A.J. Brown is settling into his new life as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, and his Twitter page has turned into an interesting place as of late. It's been the main vehicle for him through which he's voiced his displeasure with the Tennessee Titans franchise and their fan base, which allegedly forced Brown to cancel a youth football camp in Tennessee with him citing his "peace" potentially being threatened. It was also a social media spat that led to Brown making a pretty big claim last week.
Friday, Brown was expounding upon a recent tidbit he learned regarding meteorology and the way weather forecasts were communicated to the public. A Twitter user that is clearly a Titans fan quote-tweeted the tweet saying Brown should just stay off of social media, calling him a "villain." Brown then responded saying this fan was "mad at the wrong person," and claimed that he was the best receiver to play for the Titans franchise.
For the love of God , I was the best receiver to play for your franchise. Shut up and move on. You mad at the wrong person 🕺
— AJ Brown (@1kalwaysopen_) June 10, 2022
This is a big statement for a player who played just 43 regular-season games for the Titans over three years. Brown certainly had a chance to become the best receiver in Titans history if he and the franchise could have agreed to a long-term extension, but his tenure in Music City ended prematurely. Brown did burst onto the scene with a historic rookie season, becoming the only player in the Super Bowl era to record a 1,000-yard campaign while averaging 20 or more yards per reception in his first professional season, but did he do enough to proclaim himself the best wide receiver to wear a Titans uniform?
This led to an interesting debate. If we are talking about the best wideout to ever rock the two-tone blue, then it's probably Randy Moss -- even if his tenure in Music City was short and unimpressive. The leading receiver in Oilers/Titans history is Ernest Givins, who recorded 7,935 receiving yards in 138 games. Brown likely finishes his Titans career with 2,995 receiving yards, which ranks No. 16 in franchise history.
There's an interesting player from the 1960s in Bill Groman, who put up very similar stats to Brown in almost the same amount of games played. In one fewer game played for the Oilers, Groman recorded 19 fewer receiving yards and eight more touchdowns. He recorded 1,473 receiving yards in his rookie season!
If you were to poll Titans fans on the best receiver in franchise history, most would probably say Derrick Mason. In 122 career games played for Tennessee, he caught 453 passes for 6,114 yards and 37 touchdowns. Mason had four straight 1,000-yard seasons from 2001-2004 before joining the Baltimore Ravens.
Brown has the potential to be one of the best wide receivers in the NFL for years to come, but he still has some work to do. He hasn't finished higher than 16th in receiving yards in his three years, and played in a career-low 13 games in 2021 due to injury. Brown was one of the best Titans players over the last three years, and Tennessee's best receiver since the Mason days. But to tab him as the best receiver to ever play for a franchise in 43 games may be a stretch.
