49ers’ Fred Warner Sounds Off on Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown

Getty San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner spoke very highly of Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Having been to four of the past five NFC championship games, San Francisco 49ers players are probably used to hearing a lot of good things about themselves from outside their organization. This week, Detroit Lions players will have a turn at that praise.

No Lions player arguably deserves acclaim more than wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown. He received plenty of praise on January 24 from 49ers linebacker Fred Warner.

“I love the way that he plays the game,” Warner told reporters, via The 33rd Team X account. “He has a chip on his shoulder. I think he got drafted in the fifth round or something like that, fourth round, and he took that personally. He’s been able to ascend himself into the top tier of receiver play in this league really early in his career.

“He does things the right way. You can tell he plays hard, he practices hard. Does things the right way. He’s somebody that we’re for sure going to have to be aware of when we play them.”

St. Brown posted career highs of 119 receptions, 1,515 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns during the 2023 regular season. With those statistics, he made first-team All-Pro for the first time.

St. Brown has also recorded 15 catches for 187 yards with a touchdown in two postseason games.

49ers’ Fred Warner Familiar With Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown

Warner also explained to reporters on January 24 that he has a previously relationship, of sorts, with St. Brown.

Warner played at a football camp in Southern California during high school with St. Brown’s older brother, Equanimeous. The linebacker said that at the time, Amon-Ra was a “fiery, little cat who was very talented.”

St. Brown posted 2,270 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns in three college seasons at USC. But that didn’t get him picked on either of the first two days of the 2021 NFL draft.

The Lions selected St. Brown at No. 112 overall in the fourth round.

But the chip St. Brown has on his shoulder because of his draft position has helped propel him to become one of the best receivers in the NFL.

He had 90 catches for 912 yards as a rookie in 2021. Since then, St. Brown has posted back-to-back 1,000-yard, 100-catch campaigns.

Lions’ Jared Goff Calls Out Receiver’s All-Pro Nomination

St. Brown had an incredible 2023 season, but he still might not be getting enough credit for his talent and production.

Lions quarterback Jared Goff had a funny interaction about that with a reporter on January 24. To setup a question, a member of the media said to Goff that the Lions good players don’t have the superstar status that the 49ers players do.

Goff interrupted to say, “St. Brown was first-team All-Pro. Just saying.”

Goff was making the reporter’s point — the Lions do not yet have the respect from NFL fans that they deserve.

St. Brown is a perfect example of that. Although he made first-team All-Pro, he didn’t make the Pro Bowl after the first vote. That’s not considered as prestigious an honor, so it’s rare for players to be named All-Pro but not make the Pro Bowl.

The NFL did name St. Brown to the Pro Bowl roster but as an injury replacement. Four Lions players, including Goff, made the Pro Bowl, but three of them were to replace other players because of injury.

Meanwhile, six 49ers players made the Pro Bowl.