Super Bowl Sooners: How Oklahoma Anchors The Lombardi Chase for Both Teams

What would Super Bowl LVII look like without Oklahoma?

Would Philadelphia and Kansas City even be meeting Sunday in Phoenix if Lane Johnson wasn’t anchoring the right side of the Eagles’ line and Orlando Brown wasn’t holding things down on the left side for the Chiefs?

Between them, Brown (in his fifth NFL season) and Johnson (in his 10th) have eight Pro Bowl accolades. Johnson is a two-time All-Pro.

Their time at Oklahoma was separated by just two years — Johnson’s final year in Norman was 2012, Brown’s first year was 2014 — even though it seems unlikely if not impossible that they made it there at all.

“It’s kind of a crazy story,” Brown said this week at Super Bowl Media Day. “Long story.”

For Johnson, the story is even crazier.

“Kilgore,” Johnson said, “was my only opportunity out of high school.”

The 6-foot-8, 345-pound Brown came to OU from Atlanta, redshirted in 2014 and then became a dominant three-year starter for the Sooners from 2015-17, starting 40 consecutive games. After a poor showing at the NFL Scouting Combine (he ran the 40 in 5.85 seconds) dropped his draft value, he was a third-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2018. Brown started as a rookie and played three seasons for the Ravens before they traded him to Kansas City. In two years with the Chiefs, he’s helped stabilize the best offense in football.

In his five NFL seasons, Brown has posted a Pro Football Focus regular season grade of 72 or better four times (this year, 67.8, was his career-low).

The 6-6, 325-pound Johnson came to OU from Kilgore College in Texas — where he began as a quarterback. After switching to tight end just prior to his freshman year, he transferred to OU and changed positions three times — from tight end to offensive tackle, to defensive end, back to offensive tackle. He redshirted in 2010 as a tight end, then moved around and finally landed as a starter at tackle in 2011 and 2012. After college, he blew up at the combine (he ran a 4.72) and worked his way to the No. 4 overall pick in the 2013 draft.

According to PFF, Johnson has never graded lower than 71.9 in a season, and seven times he’s been at 80 or above. (This year’s grade was 74.9.)

That Brown impossibly found his way to OU is, as he said, “a crazy story” that he retold in Phoenix this week.

“I lost my dad (nine-year NFL veteran Orlando Brown Sr.) at 15, we moved (from Baltimore) to Atlanta and I was going to Gwinnett County, Peachtree Ridge, and I was committed to Tennessee for a while,” Brown said. “And at the time, they didn’t know about my scholarship situation — or, sorry, my grades. My ACT scores were very bad. So they had no idea. Because I’m not necessarily one that portrays that by talking to me or looking at me.”

Despite his titanic frame and NFL pedigree, Brown wasn’t a high-priority recruit. Just a 3-star prospect by 247 Sports, he was ranked No. 36 nationally among offensive tackles and No. 36 overall — in the state of Georgia. His national player ranking was 453rd. He was regarded by some as slow, flabby and unmotivated — the latter evidenced by his academic situation.

“Man, long story short, I just kind of lost my scholarship (offer from Tennessee) because they didn’t think I was gonna qualify,” Brown said. “And my head coach from high school asked me, ‘Where do you want to go to school?’ I had never visited Oklahoma. I had never talked to any of the coaches on the phone. But he asked me, I told him Oklahoma, and we got on the phone with coach (Bob) Stoops (and) the recruiting office, they offered me, I signed and took my official visit in April.”

Johnson’s path to Norman seems even more impossible.

As a quarterback at Groveton, TX, he was lightly recruited, to say the least, with only the one junior college offer. He was an honorable mention All-State QB and, naturally strong, threw shot and discus in track. He figured his future was likely at tight end, but he said one Division I coach told him otherwise.

“Whenever I was coming out,” Johnson said, “TCU was recruiting me as well, and coach Gary Patterson was like, ‘You’re gonna be 300 pounds.’ ”

Johnson eventually came to OU as a 250-pound tight end but never caught on there. Defensive coordinator Brent Venables told him to think about becoming an edge rusher. He tried it for part of a spring, but an injury on the offensive line necessitated a move back. The following fall, Johnson was a starter at offensive tackle, and his future was suddenly set.

“Life comes at you fast,” Johnson said this week. “I remember my senior year (in high school), I guess when you write your message in the yearbook, I was like, ‘I want to go to the combine in a few years, get drafted and go to the NFL.’ So I’ve had my sights on this for a long time.”

Brown said he sat on the couch and ate cereal and wasn’t into competitive sports until junior high. But last March, at the end of his rookie contract, Brown signed a one-year extension with the Chiefs. He’ll be a free agent in 2023, but he says he’s not focused on that — especially this week.

“Ultimately, I was brought here to win a Super Bowl,” Brown said. “And you don’t get too many opportunities like this, you know what I mean? When it comes to free agency and all those things, that’ll take care of itself. Whatever works out, works out. … The business is the business, and whatever happens, I’ll be prepared to go.”

Johnson, who helped lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl championship in 2017-18, also said he’s focused on the game but has a different perspective this time.

“I’m just very fortunate,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot that goes into this. You’ve got to be lucky to have a long career. And there’s a lot that goes into that. But yeah, man, just very fortunate. Now, on the back half of my career, I just want to thank all the people that stood behind me on the come-up.”

One of those — at least admiring Johnson from afar and following in his footsteps — is Brown.

Johnson isn’t just a Pro Bowl and All-Pro talent. He’s regarded as the best right tackle in the game, uncommonly athletic, strong and tough. He’s twice achieved the NFL’s “highest-paid” distinctions — once for right tackles, once for all offensive linemen — and according to Spotrac, his current career earnings stand at $98.4 million.

Those kinds of distinctions cause peers to stand up and take notice — and maybe try to emulate him.

“Lane is my guy, man,” Brown said. “He does a lot of different things with his feet, the way he sets on an angle, getting vertical, some of the different kicks. I’ve studied a lot of film of his, and he knows that. Man, that’s the ultra amount of respect.”

Halfway to Johnson’s NFL tenure, Brown is doing just fine. Whether it’s re-signing with the Chiefs or going somewhere as a free agent, he’s in line to finally step into big contract. As of his current deal, per Spotrac, he’s at $23.5 million in career earnings.

“I think I do a really good job just using my strengths, which is my body, my length, my arm length, my leg length,” Brown said. “I’m not a very wide individual, but I like to play big. I just try to make guys run through me, and I think that’s something that has allowed me to get here.”

The beauty of both Brown and Johnson’s circuitous journeys is that they have a point of view and perhaps an appreciation that others might not.

“Community college was tough,” Johnson said. “I feel like it instilled work ethic. I feel like there were a lot of hungry people there trying to chase their dreams and advance to where they wanted to. But just giving me the opportunity is what really stood out for me, and the brotherhood.”

Brown thought about his dad, Orlando Sr., and his son, Orlando III, and considered how far he’s come as a man since Big Zeus’ passing.

“That’s life. That’s life,” he said. “ … I procrastinated a lot (as a younger player), so the time is now. That’s my message to myself. I’ve got an OB here, so I look to myself to be a great father … and hold myself accountable.”

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