When the Detroit Lions selected rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, I immediately said that there was a chance that he would catch more balls than any other wide receiver on the team.
Well, the 2021 season is in the books, and St. Brown not only led all Lions receivers in catches but he led the entire team with 90 catches for 912 yards and five touchdowns.
Despite his outstanding rookie campaign, there have been plenty of people who have said that St. Brown's first season in the NFL was a fluke and that he would never catch 90 passes in the NFL again.
During a recent interview with ESPN, St. Brown addressed his doubters.
I don’t really have anything to say about the people who may feel like my rookie season was a fluke. All I can do is try to prove them wrong. For me, I’m not really worried about other people. I’m worried about myself, the team and what I know I can do. As a receiver, there’s so many little things that you can do. A lot of drills, getting in and out of your breaks, catching the ball, working my releases off press, getting stronger, working on your balance. I’m not gonna stop what I do now. I feel like a lot of guys, they have success or they don’t because they stop doing what they’ve been doing their whole life. So for me, catching those balls is going to be something I do every day, even once I start working out again. That’s something I do every day. I’ve got a JUGS here at the house. It’s shown that it works and I have confidence that it works.
St. Brown added that he hopes he can be a centerpiece in Detroit for his entire NFL career.
That would be awesome if I can stay in Detroit my whole career and be that centerpiece. It’s a lot of great Hall of Famers like Calvin Johnson, Barry Sanders and Matthew Stafford. Even in basketball, you look at Ben Wallace and guys like that where the city of Detroit loves them. I think Detroit has a fan base that is really loyal, that loves their guys. It’s tough to find nowadays especially living out in Los Angeles and being where I’m from; for a lot of these fans, if the team is not winning they’re not really caring, but if they are winning, they’ll go to the games in the West, but in Detroit, they’re there every week. I really love the fans in Detroit. They’re awesome but to be a centerpiece like that would definitely be a lifetime goal of mine.
Nation, what kind of season do you expect St. Brown will have in 2022?
