John Brown(CXV)
Height: 5'10 / Weight: 178 / College: Pittsburg State / Hometown: Homestead, FL / DOB: April 3, 1990
A product of Pittsburg State, John Brown came to the Cardinals with a story that matches his prodigious talent. He began his college career at Mars Hill University in North Carolina in 2008 and was named the South Atlantic Conference's Freshman of the Year after leading the league with 1,472 all-purpose yards. However, academic challenges forced him to miss the 2009 season, and then Brown's world changed in 2010 when his half-brother, James Walker, who played at NAIA school MidAmerica Nazarene University, was shot in Florida. Walker remained in the hospital for months, and during that time Brown transferred to Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, but he wasn't awarded one of the team's out-of-state scholarships and ended up sitting out another year. However, coaches at Pittsburg State in Kansas had learned of him and offered him a scholarship. He signed his letter of intent in April 2011, just hours before he received the news Walker had died. Brown made a promise to his brother that he would score the first time he touched the ball at Pittsburg State, and he made good on that pledge when he returned a punt 84 yards for a TD in the 2011 season opener. He never looked back, going on to set school career records with 185 receptions for 3,387 yards and 34 TDs. He totaled 45 TDs at Pittsburg State, adding six rushing, three punt return and two kickoff return scores. "Every day I wake up I hear him," he said. "When I'm tired, when I'm working out and thinking about giving up, I can hear him in my head. It just pushes me to go even harder."
The Cardinals second selection in the third round (91st overall) in the 2014 NFL Draft, Brown appeared in all 16 games during his rookie season, hauling in 48 receptions for 696 yards and five TDs, including an NFL rookie-record four game-winning TD receptions.
A product of Pittsburg State, John Brown came to the Cardinals with a story that matches his prodigious talent. He began his college career at Mars Hill University in North Carolina in 2008 and was named the South Atlantic Conference's Freshman of the Year after leading the league with 1,472 all-purpose yards. However, academic challenges forced him to miss the 2009 season, and then Brown's world changed in 2010 when his half-brother, James Walker, who played at NAIA school MidAmerica Nazarene University, was shot in Florida. Walker remained in the hospital for months, and during that time Brown transferred to Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, but he wasn't awarded one of the team's out-of-state scholarships and ended up sitting out another year. However, coaches at Pittsburg State in Kansas had learned of him and offered him a scholarship. He signed his letter of intent in April 2011, just hours before he received the news Walker had died. Brown made a promise to his brother that he would score the first time he touched the ball at Pittsburg State, and he made good on that pledge when he returned a punt 84 yards for a TD in the 2011 season opener. He never looked back, going on to set school career records with 185 receptions for 3,387 yards and 34 TDs. He totaled 45 TDs at Pittsburg State, adding six rushing, three punt return and two kickoff return scores. "Every day I wake up I hear him," he said. "When I'm tired, when I'm working out and thinking about giving up, I can hear him in my head. It just pushes me to go even harder."
The Cardinals second selection in the third round (91st overall) in the 2014 NFL Draft, Brown appeared in all 16 games during his rookie season, hauling in 48 receptions for 696 yards and five TDs, including an NFL rookie-record four game-winning TD receptions.
