Brown believes TE Waller can be ‘one of the best to ever play’
Darren Waller was riding an exercise bike getting warmed up for the second half of the final game played in Oakland when a couple of Raiders legends approached.
It was Tim Brown and Marcus Allen, telling Waller to keep up the good work.
“I don’t know if they
know how much it meant to me right then,” Waller said Thursday in a video conference. “To even be mentioned with (Brown) is pretty crazy.”
Waller’s meteoric rise has him on the short list along with Travis Kelce and George Kittle as one of the best tight ends in the NFL. Brown took it even further as he pondered seeing his franchise record of 104 receptions fall by the wayside should Waller catch seven passes Sunday against the Denver Broncos.
“I think he’s still wet behind the ears, man,” Brown said in a phone interview this
week. “I don’t think he understands how dominant he is. I think once he does, he’s going to be one of the best to ever play this game. Without a doubt.”
The Raiders (7- 8) may have faded, but Waller is picking up steam, averaging just under nine catches and more than 134 yards in his last four games. Waller (98 receptions, 1,079 yards, eight TDs) has taken dead aim on a record coach Jon Gruden “didn’t think would ever be broken.” His story is well- chronicled, spotted by offensive coordinator Greg Olson during in a pregame workout before the Raiders played the Baltimore Ravens in 2018.
Waller was in his first year of recovery from drug and alcohol addiction after multiple NFL suspensions. He’d gone from stocking shelves in a grocery store to the Ravens practice squad to a spot
on the Raiders. The rest has been history in the making.
Brown, 54, figured his record was in jeopardy when Gruden returned to the sideline in 2018. The offensive system is complicated but beneficial for receivers who can master it before Gruden loses his patience.
“I certainly expected when Gruden came back and he had Amari Cooper that the record would be
broken,” Brown said. “But I can honestly tell you that I never imagined it would be a tight end that was going to break this record.”
Waller, with precious little experience, has grasped the system and flourished in a way that evaded Cooper. A first-time Pro Bowl selection, he’s listed as a tight end and has taken pride in his blocking, a skill that didn’t come naturally.
But Waller’s strength is as a multi-faceted weapon who can be deployed in-line but also flexed as a wideout to either side, the slot or even in the backfield. Waller is doing things John Madden never envisioned with Dave Casper or Tom Flores with Todd Christensen.
Brown, a self-proclaimed football junkie, had played under Mike Shanahan, Art Shell, Mike White and Joe Bugel before Gruden arrived in 1998. It was under Bugel and with Jeff George at quarterback that Brown had his record-setting season — 104 receptions, 1,408 yards — but it was under Gruden that he immersed himself in a system and obsessed over every nuance and detail.
Brown is fairly certain Waller will break his record.
“I’m excited for the young man,” Brown said. “They said records are made to be broken. I guess in some way I still have the record because he’ll have the tight end record and I’ll have the wide receiver record.”