What's more surprising to read in this space: An NFL player is playing the game at 157 pounds, or that an NFL player has put on 23 pounds of quality weight in one offseason?
Twenty-three pounds is a lot of weight to add to anyone's frame, and especially one that thrives off of top-end, straight-line speed, but that's what Marquise "Hollywood" Brown did during his quarantine, per ESPN's Jamison Hensley.
"I took the time out to address every part of my body to make sure I was going in the year right," Brown said Wednesday, per The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec.
Now, some of us -- myself included -- have put on pounds that wouldn't exactly qualify as "good weight" during the quarantine. That same group of us also doesn't qualify as NFL-level athletes.
Brown, on the other hand, added a ton of muscle to what was a surprisingly light frame. Previously listed at 170, Brown ended his rookie season at 157 pounds. It is remarkable to consider Brown was running around on the same field as players playing at 100 or more pounds above his weight.
Speed, though, is a great way to survive. They can't hit you if they can't catch you. Brown ensured he wasn't losing speed as he was gaining weight, telling reporters he was using a GPS tracker sent to him by the Ravens to monitor his speed as he built muscle.
Brown attributed his focus on improving his physique to working out with free-agent receiver Antonio Brown, who he said is "gonna push and he's gonna take care of his body."
"Always work on yourself and always better yourself," Hollywood Brown recalled Antonio Brown telling him, via 105.7 The Fan.
The younger Brown took the offseason to heal up after dealing with a foot injury in 2019, and the combination of rest, recovery and rebuilding appears to have him set for a productive Year 2.
It'll definitely be a heavier one.
