Amon-Ra St. Brown thought he had the perfect motivation behind his jersey number. He has previously spoken about the wide receivers drafted before him and how he used that as motivation on the field, supposedly the reason he chose number 14 in the NFL. But there’s just one problem: he’s been wearing the wrong number this entire time.
The truth came out during the second season of Netflix’s “Quarterback,” and it involves his girlfriend, Brooklyn, making a counting mistake that nobody caught until it was too late.
How Did Brooklyn’s Math Error Change Amon-Ra St. Brown’s Jersey Forever?
Jersey numbers in the NFL carry weight. Some players stick with their college digits, others honor family members, and a few choose numbers with deeper meaning. St. Brown fell into that last category, or so he thought.
When St. Brown entered the NFL, he asked his girlfriend, Brooklyn, to count how many wide receivers were selected before him in the 2021 draft. The plan was simple: wear that number as motivation, a daily reminder of the teams that overlooked him. Brooklyn told him 14 receivers went before his name was called, so number 14 became his choice.
However, Brooklyn revealed the truth during an event with Jared Goff’s wife. “He’ll never admit this, but he asked me to count the number of receivers before him, and that was going to be his number, and I messed up, and it’s not 14. And I told him it was 14, and so that’s why he’s 14,” she said.
Amon-Ra reveals on Netflix’s Quarterback Season 2 why he chose to wear No. 14.
Brooklyn told him there were 14 receivers drafted before him, so they both agreed it made sense for No. 14 to be his number since it was available.
Brooklyn miscounted, there was actually 16 😅 pic.twitter.com/LFGRxyzx2r
— St. Brown Podcast (@StBrownPodcast) July 8, 2025
The reality hit St. Brown when he decided to double-check the count himself. “This was early, like, right after I got drafted. I was like, ‘sure, let’s do it.’ And then I recounted, I was like, that’s not the right number. It was actually 16 receivers,” St. Brown explained.
Which 16 Receivers Were Actually Selected Before St. Brown?
The actual list tells the real story of how many teams passed on the future Lions star. Ja’Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith, Kadarius Toney, Rashod Bateman, Elijah Moore, Rondale Moore, D’Wayne Eskridge, Tutu Atwell, Terrace Marshall Jr., Josh Palmer, Dyami Brown, Amari Rodgers, Nico Collins, Anthony Schwartz, and Dez Fitzpatrick were the 16 receivers selected before St. Brown.
By the time St. Brown realized the mistake, he had already committed to number 14. The Detroit Lions selected the USC product with the 112th pick, and he had worn number 8 during his college career. But the number 14 had already become part of his identity, even if the math behind it was wrong.
Interestingly, number 16 later became significant for the Lions when Goff joined the franchise and chose that digit. The story shows how a simple counting error led to one of the NFL’s most charismatic players wearing a number that doesn’t actually match his original motivation.
The revelation comes from the second season of “Quarterback,” which is now available on Netflix and follows the 2024 NFL season through the perspectives of Joe Burrow, Kirk Cousins, and Goff. The same production team previously created “Receiver” in 2023, which featured five players, including St. Brown, throughout their season.
