GREEN BAY – Notre Dame receiver Equanimeous St. Brown entered the NFL Draft a year early, in part based on information he'd be drafted in or near the fourth round.
Lasting until the end of the sixth round on Saturday, when the Packers chose him with the No. 207 overall pick, is a tough pill to swallow, but it will provide plenty of motivation for his rookie season.
"It's definitely fueled me more than I thought it would," said St. Brown, who spent a long day Saturday watching the draft with family and friends, waiting for a phone call. "I'm definitely ready to start playing football. I've never been so ready for anything in my life."
St. Brown grew up the son of a two-time Mr. Universe and lived in Europe for a time as a child. Fluent in both German and French as well as English, St. Brown has an unusual background to go with his unusual name – a derivative of the word equanimity, which he said is an apt description for his calm, collected personality.
St. Brown is a former teammate of new Packers backup quarterback DeShone Kizer, and the two put together a productive season in 2016. St. Brown caught 58 passes for 961 yards and nine TDs that year before his numbers fell off in 2017 with no adequate replacement for Kizer at QB.
He's excited to be back with Kizer again, and even more excited to start catching passes from Aaron Rodgers, but those are opportunities St. Brown will have to earn in what has become a very crowded receiver room in Green Bay.
Brown was the third receiver the Packers drafted on Saturday, after Missouri's J'Mon Moore and South Florida's Marquez Valdes-Scantling. After Davante Adams and Randall Cobb, spots on the depth chart are wide open with returning receivers Geronimo Allison, Trevor Davis, Michael Clark, DeAngelo Yancey and others having plenty to prove.
"Competition only makes you better, especially me," St. Brown said. "I'm not worried about it. It comes with the game."
At 6-5, 203, St. Brown has height and size similar to the Packers' two earlier draft picks at receiver, but he's already added to his frame to get ready for the NFL grind.
"I played around 203 in college, and I'm probably around 218 right now," he said. "I ran fast at the combine (4.48), I feel good, my muscles are strong. I can definitely carry more."
