SEATTLE
If you watched Saturday night’s preseason opener for the Dallas Cowboys, you probably were introduced to Camden Brown — the 6-foot-3, 204-pound receiver who hauled in two impressive touchdown grabs to push Dallas to a 17-7 win over the Seattle Seahawks.
But to understand the rookie undrafted breakout player, let’s take a look at his inspiring story.
Living for his late sister
Growing up in Monroe, La., Brown kept his family close.
With a younger sister that experienced kidney failure and had special needs, doctors said at the time of her birth that she wouldn’t make it to three years old. She ended up seeing a lot more life than that.
Her fight lasted 14 years, time that Brown built a bond with her by watching cartoons, according to his social media, and visiting amusement parks. On August 13, 2021, she passed away. Five years later, almost to the exact day, Brown announced himself to the NFL stage with a 63-yard, two-touchdown performance in his NFL preseason debut.
“It was a great feeling, because I get to prove people wrong again,” Brown said. “That’s who I am, that’s my whole life story. My little sister proved everybody wrong, so that’s just who I am. The way my family is built, we always proved everybody wrong.”
Kaden Storm Brown, called Stormy by Brown and her family, lived through her older brother on Saturday night, according to his postgame comments. For a young man that has endured the loss and pain of losing a younger sibling, they both got back in the win column on Saturday.
“This was a tough week for us,” Brown said after Thursday’s anniversary of her death. “I’m blessed. Living through her every single day, I feel like she lived through me today. It’s the exciting thing about how I live every single day, it’s about how I can share my story and be the best version of myself.”
Cowboys followed Brown from Auburn to Georgia Southern
After being ranked outside the top-90 wide receivers in his recruiting class, Brown began his college career at Auburn where he was buried on the depth chart behind talents such as Cam Coleman and KeAndre Lambert-Smith. Brown had initially popped up on the Cowboys’ radar for his size and strong hands while at The Plains, but he failed to find any production. In three years, he grabbed just 26 receptions for 289 yards and three touchdowns.
Despite a sizable NIL offer from Auburn to stay for his senior season, Brown elected to take less to be featured in an offense at Georgia Southern. The gamble paid off.
As a senior, Brown set the school record with 14 receiving touchdowns to go along with 65 receptions and 1,079 yards in a season where he made plays each week. His strong film put him back on the Cowboys’ radar, but this time as a potential addition.
Training camp standout to preseason star
Shortly after the draft concluded in April, Brown signed a rookie contract that guaranteed him just $105,000 at the time of signing. It was an unpromised shot at somehow making enough noise in the preseason to either earn a roster spot or a spot on the practice squad, at the very least.
From the moment Brown showed up to rookie minicamp, he stood out. The size alone does half of the job, but his strong hands and route-running ability showed up as well, even in a light-work setting like that one.
But once the pads came on at training camp, Brown’s preseason stardom began to grow.
Multiple athletic touchdown grabs with the third-team unit began to earn him reps with the second-team early last week, before an injury to Marquez Valdes-Scantling gave him a small handful of first-team reps. In Thursday’s practice, he hauled in his first reception from the right hand of Dak Prescott, becoming the first rookie this year to do so.
“Sometimes you get knocked down, sometimes you get up,” Brown said. “Being undrafted puts a chip on your shoulder. When I look at it, I’m glad I went undrafted, because you can be the best version of yourself every single day. You don’t get complacent. It gives me an edge.”
Although he was already bubbling on the surface for people paying attention to Cowboys’ camp, Saturday night in Seattle put him firmly on the map.
With less than a minute left in the first half, Sam Howell hurled a jump ball that fell a bit short of being a contested grab in the air, but Brown fell down with the ball in his grasp with a defensive back draped over him. It was the first touchdown of the preseason for the Cowboys, and it was Brown’s announcement to the preseason stage, but he was far from done.
On the first drive of the second half, Brown hauled in a 21-yard grab across the middle on a second-and-15 to get Dallas out from behind the sticks for a first down. Later in the drive, a first-and-goal opportunity saw Joe Milton III lob a perfect fade ball to Brown in the back corner of the end zone. Reaching out with just his left hand, Brown needed just one mitt to haul in the grab for his second touchdown of the night in what was the Cowboys’ highlight play of the game.
“When the ball is in the air, it’s mine,” Brown said.
With a chain around his neck with a picture of Stormy in the center, Brown made sure everyone remembered his name on Saturday. And as the coaching staff works toward a final 53-man cutdown at the end of the month, they certainly will have Brown in the mix to earn one of the roster’s final spots at wide receiver.
“She’d be proud of me,” Brown said. “She’s smiling at me right now, and I’m happy for her.”
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Nick Harris is the Dallas Cowboys beat reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has experience working on the beat for DallasCowboys.com and previous work experience at Yahoo Sports/Rivals and 247Sports.