Cam Brown: How the Giants' "$70 Million Talent" is Cashing in on His Opportunities

Giants rookie linebacker Cam Brown has been quietly earning defensive snaps thanks to his solid showing on special teams.

Steve Austin, eat your heart out.

That’s right, the fictitious Austin, better known in television lore as The Six Million Dollar Man, might have been state-of-the-art for his time, but the Giants have on their roster a young linebacker by the name of Cam Brown, the Giants sixth-round draft pick out of Penn State, whom special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey said last month has $70 million worth of talent inside of him just waiting to be tapped into.

The 6-foot-5, 240 pound Brown has been quietly cutting his NFL teeth on special teams for McGaughey, showing that he’s football smart, can run like a deer, and hit like an out of control Mack truck.

It’s those characteristics, and more that the Giants hope translates to the defense as the rookie, who has seen 23 snaps so far on defense this year in mostly spot duty, continues to learn the finer nuances of playing defense through his special teams work.

“Yeah, I definitely feel like special teams has helped me with the defensive side of the ball,” Brown told Giants Country by phone.

“Just understanding the speed of game--the little mental things necessary to be good on special teams and how they translate into playing good defense like getting off blocks, and being able to see the ball on kickoffs, learning the speed of the game, taking angles and being balanced are all little things that I feel have helped me on defense. I feel like if I continue to improve on special teams, I'll improve on defense.”

Brown credits now-former Giants linebacker Markus Golden to take him under his wing and share pass-rushing nuances that Brown hopes to build on.

“Yeah, for sure. He took me under his wing. We actually had lockers close, relatively close together and he just guided me,” Brown said.

“He gave me tips, in the pass rush and the game itself, and I definitely appreciate him for that.”

One piece of advice Golden gave to Brown before he was traded was to slow down his pass rush.

“Yeah, that was my style in college, you know, to hurry the pass rush and get to where I needed to be, so sometimes I didn’t rush with control.

“So one of the things he said to me about my technique is, 'You gotta slow down, really control and understand that you're in a one-on-one fight with one person and you gotta get to one spot.’ 

"That was a big thing for me, and honestly, I think I changed how I pass rush because I’m no longer in a hurry trying to get to one spot and I focus more on beating the guy in front of me.”

Thus far on defense, Brown hasn’t been able to apply too many of Golden’s tips, mainly because of his limited opportunities. In 23 snaps, Brown has lined up primarily at left outside linebacker and mostly on pass-rushing downs, where so far, he’s recorded one quarterback pressure.

As he continues to earn his stripes through his play on special teams where he has four total tackles (one solo), the man once informally voted by his Penn State teammates as the toughest man said he is having fun playing the game at this level and that he welcomes the chance to enforce his will over his opponent regardless of the assignment.

“I love the physicality and just being able to play the game,” Brown said. “I love just being able to go over to dominate somebody for however long it might be. That that's why I play the game.”