A.J. Brown Nominated for 2018 C Spire Conerly Trophy

A.J. Brown, photo by Steven Gagliano

Ole Miss football junior receiver A.J. Brown is one of 10 nominees for the C Spire Conerly Trophy, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum announced Monday.

The C Spire Conerly Trophy is awarded to the most outstanding college football player in Mississippi. The winner will be announced Tuesday, Nov. 27, at the Country Club of Jackson.

Brown, who took home the Conerly Trophy in 2017, will look to join Eli Manning and Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott as the only players to win the coveted award twice.

A junior out of Starkville, Mississippi, Brown has re-written the receiving record books in his three years at Ole Miss. He stands as the all-time leading receiver in Ole Miss history with 2,923 yards. He has 12 100-yard receiving performances during his career, also a program record.

Brown has amassed 1,259 yards so far this season, breaking his own single-season school record of 1,252, set in 2017. He’s the only player in Ole Miss history with two 1,000-yard seasons to his name. He is also one reception shy of the all-time single-season mark of 82, set by Laquon Treadwell in 2015.

Despite playing alongside two other NFL Draft prospects at the receiver position, Brown currently leads the SEC and ranks fourth in the nation with 114.5 receiving yards per game. He’s also first in the SEC and is seventh in FBS with 7.4 receptions per game.

In addition to his 2017 Conerly Trophy, Brown has earned a number of accolades. He is a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award and was a semifinalist for the same honor in 2017. He is also on the Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Award watch lists. Brown was a preseason first team All-American according to six different outlets and a second-team honoree by another. He was on the Phil Steele All-American Second Team in 2017 and a third-team selection by the Associated Press. He was also a first-team All-SEC receiver according to the coaches, AP and Phil Steele in 2017.

A multi-sport athlete, Brown was selected in the 19th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres and has participated in the team’s extended spring training each of the past three summers.

Brown has shown his versatility and selflessness on the gridiron this season. When the Rebels’ No. 2 receiver, D.K. Metcalf, went down with a season-ending injury, Brown transitioned seamlessly from the slot to the outside position.

Named after College Football Hall of Famer and Ole Miss legend Charlie Conerly, the trophy was first conferred in 1996. Last year, Brown became the seventh Rebel to win the award. In total, the Conerly Trophy has been awarded to an Ole Miss player eight times, more than any other program: Stewart Patridge (1997), Deuce McAllister (1999), Eli Manning (2001, 2003), Patrick Willis (2006), Bo Wallace (2012), Evan Engram (2016) and Brown (2017).

Players are chosen by their respective schools. A combination of votes from the C Spire fan voting and a poll of sports news media representatives determine the winner. Fan voting begins today at 5 p.m. CT and runs through noon on Sunday, Nov. 25. Voters can cast a ballot up to three times per day at www.cspire.com/Conerly.

Tickets are on sale now for the Conerly Trophy banquet at the Hall of Fame office and online at www.msfame.com. Advance tickets are required and no sales will be available at the doors. All proceeds benefit the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.

This year’s keynote speaker is Rebel great and former Conerly Trophy winner Deuce McAllister.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports