Arizona Cardinals WR Brittan Golden might be playing baseball if not for mother

Right now, Brittan Golden is fighting to make the Arizona Cardinals’ roster.

The speedy receiver has appeared in five games for the team over the last two seasons — none in 2014 — and though he’s made some big plays during training camp, is in no way guaranteed a spot.

But then again, the 27-year-old West Texas A&M product wouldn’t even be in position to make an NFL roster if not for his mom and dad, who supported him every step of the way.

“It wasn’t really football when I was young,” Golden told Burns and Gambo on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM  Tuesday. “It was more baseball, basketball. I had a couple coaches tell me ‘it’s going to be easier if you want to play football,’ so I kind of came on later in high school.

“But everything I did — it didn’t matter if it was a piano lesson, a basketball game or anything I went –my parents were 100 percent behind me. If I said I wanted to do that, it was ‘If you dream it, you can do it. Just go ahead and go after your goals.'”

And yes, Golden said he learned to tickle the ivories.

“My mom made made me take piano lessons for three years when I was young, so I had to,” he said. “It was three years, and then you could do whatever you want.”

Golden will not be the next Ludwig van Beethoven, though, as he said about all he’s able to play now is “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”

And that’s fine for a Cardinals team that would rather Golden put on a show between the white lines than in a concert hall. Still, it’s possible Golden would be in the middle of a Major League Baseball season instead if not for his mom, who worked really hard to make sure he landed at a school that could help his career.

“Actually I had a couple calls from Division III schools and NAIA schools for baseball,” Golden said. “Football-wise, I didn’t really get recruited.  My mom went to searching and she went and got some highlight tapes from my high school coaches.  She sent them in and they said, ‘Hey, we’re having an open tryout at West Texas A&M.'”

Obviously the tryout went well, as Golden went on to become one of the best receivers the school has ever had. He left college ranked second in school history with 3,007 receiving yards and fifth with 165 receptions. He also had 33 touchdown catches, which was tied for sixth on the all-time list. Golden excelled on special teams as well, returning 30 punts for 274 yards and 10 kickoffs for 112 yards en route to being a first-team All-LSC selection as a senior after being named second-team as a junior.

It wasn’t enough to hear his name called in the 2013 NFL Draft, but that hasn’t stopped his career from moving forward. Golden said if not for his mom he would probably be playing baseball somewhere right now. Instead he’s battling to make the team, and he’s fine with that.

“I feel like [Bruce Arians] and the coaches do a good job of mixing and matching, and getting us in our best situation to succeed,” he said. “Every day I just try to get better and try to put my best foot forward and let the coaches know that I can play if I have to get in the game.”

The 5-foot-11, 186-pound Golden feels like he is doing that, but understands his chances of making the team may come down to math. The Cardinals will only keep so many receivers, and with Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, John Brown, Jaron Brown and J.J. Nelson all virtual locks, it’s possible there will not be room for Golden (or one of the other young receivers currently in camp).

Prior to Floyd’s injury Arians had brought up the possibility of keeping six receivers, which would seem like good news for Golden.

“Keeping six receivers is always good for the receiver room because we’re so deep in there and like I’ve said before, there’s so many receivers in there that could be playing anywhere, regardless of being a number two or number three on other teams,” Golden said. “But I guess it’s probably a good problem to have for a GM or a head coach to have six or seven guys that you’re like, they could all play somewhere; we have great depth so if we have to keep six, if God forbid anything drastic happens, we have somebody that can step up and play.”

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