Respect earned, respect given: Raiders’ Trent Brown motivated for team success, too
Las Vegas Raiders tackle Trent Brown was 12 picks away in the 2015 NFL draft from being “Mr. Irrelevant,” the unofficial title bestowed each year on the final selection.
There’s a trip to Southern California for the “winner,” a week’s work of festivities, and a lot of talk about the power of underdogs. It raises money for charity, too, but Brown was more than willing to pass.
Already in a foul mood that he remained on the board into the draft’s seventh and final round that year, he was hardly looking forward to achieving the dubious honor.
“I felt like I was disrespected,” Brown told The Bee recently. “But at the same time, the whole time I knew I needed an opportunity to get my foot in the door and show what I can do. I just took it from there. I got a chip on my shoulder.”
The San Francisco 49ers came to his rescue, selecting Brown with the 244th overall pick. He spent his first three seasons with San Francisco gaining that sought-after respect, then in his fourth year in the league added a championship after an April 2018 trade to New England.
He protected Tom Brady and helped the Patriots to the Super Bowl LIII title to cap the 2018 season and also learned some things that three strong individual seasons on a sub-.500 49ers team could not teach him.
“When I got to the Patriots, I learned the whole team aspect and learned how to win,” he said. “I learned what it means to have a winning attitude. In that organization, I learned that it’s either Super Bowl or failure.
“Nobody is playing for Pro Bowl or personal accolades. Everybody is playing for rings. That’s it. If they don’t make it to the Super Bowl, it’s considered a failed season.”
The next offseason, Brown joined the Raiders, agreeing to a four-year, $66 million contract with $36.75 million guaranteed in March 2019, making him the highest-paid offensive lineman in the league.
Last season culminated with him earning his first Pro Bowl selection.
Though he had to skip the all-star game because of an injury, his first season with the Raiders, and their last one in Oakland, also gave him hope — with the other pieces they added — that they can follow the Patriots’ trajectory.
The belief grew stronger this offseason.
The Raiders, headed to the desert for their inaugural year in Las Vegas, chose Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III with the 12th overall selection of the draft to give quarterback Derek Carr a speedy threat. There were key free agency acquisitions, too, the latest being ex-Chicago Bears cornerback Prince Amakumura.
“I feel like we definitely got better this year,” he said. “We took strides last year and we’re going to continue to take strides and just put one foot in front of the other.
“Even with the additions last year, me being one of them, you can look at those guys and trust the organization ... to put the right players in place for us to win some games and win championships. With Henry Ruggs, and we still got one of the best backs in the league and we got the best offensive line in the league. I mean, it’s about to be scary.
“I’m excited. I definitely think it’s going to be special times in silver and black for years to come.”
Von Miller’s early endorsement
“I feel like he’s one of the better tackles in the National Football League,” Denver All-Pro linebacker Von Miller on Brown in 2016
Yes, the Broncos defensive star needed all of one season to get on board with Brown’s potential. It would be the first of several shout-outs over the past few seasons that Miller directed Brown’s way, even as the two squared off last year on opposite sides of one of the AFC’s most bitter division rivalries.
“I still have the video saved in my phone when someone sent it to me,” Brown said. “I didn’t know he had said it until Week 1 or 2 into the season. One of my partners sent me the video and was like, ‘Dang, bro, you’re doing it like that?’ This is literally a year after I was drafted in the seventh round. It was just crazy.”
For now, he’s working from home
Already headed for change given the Raiders move to Las Vegas, stay-at-home restrictions in the wake of the nationwide coronavirus outbreak forced Brown into even more adjustments.
“It was tough in the first beginning,” Brown said of players having to work out on their own, as the NFL and its teams try to do their part to slow the spread of COVID-19. “My trainer and I didn’t really know how to approach the whole workout situation.
“About two to three weeks into the quarantine, my agent reached out to one of my old trainers and helped me order my gym stuff and it was kind of a quick turnaround ordering stuff for my home gym. Working out is a lot easier ... super easier, a lot more easier ... I really just been trying to get it in the best I can.”
Quarantine time is dad time
There has been a benefit to the unusual run-up to the new season.
“Just focusing on my father time with my kids. That’s been the biggest takeaway for me through the whole quarantine thing,” Brown said of juggling professional and personal responsibilities. “I’ve actually been able to spend time with them since we’re not in OTAs.”
Like a lot of veterans, Brown says that, too, is a good thing.
“I’m really glad we’re not in OTAs,” Brown said. “I feel like OTAs are a really a waste of time for veterans, and it’s really too long. I can understand if they want to maybe (go with) a month or two weeks for the vets, and they keep the young guys for the full time, but really and truly the biggest takeaway for me is to spend time with my family and my kids and just continue to see them grow and just be around them.”
School laptops are charitable move
He has the respect and now the big contract, but Brown isn’t about to ignore his newly adopted community.
“I have a soft spot for the less fortunate,” Brown said of a recent charitable endeavor — a $20,000 gift to help buy Chromebook laptops and computer supplies for students in Clark County School District, which includes the greater Las Vegas area, as school doors closed and the teens were forced into remote learning.
“When they explained to me who it will be going to I was definitely trying to make sure it will be going to those who were in need,” he said. “Just really for those who can’t afford it and really need it so they can continue their work for school from home. It was special to me because I just launched my foundation, TB77 Cares, and for that to be the first big thing we’ve done, it was kind of special to me.
“I can’t wait to do more things in the near future. The school system reached out to me and the opportunity to partner with them. From there it was sending over the wire and that was it. They’ll be giving them away to the kids who need them.”
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
