Equanimeous St. Brown and Amon-Ra St. Brown may not be the best-known set of brothers in the NFL. That distinction almost certianly goes to the Watt family — or maybe the Diggs brothers after both starred during the 2021 season.
That said, the St. Browns are a unique brother-brother pair. First of all, they both play in the NFC North. Equanimeous, the oldest of the three St. Brown brothers, plays for the Bears. Amon-Ra, the youngest, plays for the Lions.
The fact that that duo squares off in divisional battles is cool, but even that's not the best fact about them. It's their roots. The St. Browns come from a bodybuilding family and their father, John Brown, has worked to keep them in shape throughout their lives to reach the NFL. And he continues to do that.
What is the relationship between the St. Brown brothers and their father? Here's what to know about the Brown family tree and the amazing athletic achievements that have come from this branch of it.
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St. Brown brothers' father: John Brown
It's no surprise that the St. Brown brothers have large frames and are rather muscular. They are the sons of one of the world's best bodybuilders, after all. That would be John Brown, who won Mr. Universe back-to-back times in 1981 and 1982 and is also a three-time Mr. World winner.
Brown has been heavily involved in the lives of his sons. He helped them develop a training routine from a young age, and got them into the weight room as children, per NFL.com.
He started them with a practically weightless PVC pipe until they understood various lifting movements, proper form and technique. They were never left alone -- dad supervised every rep. Two-and-a-half-pound weights were added. Then more. All three of the boys had dreams of playing in the NFL, but John convinced them at a very young age that greatness in sport must begin not on the field but in the weight room. They began developing muscle definition long before their classmates. Brown has a library of videos that documented their progress -- in one glimpse of Amon-Ra's development, he's recorded bench-pressing 95 pounds at age 9.
He even made his own protein powder mix for his sons to drink since the store-bought ones were "crap."
As NFL.com noted, however, this wasn't a Todd Marinovich-type story. Brown let his children have all sorts of freedom; he just helped train them and keep them in shape as they tried to make it to the NFL.
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St. Brown brothers' mother: Miriam Brown
Miriam Brown played a key role in the development of the St. Brown brothers as well. Her husband focused on physical training, but her thing was mental training.
"She had these vocab cards in the house with the word on one side, the definition on the other. Some days she'd give us the word and we'd have to get the definition," Amon-Ra said. "Some days she'd show us the definition and we had to know the word. It was all in English, but if we didn't know them, we didn't go out."
Brown is German, so she also helped teach her sons a bit of German and French.
How many St. Brown brothers are there?
There are three St. Brown brothers. All three of them have played collegiately while two, Amon-Ra and Equanimeous, are playing at the NFL level now.
Equanimeous St. Brown
Equanimeous St. Brown has been in the NFL since 2018 and has spent the first four seasons of his career with the Packers before joining the Bears in 2022. He's the biggest of the bunch at 6-5, 214 pounds but has posted only modest production to date. In 2022, he has 13 catches for 188 yards and a touchdown in 11 games. He has five rushes for 53 yards as well.
St. Brown was a star at Notre Dame during his college days. He caught 91 passes for 1,476 yards and 13 TDs in his final 24 games for the Fighting Irish. That was enough to make him a sixth-round pick of the Packers in 2018.
Amon-Ra St. Brown
Amon-Ra St. Brown seems poised for the best career of the St. Brown brothers. The youngest of the group has posted 146 catches for 1,506 yards and eight touchdowns in 26 career games. The 2021 fourth-round pick has certainly outplayed his draft status and has established himself as Detroit's No. 1 receiver.
St. Brown played in 30 college games for USC and averaged nearly six catches for 75.7 yards per game. He posted 17 total TD during his career.
Osiris St. Brown
Osiris St. Brown is the one St. Brown brother that isn't in the NFL. He played collegiately at Stanford and had just 36 catches for 474 yards and a TD during his career. He caught just one pass as a senior and played sparingly during that season which was, like his career, derailed by injuries.
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How did the St. Brown brothers get their names?
That was a decision made by their father. He thought his own name "John Brown" was too common. As such, he and Miriam rolled with some uncommon names including Equanimeous – which means "having emotional stability and composure" — and Amon-Ra and Osiris — references to Egyptian gods.
"It's a strong name. It translates to energy, and it fits him to the T. It just sounds strong coming off your tongue — Amon-Ra … Ra!!!," John said. "Oh, man, he's a guy who can change the culture of a team."
