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Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions hope to steal the spotlight from the San Francisco 49ers
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- Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions hope to steal the spotlight from the San Francisco 49ers
Amon-Ra St. Brown may not realize it. But he has become the unofficial mascot of the upstart Detroit Lions .
With his dyed Honolulu Blue hair and gritty demeanor, St. Brown fits the role perfectly. When he fumed after his recent Pro Bowl snub earlier this month, Lions fans felt his anger. To them, his slight was also theirs, another sign of disrespect for a franchise still carrying the stigma of its miserable past.
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But it was also a reflection of the Lions' current reality.
As St. Brown said Wednesday, "We're definitely a smaller market compared to some other teams. … I think the more people pay attention, the more prime-time games you get, the more people are watching you play. That all adds up."
Detroit Lions wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Daurice Fountain practice at Detroit Lions headquarters and training facility in Allen Park on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024.
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The sum of it looks like the Lions' NFC championship game opponent, the San Francisco 49ers — a team that boasts nine Pro Bowlers and some of the most recognizable names in the game. Bosa . Kittle . McCaffrey . Purdy. And Deebo. They each have made the 49ers into a perennial contender. They have also been thrust into the brighter spotlight because they play for the same franchise for which Montana and Rice became legends, for which Walsh burnished his reputation as one of the sport's most iconic coaches, which garnered five Super Bowl trophies in a showcase run during a bountiful 14-year period, which made the West Coast offense all the rage.
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The 49ers have cachet. The Lions don't. A reporter tried to make that point to quarterback Jared Goff earlier this week.
"You guys have a lot of really good players, obviously," he said. "But maybe not viewed as the superstars that the 49ers have. … Do you feel like this is a chance for more people to see what you have?"
Goff smiled and let out a big laugh.
"St. Brown was first-team All-Pro," Goff reminded him.
"So was (offensive tackle) Penei (Sewell)," he continued.
The exchange brought laughs before Goff turned serious and acknowledged he agreed with the line of questioning.
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"I think we have a ton of great players who may not have had the national stage up until this point that a lot of other guys have," he said.
Perhaps the most obvious one is St. Brown.
Even though he has earned his share of accolades, St. Brown doesn't attract the same fanfare as the NFL's other top receivers. Yet St. Brown certainly stands among them. He ranked third in catches, first-down receptions and receiving yards during the regular season. Only the Miami Dolphins ' Tyreek Hill and the Dallas Cowboys ' CeeDee Lamb produced more in each of those categories. But in terms of publicity, Hill and Lamb dwarf St. Brown, who flies under the radar even as he soars above most of his peers. Case in point: St. Brown has snagged more passes than any other player in the postseason.
Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown celebrates the 31-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC divisional round at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024.
The lack of widespread recognition would seem to rankle St. Brown, who carries a chip on his shoulder. But the third-year veteran takes it all in stride.
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"We're underdogs," he said. "We've been underdogs for a while here. So, it's nothing new to us."
Indeed, the 49ers — with their constellation of stars, their rich history and recent track record of success — are sizably favored to beat the Lions on Sunday.
But what if they don't?
Then the Lions finally reach the Super Bowl, the biggest stage of all.
As St. Brown said, "If we keep winning, I think we'll have more eyes on us. People will start to realize the type of talent we have."
They'll certainly notice the team's unofficial mascot. In fact, they'll begin to wonder how they ever missed him.
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com . Follow him @RainerSabin
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions hope to steal the spotlight from the San Francisco 49ers
