EXCLUSIVE: The Two Bobby Browns

Bobby responded on social media saying he’s more than a run defender, and it’s a backhanded complement to be labeled that. Bobby went on to say that his words were not a knock on Jackson but it was more frustration that he’s never been allowed to do more.

For years, we have been calling Bobby a run stopper. Have we been wrong? Have we been perpetuating a lie on his name? No, the media and the NFL, have been projecting a belief on Brown and that has been putting a false label on a good man’s name.

So let’s set the record straight. About Bobby and about the man who wears 95.

Who is Bobby Brown III? Simple. A loving son to his mother, a devoted father to his beloved daughter. A mentor, a team player and a person ready for the truth.

Bobby spoke exclusively with Los Angeles Rams On SI, showing a side of himself the world barely gets to see. The first thing asked of him was why did he feel he had to respond in the way that he did?

“I wanted to respond to that in the way that I did because one, first thing first, I want to say Stu is my guy, man. I love Stu. He's one of the people I always talk to every day. I love the article and everything he said about it," Brown said.

"Part of the reason why I said it was a backhanded complement, though, because it's just like all you are is a run stopper…It doesn't highlight the other things that I can do because I haven't been able to display it.”

“You'll see everything I'm saying is factual. I didn't bash anybody. I didn't say the Rams were holding me back to not pay me," Brown continued.

"I didn't say the Rams picked other guys over me to do whatever. All I said was, hey, man, everybody got their opportunity. They got their slice of cake. They got to pin their ears back, and I didn't.”

And he’s right. When you turn on the tape, when does Bobby Brown III take the field? When the offense comes out in their run formations. He’s not on the field on second or third down. He’s doing the dirty work, not complaining and while everyone else is eating, he’s waiting.

But maybe it’s because he’s not good at rushing the passer. Except that’s not true. He finished his last year in college ranked seventh in the SEC for sacks with 5.5 at 20 years old, and Brown should’ve had more.

“I was a team sack leader for Texas A&M my last year in college. I didn't play any third downs, and I wasn't on any third down rush packages for my Aggies. So if you want to say I can't rush because you haven't seen it, cool. But at the end of the day, don't try to turn the blind eye on someone.”

Rams On SI checked and Bobby’s right. Bobby led his team with 5.5 sacks, the next highest sack getter has four. Oh, and his Aggies went 9-1 that year with their only loss coming to the National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide. It remains Jimbo Fisher’s best year in College Station.

But hey, maybe his game couldn’t translate like Kobie Turner's. Turner came into the league and dominated from the jump. Perhaps one of the things that helped was that Turner was 24 as a rookie, Bobby turned 24 last August. 

So that brings us back to the original question. What is Picasso without his brush? What is Bobby Brown when he’s not allowed to do everything a defensive tackle does? Easy. Underpaid. 

Bobby said something to me that stopped me in my tracks. Dallas Cowboys DT Osa Odighizuwa just got paid a four-year, $80 million extension. Had he hit the open market, perhaps he could have earned upwards of $100 million.

According to Pro Football Reference, in Odighizuwa’s four years in the NFL, he has 172 combined tackles, 99 solo tackles, 28 tackles for loss, 58 QB hits, and 13.5 sacks. Bobby Brown III has 84 combined tackles, 37 solo tackles, 9 tackles of loss, 2 QB hits and .5 sacks.

Here’s the difference. Odighizuwa has played 2729 career defensive snaps. Brown III has played 971. Odighizuwa is also two years older.

“Me and him [Dallas Cowboys DT Osa Odighizuwa] have the exact same stats other than he got four sacks (during the 2024 season) and I have none. But also I played four hundred and seventy-two total snaps this year. He played three hundred and eighty-eight snaps more than I did," Brown said.

"So you're trying to tell me that a guy in the league and I'm not knocking him like he’s a great player. He's a beast. But you're trying to tell me a guy in the league is getting paid eighty million for the same thing I did? With almost double the opportunity, and people are only trying to offer me something less because I never had an opportunity? Because I don't have sacks? So ya’ll tryna tell me he's worth more than me because of four plays? Four sacks? With 400 more chances to do that?”

(Total snaps in 2024. Odighizuwa: 860. Brown III: 472)

“Like, so, people can feel however they feel. What I said on Twitter, I don't take none of it back. I said exactly what I meant, and I meant what I said. I didn't bash anybody. I'm not that type of guy. Never been that type of guy. I'm a team first guy," Brown continued.

“You think on my contract year I wanted to go out in every game and play only to run and be cool with that? No one wants to sit there and deal with that. But at the end of the day, I care about winning. And I love the game. So if I only get twenty plays in the game, I'm going to play twenty plays and I'm going to do it to the best of my ability.”

There are two Bobbys. The one you read about now and the one you won’t think about except in passing moments in 20 years.

The Bobby now has to make sure his mom is set up so she can be comfortable in her golden years. The Bobby now needs to make sure his daughter does not know the term hard times because in twenty years, when football is over, the only one that will care about Bobby is Bobby and if Bobby doesn’t take care of business now, his team first attitude serves him little purpose down the road.

So when you see Bobby Brown respond to the term “run stopper” the way he does, it is because he is an artist, stricken from grabbing his brush. A poet full of words but without a pen. The NFL needs run stoppers, but they love pass rushers.

Bobby Brown is ready to deliver the full package, but his profile, better stated, the profile written about him is wrong, and that label is stopping teams from making the financial investment that has benefitted so many players in the past.

But for Bobby, he’s chopping it all up to the game and come Fall of 2025, wherever he goes, a wrecking ball is coming through.

“The main thing I'm looking for is opportunity. Because if I get the opportunity, not only will people have to shut up, I'll go make my own money and my agents won't have to argue anything. I just need to get put out there. But people see it. People see it," Brown said.

I see it and NFL fans will too. Bobby Brown III. He’s tired of the false narratives and he’s ready to get his…respectfully.