CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco: Arizona Cardinals raving about how fast John Brown has picked things up
Jul 30, 2014, 6:56 PM | Updated: 6:56 pm
The hype surrounding Arizona Cardinals rookie wide receiver John Brown has snowballed.
At first, he ran the third-fastest 40-yard dash time (4.34) at the NFL combine. Shortly after being drafted, he shined in the team’s offseason workouts without pads.
During training camp he burned cornerback Justin Bethel on an a long touchdown, showing that he can still run with pads on. Brown was recently compared to Indianapolis Colts legend Marvin Harrison.
Brown’s attention has reached national levels, with NFL personalities such as CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco being impressed with the rookie’s start.
“It’s pretty amazing to watch him as a rookie in his first training camp do the things that he does,” Prisco said on the Doug and Wolf show Wednesday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
Brown, 24, didn’t take the normal path into the NFL. He started at Division II Mars Hill in 2008 and didn’t play in 2009 and 2010 before returning to Division II. At Pittsburg State, he caught 61 passes for 1,198 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2013.
His burner speed catches eyeballs, but it’s not just how fast he can run that has people excited about him.
“Everybody in the organization is raving about how fast he’s picked things up, how he understands the playbook, nothing’s too big for him,” Prisco said. “And to me that’s very telling to me particularly for a kid who came up through the ranks the way he did.”