Lions Receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown Is Working to Grow Football

Photographs: Getty Images; Collage: Gabe Conte

Amon-Ra St. Brown is having a very European summer. The Detroit Lions wide receiver, fresh off a 1,500-yard, 10-touchdown season, is one of the league’s most thrilling players heading into the 2024 season. But before he gets to all that, St. Brown is reconnecting with his roots. Born and raised in Southern California to an American bodybuilder father and a mother from Leverkusen, Germany, St. Brown made frequent trips to his mom’s hometown as a kid, becoming fluent in the language and eschewing sightseeing in favor of local living.

“My mom’s whole side of the family was out there, so it was basically a second home for me.” St. Brown said. “I’ve been, like, probably over 20 times. I went in the summers and just lived a regular life like any German kid would. I’m used to it, but it’s always cool to go back and see a different culture, different people, different everything.” Throughout his career, he’s fielded all types of questions from reporters wondering if he uses his second language as a covert way to smack talk his opponents. That’s not really how the brash, sometimes blue-haired 24-year-old operates. “That doesn’t make sense to me. If I’m talking shit, I want them to know what I’m saying,” he smirked. “If I’m really hot, I’ll just tell them in English.”

This summer brought another visit, but this time, it was to host his second annual St. Brown football camp. The first one—held last summer, after St. Brown’s breakout season—drew over 100 kids. This one, in Cologne, got a similarly enthusiastic turnout. His conversation with GQ happened just days before leaving, and in the time since, he took in a game at the Euros and visited a preschool he used to attend as a child. “It’s always cool to go back and see a different culture, different people, different everything,” he said. “I’m so used to Germany that I don’t even know what the tourist attractions are. In Cologne, they have the church. That’s pretty cool. Shoot, what else? You gotta try schnitzel, sauerkraut, and German beer. I’m probably the wrong person to ask. I just go out there and do my thing.”

St. Brown has become something of an attraction himself, especially during football season in Detroit. In 2023—as the Lions enjoyed their best season in 30 years, stomping all the way to the NFC Championship Game—he said that the fanfare was impossible to avoid. “They’re some of the best fans in the world. If I go out to eat, people always come up and thank me for what I’ve done for the city, which I think is pretty cool. They always tell us that we, as a team, bring so much joy to them. It’s nice to make other people happy. The people of Detroit deserve it.”

Often, when a team suffers a devastating playoff loss, it will take years for players to watch the game, if they even do at all. That was not the case for St. Brown with the NFC championship game defeat in San Francisco, in which the Lions fell three points shy of their first ever Super Bowl berth. He revealed that he, along with the rest of the team’s receiver unit, watched the game together about two months ago. Along with the increased fame, he also feels that his responsibility to the Lions’ organization and the city of Detroit has progressed each year. He is, plainly, one of the best and most visible players on the team. With that designation comes a lot of pressure, a far cry from some of the football he played in his youth.

“I played for the German national football team going into my sophomore year of high school.” he said. His family in Deutschland was supportive if uninformed. “They didn’t know anything.” St. Brown snickered. “All they knew was soccer. They knew we played, but they didn’t understand the rules or anything.”

We went deep down the rabbit hole on a sports-style trend.

A big part of his football upbringing was also flag football, which he played for a year or two as a little tike. Now, he’s a Global Flag Football Ambassador for the NFL, engaging in worldwide initiatives to grow the game, which will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 games in Los Angeles. He particularly appreciates the inclusive nature of flag football, as the sport allows people of any gender or age group to play without pads and tackling. St. Brown acknowledges that lots of stellar football players don’t even play tackle until high school now, and is happy to admit that his love of football and the first memories he has of it came from his flag days. St. Brown says if he gets the ask—which could come from either Team Germany or Team USA—and it wouldn’t be “too time consuming,” he’d certainly consider strapping on the flags again and competing for a gold medal.

That’s a different conversation for a different day, though. By the time 2028 rolls around, St. Brown hopes to have put the Lions’ championship drought to bed. He’ll get the chance to do it in style, too, as Detroit put together the best new uniforms of the NFL’s fashion-forward offseason. The Lions’ new look, which St. Brown flexed on his Instagram, has the wideout juiced up for the season.

“I think they look dope. I can’t wait to put them on on Sundays. We have a lot of different combos we can do. It’s old school with a new twist. I’m excited!”

Originally Appeared on GQ

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