2013 NFL DRAFT - Steelers Sixth (6a) Round Selection
JUSTIN BROWNWide ReceiverUniversity of Oklahoma Sooners6-3 - 209Wilmington, DelawarePenn State Nittany LionsConcord High School6th Round – 186th OverallCAREER NOTESAfter playing at Penn State from 2009-11 transferred to Oklahoma for his final season … started 39 of 49 games played in his career, registering 146 receptions for 1,926 yards (13.2 avg.) with eight receiving touchdowns … recorded 637 yards on 71 career punt returns (9.0 avg.) with one touchdown.
2012 SEASON (Oklahoma)Started all 13 games at wide receiver in his only season at Oklahoma ... named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention as a wide receiver and return man by coaches ... leads the team in punt returns and punt return yards while ranking second on the team in all-purpose yards (1,121), receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns ... tied a school record with 15 catches and set a career high with 146 yards against Oklahoma State ... recorded his first touchdown as a Sooner at Texas Tech.
2011 SEASON (Penn State)Junior Started 11 games at Penn State ... finished No. 20 in career receiving yards in program history ... was the only Nittany Lion to have at least one catch in every game ... second on the team with 35 receptions and 517 receiving yards and two touchdowns ... led the team with 27 punt returns for 220 yards and was third with 737 all-purpose yards ... had a 69-yard touchdown against Houston in the TicketCity Bowl ... had four catches for 86 yards vs. Purdue.
2010 SEASON (Penn State)Sophomore started eight games, playing in every game at Penn State ... third on the team with 33 receptions for 452 yards and one touchdown ... in first career start, made one grab for nine yards against Kent State ... set then-career-bests with four catches for 84 yards in win over Temple ... at Ohio State, caught five passes for 64 yards, including his first career touchdown reception ... against No. 10 Michigan State, caught six passes for 106 yards, his first career 100-yard receiving game.
2009 SEASON (Penn State)Freshman Played in 10 games ... had five receptions for 78 yards on the year ... also provided a spark for the punt return unit with seven returns ... most notable game was a three-catch, 45-yard effort against Eastern Illinois ... one of eight true freshmen to see playing time.
High SchoolEarned all-state honors as a wideout and defensive back for Coach George Kosanovich at Concord HS ... recorded 27 catches for 500 yards and 11 touchdowns his senior season ... Rivals.com named him a four-star recruit and the top prep player in Delaware in 2008 ... as a junior, was named first-team all-state at defensive back and second-team all-state at wide receiver, as well as first-team all-county at wide receiver, defensive back and punter.
PersonalSon of Joel and Iris Brown with two older brothers, Joel and Jeremiah ... Jeremiah played football at California University of Pennsylvania and a cousin, Christian LeMay, plays quarterback at Georgia ... likes to go to the movies, play pool and hang out with friends ... interested in becoming a sports broadcaster ... born in Cheltenham, Pa.
* AUDIO: Justin Brown Conference Call
Justin Brown Conference Call Transcript
Are you happy to go to a team that just drafted your quarterback?After I found out Landry was going I was excited. Then I got the call an hour or two later and I was pretty excited about that.
Did you guys have a pretty good rapport at Oklahoma?Landry welcomed me the moment I stepped on campus so we definitely had a good rapport from day one.
Re: Steelers have been looking for a tall receiver:I'm excited to get there and start working with Coach Mann and the other receivers.
If you stayed at Penn State do you feel you would be in this position right now?Who knows, I think everything happens for a reason and the things I learned at Penn State definitely helped me out. Everything happens for a reason and I learned a lot from both schools.
What made you leave in the first place?Just the opportunity that presented itself, to go down and play with a good team like Oklahoma and a good quarterback in Landry Jones and another great receiver in Kenny Stills.
Is this the round you expected to go?Yeah, actually in the whole process last year I didn't even have a draft day at all. So the fact that I was drafted at all is a blessing. So I am just excited
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Receivers Coach Richard Mann Press Conference TranscriptRe: Tell us what you like about Brown:
We brought him in last week I believe. I just feel really good about what I saw on tape. I am a big film guy. He is a big guy. He transferred from Penn State after three years. He is very productive, that tells you something about the guy. I think he has good toughness and that's part of being a good receiver. He'll lock up downfield and I think that is a part of it also. On top of it all, he's a good receiver. He can catch the football. Big target.
Were you looking for a bigger guy?
When you have the guys we have, we think we have a good receiving core. In my opinion, I think you try not to get all the same. I think he will come in and he's a guy that is primed for the strong side. He is a big guy who can lock up on the safeties and dig them out when it's colder up here and we have to run it. He's a guy we can put in and help with our running game.
You have brought in two young receivers. Do you feel good about where you are at with receivers?
From what I have seen, I don't know them that well. I know we have some good receivers. The thing I'm going to look for is where we play the guys to get the most out of them. Some guys are body types to dictate and play the weak side, some are strong side and some guys are good at playing the inside slot. I think the inside is a special place. Everyone cannot play it. I think with Todd [Haley] and Coach Tomlin, we will sit down and figure that out and put them where we can get the most out of them.
Re: Coach Haley talking about moving Markus Wheaton to different spots:I think we can move him around and the one thing that he has is juice. That's what you have to take advantage of. I've seen him play the strong side, but we all know that he's slightly built and he'll be productive and we just have to game plan and decide what position we want to put him in. But he's a guy who's very versatile. We say that because we've seen it on tape.
Do you have to adapt to Haley's style or do you bring your own concepts in?I've been around the track a little bit. Usually there isn't too much that I haven't seen. What I have to get used to is the verbiage. A lot of the same concepts, but they call them different names. I think that's the biggest thing. A lot of people don't realize that Coach Haley and I were together from years ago from when we first started. So a lot of what he believes in, I believe in it and a lot of what he does, I've seen it before and my biggest thing is in this room asking, "What does this mean?" So I can take it and get a comparison because like I've said, everybody copycats. Most I've done, I just have to turn the words over.
