At the University of Mississippi's 172nd commencement on Saturday, one of its best offensive football players in school history, AJ Brown, delivered a message of encouragement, inspired by his football career both in Oxford and in both Nashville and now Philadelphia.
Brown, a Starkville, Miss. native, went against the grain back in 2016 by choosing to leave his home town to Mississippi State's rival 100 miles north. It was in Oxford where Brown blossomed into one of the SEC's top wide receivers, and it paved his way to becoming a Super Bowl Champion with the Philadelphia Eagles a few months ago.
This all came after being traded from the Tennessee Titans, the club that drafted Brown in April of 2019. Brown admitted that there was some disappointment on his end at first, despite receiving a seismic contract extension that eventually led him to becoming one of the NFL's richest wide receivers ever. Things weren't always comfortable for him, but the leap of faith was all that was needed to help him achieve the success he's earned.
At the end of the day, his message was simple to the Ole Miss Class of 2025. You are your own operation. Your discipline is your product. Your name is your brand. Your habits are your investments. Nobody is coming to build it for you, and nobody is coming to rescue you when it gets hard. However, the blueprint has been laid over the course of time spent at Ole Miss.
"Success isn't owned. It's rented – and rent is due every single day," Brown said in his speech.
"You're stepping into a new season," Brown said. "You're holding the ball. Ole Miss gave you the playbook. Now it's your job to call the plays and lead the drive."
"Dream big. Bigger than what feels safe. Bigger than what feels comfortable." - AJ Brown#OleMissGrad25 pic.twitter.com/bffuzlYljE
— Ole Miss (@OleMiss) May 10, 2025
Brown finished the 2024 NFL season with 67 catches, 1,079 yards and seven touchdown catches while playing in just 13 games. He will be entering his seventh NFL season and his fourth season with the Eagles. In Philly, he's accumulated 261 catches, 4,031 yards and 25 touchdown catches and participated in two Super Bowls, with his first appearance coming in Super LVII in 2023. He hauled in 295 passes for almost 3,000 yards and 24 scores through three seasons as a member of the Titans.
At Ole Miss, Brown had a record-setting sophomore season where he had 75 catches for 1,252 yards and 12 touchdown grabs en route to First Team All-SEC honors and the Conerly Trophy at season's end. Brown went on to one-up that previous receiving yards mark with 1,320 during his final season at Ole Miss in 2018. Brown ended his three-year collegiate career with just shy of 3,000 yards (189 catches) and 19 scores and proceeded to forego his senior season to go to the NFL.