“I’m freaking Mr.Universe,” Amon-Ra St. Brown’s father John Brown reveals the secret behind his son’s insane work ethic

John Brown's sons Amon-Ra and Equanimeous have both made it to the NFL.

“I’m freaking Mr.Universe,” Amon-Ra St. Brown’s father John Brown reveals the secret behind his son’s insane work ethic

John Brown is a two-time winner of the Amateur Mr. Universe (Background Image via IMAGO, Image in circle via NFL)

As an athlete, the most important part of their daily routine is adhering to a strict workout regimen and diet. While this habit is inculcated into each athlete at different stages of their career, the best of the best tend to get disciplined at a relatively earlier stage. Aaron Donald for instance, has been known to have trained with his dad and that ultimately contributed to his physical strength and conditioning when he turned professional.

In the latest Netflix documentary Receiver, Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions was one of the players into whose life fans got a sneak-peak. A little-known fact is that his father, two-time Amateur Mr. Universe, John Brown, had a big role in inculcating a winner’s mentality into him and has disciplined him since childhood.

In the first episode of the Netflix special, Amon-Ra St. Brown reminisced about his childhood and gave his father his flowers for keeping him on track and guiding him about fitness and nutrition. A clip of his father John Brown motivating the wideout to lift weights at the tender age of 8 years was shown in the special. His father made sure that his son understood the goal from day 1, that his ultimate objective was to make it to the NFL.

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I know I am a father but I'm freaking Mr. Universe two times. I know what I am talking about when it comes to this stuff.
John Brown said

Brown Sr. disciplined his son and made sure he spent his time in the weight room and ate right to build his best physique for football.

John Brown has gone above and beyond to support Amon-Ra St. Brown in fulfilling his dream of making it to the NFL

An interesting snippet from the first episode was when the Detroit Lions’ receiver revealed how his father helped him become a better pass-catcher. When he was young, there was a wideout on the rival football team in his youth league who was lights-out at catching passes, Amon-Ra approached his father and informed him about this, and John Brown quickly swung into action.

Amon-Ra St. Brown
Amon-Ra St. Brown with family (Image via Sports Illustrated)

He spoke to the father of the rival wide receiver and found out that his son was that good at catching because he used to practice 200 catches a day with the help of the JUGS machine. After this, John Brown did not hesitate and bought a JUGS machine for his son, who made it a point to practice catching 202 balls a day, 2 more than his rival to give him an edge.

It comes as no surprise that his sons have managed to succeed in the NFL, his sons Equanimeous St. Brown and Amon-Ra have made it to the NFL, and the middle child, Osiris St. Brown plays football at the collegiate level but owing to injuries, he has faced multiple setbacks in his career. It is rare to see parents be supportive on the level that John Brown and his wife Miriam Steyer have been, they truly groomed their children to live and breathe football.

It comes as no surprise that Amon-Ra is the best wideout on the Detroit Lions. He had 1,515 yards this season on 119 receptions for 10 touchdowns. He inked a four-year deal with the team for $120 million with $77 million of it guaranteed, it will be exciting to see how his career pans out because he will just continue to get better.

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