A.J. Brown strives for inner excellence every game, but during the Philadelphia Eagles’ 22-10 wild-card victory over the Green Bay Packers, he read from it, too.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Brown was on the bench and caught by TV cameras reading “Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life” by Jim Murphy.
“I haven’t seen too many people read books (on the sideline),” Fox commentator Tom Brady said during the broadcast. “But I’ve seen a quarterback eat a hot dog.”
AJ Brown is reading a book on the sideline? 📚😂
📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/jQGv8smD9N
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 13, 2025
Published in 2020, “Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life” advertises itself as a “life guide” to train the minds of athletes.
According to Brown, he brings the book to every game because it helps with his mentality.
“My teammates call it, ‘The Recipe,’” Brown joked in the locker room postgame.
“It’s got a lot of points in there. It’s got a lot of mental game, a lot of mental parts about it. For me, this game is mental. I choose to believe I can do anything and everything, but I’ve got to make sure my mental’s good. Something like how I refresh every drive. Regardless of whether I score a touchdown or drop a pass, I go back to that book every drive, refocus. Nothing matters, nothing happened, re-lock back in.”
GO DEEPER
Eagles defense shuts down Packers in 22-10 wild-card win: Takeaways
Brown’s one reception and 10 yards on Sunday are his fewest in a playoff appearance since his 2020 season with the Tennessee Titans. During the Eagles’ 2022 Super Bowl run, Brown caught 13 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown over three games.
“Felt good, felt real good,” Brown said. “Moving around good. It didn’t show it on the stats, but I did a lot today for my teammates blocking. It’s all good.”
Required reading
(Photo: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
