PHILADELPHIA — During a conversation by A.J. Brown’s locker in 2022, he nodded to T-shirts that read “Unguardable.” Above the locker stall, an “ALWAYS OPEN” sign hung for all to see. You can do this with a straight face when you play football like Brown.
“The sign is bold, very bold,” Brown said then. “But you gotta believe it.”
Didn’t you?
For four years, Brown mostly backed up that bravado. It was a historic stretch — for Brown, and for the Philadelphia Eagles. And they’re going to miss him now that he’s traded to the New England Patriots.
Consider this: The Eagles did not have a wide receiver reach 1,000 yards in seven seasons before Brown arrived. He topped that mark in all four years in Philadelphia. He has the most 1,000-yard seasons in Eagles history. Only four wide receivers in the NFL totaled more yards than Brown during this stretch. The Eagles made the Super Bowl twice, won Super Bowl LIX and won double-digit games every season. The offense transformed when he arrived. It was not entirely Brown, but he was a force multiplier who rewrote the franchise record books.
