Plenty of athletes steer clear of social media to avoid negativity.
A.J. Brown doesn’t want your positivity either.
The Eagles’ star receiver is coming off a 10-catch, 155-yard Eagles debut, but on Friday said he removed social media apps from his phone because he doesn’t need fans telling him how well he played.
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“I don’t want to keep getting reminded,” Brown said on Friday. “I don’t need people to tell me how good I am or how bad I am. I’m just trying to focus on this week and make this week my best week.”
Whether or not Brown actually deleted the apps isn’t as important as the message. He said when he does use Twitter, he really tries to have fun, send out messages and avoid his replies.
We’ve seen many athletes in recent years become consumed by their social media mentions and messages. Most of the time we think about the criticism. We think about a player getting ripped for bad plays or not living up to expectations.
But Brown, 25, agrees there’s hidden danger in praise too.
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“I don’t believe my own hype,” Brown said. “I come in and work each and every day. It definitely can get in your head. Everybody wants to hear good things about them. But like I said, I just try to focus on me. I feed myself whatever thoughts I need to feed myself before the game or before practice to get myself prepared. I don’t want it to come from an outsider or anything.”
Brown had an incredible performance in the Eagles’ Week 1 win over the Lions but said that wasn’t his best game. He brought up the early struggles vs. the Lions and said his best games are when things go perfectly for him from the first snap. That happened last year in Week 7 against the Chiefs, when Brown had 8 catches for 133 yards and a touchdown for the Titans. He also said there was a game at Ole Miss that fit the bill too.
Though on Friday Brown wasn’t too interested on looking behind him. Especially not with his first Eagles home game coming up.
The Eagles host the Vikings on Monday Night Football and based on the love Brown has felt from Philadelphia since he was traded to the Eagles in April, he can’t wait to feel the atmosphere at the Linc.
“I just think the place is going to be on fire,” Brown said. “I keep hearing so much about it. I just think the place is just going to be electric.”
And if Brown or one of his fellow receivers score, we might see a new addition to the Eagles sideline. Cornerback Darius Slay recently started calling Brown “swole Batman” because of Brown’s ripped physique and dark tinted visor.
But then Slay also called DeVonta Smith “skinny Batman” and Quez Watkins “fast Batman.”
There are no Robins, Slay said. No sidekicks here. All the receivers are a version of the main character.
“We kinda talked about it afterwards,” Brown said. “We said we’re gonna bring us a cape or something when we score a touchdown. Something to just have fun with it.”
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