Amon-Ra St. Brown really did not want to get drafted by the Lions, but everything has changed now

By now everyone knows the story of how Amon-Ra St. Brown got looked over until the fourth-round of the 2021 NFL draft and that 16 receivers were taken before him. What we didn't know until Tuesday when St. Brown was on the Pivot podcast was that waiting to get drafted in the fourth round wasn't […]

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (14) runs with the ball against the Los Angeles Chargers during the first half at SoFi Stadium.
Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

By now everyone knows the story of how Amon-Ra St. Brown got looked over until the fourth-round of the 2021 NFL draft and that 16 receivers were taken before him. What we didn't know until Tuesday when St. Brown was on the Pivot podcast was that waiting to get drafted in the fourth round wasn't the only thing that had him upset that day. Getting drafted by the Detroit Lions was the other big thing. 

"It's amazing. I mean, I'll say it again. I remember getting drafted, seeing the 313, I said 'fuck.' The one team I told my brother I do not want to go to is Detroit." St. Brown said. "I wanted to go to the Packers and play with him ( Equanimeous St. Brown) and Aaron (Rodgers), go with the Chiefs and play with Mahomes, Cowboys, any like, big team with a good quarterback. I saw the 313, I said 'it's over with.' I don't know what I'm gonna do. It's gonna be in the middle of nowhere. The team isn't good. I probably know two players on the roster. It was terrible. And me going fourth round, it was all bad. I mean, looking back and I was hot, like, when I got drafted, I wasn't excited. I was mad at the situation." 

It's hard to blame St. Brown for feeling that way. The Lions were coming off a really bad stretch with Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn and every player on that team that was good was jumping ship. This was going to be a very deep rebuild. Most players were trying to avoid Detroit at that time.

St. Brown said that things really started to flip for him in 2022 after a win over the Bears in Chicago. This was the Lions' first road win under Dan Campbell and the team's first road win in 13 away games. Then going on the streak the team went on. Everything felt different.

"At that point, I knew we got something special. We can do it. I feel like momentum is huge in the league, sometimes you don't have the best roster, you don't have the best guys, but if you can kind of cultivate a chemistry and a belief that you can win, you can win any game you want, and that's kind of what we had going there that season." 

St. Brown also talked about how much he loves Dan Campbell and how cool it has been to get to the point the Lions are at right now and that even though they aren't underdogs anymore, the team still feels like they are. 

The Lions rewarded St. Brown with a huge contract this offseason and judging by the Honolulu blue hair he was sporting in the playoffs, it's probably safe to say he's all in on Detroit and feels pretty good about getting drafted by the Lions. 

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