“His dad was more of a baseball fan,” Woods said. “But he didn’t choose what [Brown] wanted to do. But I think his senior year, he was in a dilemma of what he was going to do. He had such a great senior year, I think football was the way he wanted to go.”

When a reporter asked Brown earlier this week why he chose football over baseball, he kept the answer short.

“I like scoring touchdowns over hitting home runs,” he said.

But it all stems back to that senior season, when he ultimately decided to further his football career. When former coach Jamie Mitchell resigned to take the head job at North Little Rock in Arkansas, the team looked for someone they could count on. Ultimately, Brown and Gay became those guys.

“Both of them had a very mild personality until they got to the games,” Woods said. “When the [game] started, their personalities changed in a really aggressive way. They would transform into harsh competitors — And to win, you gotta be a harsh competitor.”

» READ MORE: ‘I expected more’: Inside Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith’s relentless approach to reaching the Super Bowl

Gay, 24, trusted Brown’s opinion and credits him for keeping him motivated, and the two would discuss playing in college. While Brown was late to the recruiting process, Mississippi and Alabama showed heavy interest in the four-star prospect.

“Our goal was to be here today,” said Gay, who joined Brown at the Mississippi a year later. “He was just so good at what he did. He led by example. He didn’t have to say much. Never was a man of too many words, but he balled out every time on the field.”

The offense revolved around Brown, who finished his senior year at Starkville with 83 catches for 1,371 yards and 13 touchdowns. When he wasn’t playing receiver, Brown held his own at other positions.

Woods usually put Brown at cornerback for tough matchups because of his dominant speed. One instance came during Starkville’s first win of the 2015 season against Oxford High School. Brown played one-on-one coverage against future Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf, who also played at Mississippi and was in the same draft class as Brown.

Despite finishing 14-1 that year, none of it mattered for Brown unless the team won a state championship.

Before that final game, Brown sat in the locker room before getting on the bus that would take them to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on the Mississippi campus. He looked at Woods and asked, “Coach, you nervous?”

“I said, ‘A.J., you getting on the bus?’ He said, ‘I sure am,’” Woods said. “I said, ‘I’m not going to be nervous as long as you get on that bus.’ I felt like we were going to win because I thought we had one of the best players in the state.”

No matter how big the stage got, Brown’s selflessness has carried with him, and Woods believes it’s contributed to his success in the league.

“The best players are the best people,” Woods said.

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, or the field? See our picks for Super Bowl MVP between Eagles-Chiefs

The Eagles are one win away from their second championship. Join Inquirer Eagles writers EJ Smith, Josh Tolentino, Jeff McLane, Marcus Hayes and Mike Sielski on Gameday Central Sunday at 5 p.m. as they preview the game at inquirer.com/Eaglesgameday.