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Adam Teicher
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Wide receiver Hollywood Brown‘s most productive NFL season was in 2021, the last time he stayed healthy for a full year. It wasn’t a surprise when Brown laid out his top priority for 2025.
“Healthy season,” Brown said as the Kansas City Chiefs began their mandatory minicamp on Tuesday. “It’s my number one goal. Just being able to really showcase what I can do. That’s all I’m looking to do.”
Brown, who will be entering his seventh season, caught a career-high 91 passes and topped 1,000 receiving yards for the only time in his career in 2021, when he played for the Baltimore Ravens. In the subsequent two seasons, he played in 12 and 14 games for the Arizona Cardinals before appearing in just two regular-season and three playoff games last year, his first with the Chiefs.
Brown suffered a sternoclavicular injury while catching a pass from Patrick Mahomes on the first play of the preseason. Brown had surgery and didn’t return until shortly before Christmas, ruining what could have been a promising debut season with the Chiefs.
“You all saw it in training camp, how special of a football player he is,” Mahomes said. “He did everything the right way, was in the building early, was in the building late, was teaching other guys. For him to get injured in kind of a freak deal there in the first play of the preseason, it stunk. I was happy to have him back at the end of the season and him to get back within the offense.
“Now with hopefully him having the full offseason and training camp and staying healthy and continuing to fight through, his role will expand even more. It’s kind of hard to throw guys in at the end of the season and try to give them a huge role. I think you can see when he gets the football in his hands and he has a huge role in our offense, it makes everybody go.”
Brown caught nine passes for 91 yards for the Chiefs in the regular season and five more for 50 yards in the playoffs. Those numbers were hardly what he and the Chiefs expected when he signed as a free agent.
“I wasn’t my best self, for sure,” Brown said. “I was coming back really just trying to help whichever way I could and that was my mindset and that helped me carry me through the end of last year. So I was just really grateful that I even had the opportunity to come back.”
Brown said returning to play was helpful in that he should be better off this season having had the experience. He’s part of a top group of wideouts that also includes Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy, a receiving group Brown said was “the best I’ve been a part of.”
“It was a good transition back into football,” Brown said of last season’s return to the lineup. “But now being able to train and build my body the way I want to, I’ve been enjoying it, enjoying the process.”
