Remarks about proper “breeding” made by the father of a pair of NFL players are coming back to haunt them nearly a year later.
John Brown, a former bodybuilder, has had three top-tier football-playing sons. He is the father of Detroit Lions standout Amon-Ra St. Brown, New Orleans Saints player Equanimeous St. Brown, as well as Osiris Brown, who played for Stanford. And with all that athletic pedigree in the family, the senior Brown has a very specific explanation for all this great success: “Breeding.”
But his recommendation for athletic success is once again raising a lot of eyebrows for its unusual, eugenics-like focus.
Brown made his comments on his son’s St. Brown Podcast about 11 months ago, but they have resurfaced and are once again causing a ruckus, Fox News reported.
Amon-Ra St. Brown had asked his dad a question that he may not have been prepared to hear answered. “What’s the question they ask you the most about how you got three kids to go D1 and two in the NFL?” he asked.
The elder Brown was not only too happy to reply, but he went into excruciating detail.
“Look at you – good athlete, good athlete,” he said of his sons. “I’m Black, his mom is White. Now, I’ve done stepped on it once, you can’t keep stepping on it because you’re gonna mess it up. You’re going to weaken it. … Can’t keep cutting it,” he explained.
“You and Brooklyn’s (Amon-Ra’s fiancée) half and half, you have a chance. … You can’t keep cutting it. You got to be careful. You can’t keep cutting it. You got to think about that. You know what I mean? If I’m Black, I got the Black gold running through my veins, I’m excited. I’m just going to find the right person to mate with. If I’m White, I’m saying, ‘Let me get one of these brothers around here,’ if you want to have athletes.”
John Brown keeps it real when people ask him about raising three boys that got a D1 scholarship, two of which made it to the NFL 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/GgyOVqSOqf
— St. Brown Podcast (@StBrownPodcast) July 12, 2025
Of course, he magnanimously allowed for families not interested in having athletic children to mate with whomever they want.
“If you don’t want to have athletes, then just go ahead and spread your seed wherever. … I knew I could cut it once. … I got Black gold in me, and mama got that big chin and big toes. I said, ‘Look, ain’t nothing wrong with a big-toed woman.’ You got to think of this stuff. Some guys don’t think of it ‘til later,” Brown said.
The players’ mom is Miriam Brown, who was born in Germany. And apparently has big toes.
The man’s carefully planned out mating habits did beget some talent for sure. Amon-Ra St. Brown was an All-Pro wide receiver last year for the second year in a row, and he had 115 catches for 1,263 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Equanimeous St. Brown has not quite shown the same levels as his brother, but he is in the NFL even if he only played in two games last season.
Osiris played for Stanford, and that is also nothing to sneeze at.
So, maybe the big white toes have it going on.
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