Brown bounces back
Oklahoma offensive tackle Orlando Brown rebounded from a disappointing performance at the NFL Combine with an improved showing during OU’s Pro Day on Wednesday.
Orlando Brown wasn’t supposed to lift first on the bench press.
But that’s what he wanted.
Bench press was the skill test that derailed the Oklahoma tackle a couple weeks ago at the NFL Combine. A bad performance on it led to more bad performances. Really bad. He wanted to redeem himself Wednesday during the Sooners’ Pro Day, so when he noticed receiver Jeff Badet, first up alphabetically, wasn’t quite ready, Brown stepped forward.
“That’s the way I go, bro,” he said. “I just felt like I was ready.”
He showed it, improving not only the bench press but also every single mark from the combine. His 40-yard dash went down. His vertical and broad jumps went up. And yes, he improved that bench press total from 14 to 18. He had a better day. But was it good enough? Brown was seen talking to team reps from Indianapolis, Washington, San Francisco and others after his workout.
“They thought that this was more what they would see at the combine,” said Jammal Brown, the former Sooner tackle who is no relation to Orlando but has become a mentor. “Seeing him do those historically bad numbers was like, ‘Whoa. We knew the guy wasn’t going to test well, but this?’”
Orlando Brown started the rehabilitation process Wednesday. He said at the combine that his benchpress breathing technique got thrown off, and he explained Wednesday that performance was so poor it affected everything else.
“My mentality was messed up,” he said. “It just kind of snowballed on me.”
He admitted that shouldn’t have happened.
“I’m not a person that gets down on myself like I did at the combine,” he said. “I’m a person that perseveres.
“I think I showed that today.”
The pressure was definitely on Brown. He’d become the talk of the draft class for all the wrong reasons. Those 14 reps on bench press had become a lightning rod.
“I’ve been having to stay off Twitter; there’s so many 12-year-olds ... telling me they’re stronger than me,” he said, laughing. “I had somebody send me something in German. It translated into something weird like, ‘(Fourteen) reps? Dude, come on.’”
Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger even poked fun via social media.
“Did he start this year?” Brown poked back Wednesday.
Told that Ehlinger did, Brown nodded.
“I know he lost, though,” he said. “Texas sucks. Every day. All day. I don’t go here now, so I can say a lot of stuff like that.”
He smiled. Brown has always had a playful personality off the field and a mean streak on it. Frankly, in a 6-foot-8, 340-pound body, it’s a combo that would make for a great teammate in the NFL. Brown was thought of as a firstround lock before his poor combine performance.
But even with his improved marks and few standouts at tackle in this year’s draft, he seems unlikely to be drafted in the first round. Even his improved marks are well below those posted by pretty much every other offensive tackle who went to the combine.
Now, you might argue that offensive linemen aren’t going to be broad jumping or sprinting 40 yards during a game, so why does any of that matter?
Because these numbers are more than indicators of skill. Teams look at them as indicators of care.
Are these guys serious about their sport and committed to their craft? How hard are they willing to work? Are they dedicated and driven?
Did Brown work hard enough before the combine?
“Yeah, definitely,” he said when I asked him Wednesday. “My numbers that I did today are numbers that I’ve been hitting. It was just telling myself, ‘That’s over with. It’s time to go to the pro day and execute.’”
He definitely improved over the past couple weeks, and that should say something to NFL types, too – this guy isn’t a quitter.
“You could see by his face and his interactions today that he was locked in,” said Sooner tight end Mark Andrews, who has been training in California at the same facility as Brown.
“This is not a joke to him. This is his life, this is his job, and it’s what he wants to do.”
Some have suggested Brown should’ve shut it down at the combine. Fake an injury. Fib some sniffles. Do anything to minimize the damage.
But Brown kept going. Said he didn’t even consider packing it in.
“I said I was gonna go through with it,” he said, “so I don’t want to back down.”
He didn’t then. He didn’t Wednesday. What that means on draft weekend remains to be seen, but Orlando Brown believes he showed during pro day a bit of what has defined his career.
“I’m gonna work,” he said, referring how he arrived at OU as an overweight, out-of-shape prospect and left as an AllAmerican. “I’m a person that’s gonna continue to get better throughout my career. Hopefully, these NFL teams look at that and understand what I can do at the next level.”