A.J. Brown

Early life

Brown was born Arthur Juan Brown on June 30, 1997. His mother claims the middle name on his birth certificate of "Juan" was spelled incorrectly, and that his middle name is actually Jauan.

Brown attended Starkville High School in Starkville, Mississippi, where he played football and baseball. As a senior, Brown recorded 83 receptions for 1,371 yards and 13 touchdowns and led his team to a 6A state championship. He was named first-team All-State by USA Today, The Clarion-Ledger's Dandy Dozen, and the Mississippi Association of Coaches.

As a top recruit in both football and baseball, Brown became the second player, after Kyler Murray, to play in both the Under Armour All-America Football Game and the Under Armour All-America Baseball Game. In the 2016 Under Armour All-America Game, he had four receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown.

Brown was a consensus four-star prospect by the major recruiting services. He was ranked the No. 45 overall recruit by Scout, No. 47 by 247Sports, No. 53 by Rivals and No. 66 by ESPN. Brown was also listed as the No. 5 wide receiver prospect in the country by 247Sports and Scout and was ranked the second-best player in the state by 247Sports and third-best by Scout. On February 3, 2016, he committed to play both college baseball and college football at the University of Mississippi.

College career

The San Diego Padres selected Brown as an outfielder in the 19th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Padres, which prevented him from playing college baseball at Ole Miss, but he was still eligible to play football. Brown participated in extended spring training with the Padres after his freshman and sophomore years at Ole Miss. At Ole Miss, he majored in General Studies with an emphasis in Education, Journalism, and Legal Studies.

2016 season

In Brown's first game of his collegiate career, he started and recorded two receptions for 48 yards against Wofford. As a true freshman at Ole Miss in 2016, Brown played in all 12 games and finished fifth on the team with 29 receptions for 412 yards and two touchdowns. He finished fourth among SEC freshmen with 2.4 catches per game and fifth with 34.3 receiving yards per game.

2017 season

During the first game of his sophomore season in 2017, Brown hauled in eight catches, two of which were touchdowns of 71 and 77 yards. He tied the school record with 14 receptions against Louisiana along with 185 yards and two touchdowns while setting the school record for receiving yards in a game with 233 against South Alabama (later broken by Elijah Moore).

Brown finished the season with 75 receptions for a school record 1,252 yards and a school-record-tying 11 touchdowns (shared with Laquon Treadwell) in 12 games, leading the team and the SEC. He was awarded the Conerly Trophy, given to the best college football player in the state of Mississippi.

2018 season

Brown's 2018 junior season was shared with future NFL Pro Bowler DK Metcalf and was highlighted by nine receptions for 212 yards (at the time, second in school history only to his own record the previous year) and a touchdown against Vanderbilt. Brown again led the team and the SEC in receiving, finishing with a school-record 85 receptions (later passed by Moore) and 1,320 yards (still the record) and six touchdowns. He again had six 100-yard receiving games, tying his own record (shared with Treadwell and later Moore). He was named first-team All-SEC for the second consecutive year.

Following the 2018 season, Brown announced he would forgo his senior year and enter the 2019 NFL draft. As of 2022, Brown was the Ole Miss' all-time leader in receiving yards and 100-yard games (12).

Personal life

Brown is a Christian. He has said, “I’m a Christian first, before anything. When I step out on the field, I want to say thank you for the blessing, for everything, because I don’t have to do this. I get to do this. So I always wear a cross.”

On May 16, 2026, Brown married former college softball player Kelsey Riley. Their son was born in 2022. He has a daughter from a previous relationship.

Brown developed a close friendship with former teammate quarterback Jalen Hurts. Brown made Hurts the godfather of his daughter. Following the 2025 NFL season, Brown revealed that the two were no longer as close, but emphasized that there was no animosity between them.

In 2021, Brown posted a video to social media detailing his struggles with depression and suicidal ideation during the 2020 NFL season and encouraging those with similar struggles to seek help. Brown stated that reaching out to fellow NFL player and college teammate Elijah Moore and receiving help allowed him to overcome his struggles.

In 2022, Brown provided vocals on the Christmas album A Philly Special Christmas by The Philly Specials.

In 2026, Brown was connected to 76ers star Jaylen Brown. Jaylen Brown revealed the two were second cousins during an interview.