Amon-Ra St. Brown Chose His No. 14 Based On A False Premise Because Of Girlfriend's Mistake
The Lions receiver should technically be No. 16
Sometimes athletes have interesting stories behind their uniform numbers, other times they don't but, Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown has one of those interesting stories.
Even if it's not quite the interesting story he had wanted it to be.
After playing his college ball at USC, St. Brown entered the 2021 NFL Draft and he had a plan for his jersey number once he was selected.
He asked his girlfriend to count how many wide receivers were taken before him in the draft, and that would be his number.
I like that. It's like giving yourself some bulletin board material. I also like that he was realistic about not being the first receiver picked that year (that honor went to Ja'Marr Chase), because I don't think you could wear No. 0 back then.
Brown was eventually taken by the Lions in the fourth round, 112th-overall, after 14 other receivers, and so St. Brown wears No. 14 to this day.
There's a cool story behind Amon-Ra St Brown's jersey number, but it turns out he actually picked the wrong one. (Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
However, in the new season of Netflix's Quarterback, St. Brown's girlfriend Brooklyn revealed that she counted a bit wrong during a conversation with QB Jared Goff's wife, Christen.
Brown — who has been known to rattle off the names of every receiver picked before him — should've been No. 16, which happens to be Goff's number.
"He’ll never admit this, but he asked me to count the amount of receivers before him, and that was going to be his number, and I messed up. It’s not 14," she said. "I told him it was 14, and so that’s why he’s 14."
The real number should've been 16, but cut Adams some slack. She's not Rain Man!
Think of all the other things that were going on during the draft, and many picks could be between wide receivers. Was she supposed to sit there making tallies as the picks came in?
St. Brown doesn't seem too broken up about the fact that, technically, he chose the wrong number and believes that what could have been his No. 16 looks good on his quarterback.
"I should have chose 16, looking back on it," St. Brown said. "But I think Jared looks better in 16 than me."
Good for him, but I have a feeling any time St. Brown and Adams get into a tiff, he might bring up that time he asked her to count some receivers for him.