Getty Hall of Fame WR Tim Brown.
There are few Raiders alumni more revered than Tim Brown. The Hall of Famer wide receiver is the team’s all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. For years, he’s made the rounds signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. He’s now decided to switch things up.
Working with Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment Company along with Dolphin Entertainment and H2H, Brown will be launching a pair of NFTs that will be available from May 17 to May 24 at TimBrownNFTs.com and OpenSea. The Raiders legend had a chance to drop insight on his NFT offering.
“This is a remarkable opportunity for a guy like myself who has been signing autographs since I was literally 19-years-old and signing the same old pictures, cards, and things of that nature … I’m not complaining about it, but this is next level memorabilia stuff,” Brown told Heavy.com. “This is the opportunity for fans who are really into this to go next level. I think that’s the most exciting part to me is knowing that there are going to be opportunities in the future to offer new things to people.”
There are two separate NFTs featuring Brown that are being offered. One will give fans a chance to have access to a one-of-a-kind art piece that will show off the best moments of his career. Fans will also be able to give somebody a surprise meet-and-greet call with Brown. The second offering is called “Playbooks: Tim Brown” and there will only 100 available to fans. This NFT will feature some of his most defining career moments through college and the NFL.
Shane GriffinStill from Tim Brown’s NFT.
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Brown Reveals What Made Him Decide to Do NFTs
Brown has one of the most storied careers in NFL history but the COVID-19 pandemic took a lot of fun out signing autographs for fans. While he enjoyed doing what he could previously, he’s excited about what NFT can offer him and his fans.
“I’ve been doing private signings here over the last five or six months because of COVID and all that stuff, so it’s been really stale for me,” Brown said. “Sitting in a room with 500 items that you gotta sign is really not what life is supposed to be about. I think this is something totally different. To see the detail and all that goes into [the NFTs] … I was looking at my NFT and they had my mouthpiece … a little thing like that gets me excited.”
This is Brown’s first foray into NFTs but might not be his last. He’s keeping the door open to possibly do more down the road but he has all of his focus on the current offerings and some of the other NFTs that are being released.
“Certainly I think there may be some other possibilities, but right now, we’re totally focused on this,” Brown said. “H2H, the Dolphin Group is going to be coming out with the Earl Campbell and the Doak Walker here in the next couple of weeks so I’m going to be just as interested in that as I am in my pieces. We’re just so excited about where we are right now, it’s hard to imagine doing something else … we’re just going to enjoy what we have right now.
Shane GriffinStill from Tim Brown’s NFT.
Brown Offers Insights on Henry Ruggs’ Development
In addition to his NFTs, Brown had a chance to talk Raiders football. Though he hasn’t played with the team since 2003, he’s stayed up to date on all the latest news. Brown is one of the greatest speed receivers to ever play football. Last year, the Raiders drafted Henry Ruggs in the first round hoping he’d be their next great speed receiver. He struggled at times during his rookie year but Brown isn’t worried about it because he knows how tough it is to learn Jon Gruden’s offense.
“This one of the more difficult offenses in the league to learn,” Brown said of Gruden’s offense. “And when you don’t have a minicamp last year or a real training camp, and then try and play in a league that you’ve never played in before against guys who are All-Pros. It’s almost an impossibility that you’re asking the kid to go out there and be as good a player as everybody wanted him to be.”
Brown believes that brighter things are ahead for the young wide receiver.
“I think this year is gonna be different,” Brown said. “I think he’ll have a lot more time to study film from last year and is gonna have a good training camp … a real training camp, anyway. And now you can go play with a little bit more confidence. You can be the most talented player in the league, but if you don’t have confidence, it’s gonna show up. … I never saw that 4.27 [40-yard-dash] speed that [Ruggs] has. Maybe in the Jets game when he had the touchdown pass at the end of the game. I think we need to see more of that. I understood exactly where he was. I was surprised he was playing as much as he was, but he didn’t have a choice because of injuries and things like that.”
Ruggs certainly showed flashes during his rookie year. He’s poised to have a very big role with the Raiders in 2021. Brown spent time playing under Gruden during his first tenure with the team so he knows a thing or two about adapting to the coach’s offense. Ruggs may have not had the most exciting rookie season, he’s still got plenty of time to develop into a top wide reciever.
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