5. Brooklyn Adams - Behind the Lions on Finding Your Path, Purpose, and Partnership with Amon-Ra St. Brown

19:10Brooklyn Adams:And they just were curious about the experience as a wife and girlfriend, about the community of wives and girlfriends.

19:15Amon-Ra St. Brown:I think the culture as a team and like in general is amazing. The guys are amazing. The fans are amazing. Coaching staff is amazing. obviously when Aminra got drafted no one wants to like back then Lions no one wants to go to the Lions and he said this in interviews it's like oh shit we're going to the Lions like I don't know if we're happy I don't know if we're glad like no one knows what to expect and it was a brand new team going in we had all new coaches all new players I say me as like yeah I'm playing too but you're hearing about it at dinner so it's for you too right exactly but they had all new coaching staff all new players so everything was new and I think it was really hard for him and all the guys to kind of have an insight of what this future Lions team was going to look like and then obviously his first year was kind of like learning everything and it showed it definitely showed and then year two went on and we're like oh wow okay wait a minute then year three we're like holy crap and year four and now so it's it's changed a lot and the team is absolutely amazing and you'll hear the guys talk about it they're willing to put their lives and bodies and everything on the line for the lions for dan campbell for this team for this for michigan for the city of detroit it's I can't speak on other teams because obviously we've only been on the Lions, but Amonra is so happy to be here.

20:55Amon-Ra St. Brown:I'm so happy to be here. And I don't think we'd want to be anywhere else. So it's truly amazing to be able to experience this sort of transition from his first year to now and see this change and see the guys and even a lot of the rookies and these new guys that come in and get traded. They talk about it. They're like, whoa, like this is way different than the teams that we were on like they take shit serious around here or it's way harder or everything so the the culture the experience everything it's it's truly different but in such a beautiful and good way and then the culture with the wives and girlfriends i wish i can get like i can give you more of an insight and like take everybody along with me to show them but these women are absolutely amazing like seriously I have friends for life like I'm aunties to some of these children and we're not even like blood related like we are such a family and we protect each other and we show up for each other in times of need I think where you know we know what it's like to go through stuff like this so we can relate on so many different levels and aspects in life.

22:09Amon-Ra St. Brown:And I've heard from like other teams that, even girls, like new rookie girls or people getting traded coming to the team that talk about like, oh wow, our teams didn't do this or we didn't have friendships like this. And the Lions woman, you guys, like I don't even know a word for it. They are absolutely amazing. Every single person, every single wife, every single girlfriend, I love them like seriously I love them I love every single one of them we have such an amazing tight-knit group of girls and we're all just so supportive and loving of each other so I'm I'm so happy seriously I have friends and family for life yeah that's so sweet and I think part of that too

22:56Brooklyn Adams:is is due to long-term contract girls like yourself because not everybody gets a long-term contract, but the people who are in it kind of for the longer haul are responsible in a way for making sure that new girls who are coming in, new families who are coming in, new parents who are coming in feel comfortable. So I think that it's also something to probably give yourself a pat on the back for, for like welcoming and creating the environment because the team is one thing, but then like the family side is a whole other, I feel like ball game. And so I feel like the girls who have been there are also, yeah, somewhat responsible for like keeping that culture alive, which you obviously are lovely and wonderful and well-spoken and kind.

23:44Brooklyn Adams:And I think that's also part, you know, due to you and the girls who are there for a long time to say, hey, welcome, like you're new. Great. Like be our friend. Come hang out with us. Come do this stuff. Like you're a part of this awesome organization now. And like you're part, you're one of us essentially.

23:59Amon-Ra St. Brown:right right and i try to explain to people too also that it's like which i'll never understand it's like you were in the same spot that they were coming in you didn't know anybody you're coming to a new city a new state you're uprooting your life to come in somewhere where you're essentially like alone these guys these are players are boyfriends husbands they're gone all day like you're essentially this is a very and i explain this too this is a very lonely lifestyle like yes we're here for them and we we chose this but they're gone all the time so if you don't have that support of those wives and girlfriends and friends it's really hard so I try to explain and I feel like a lot of the vets on the team understand this as well as we were in the same position you guys were in so hearing from like other people that that wasn't an option for them or no one was really like loving or supportive.

24:56I'm like, you're like, what's going on?

24:59Brooklyn Adams:Well, I also kind of like the fact that you said like this life can be lonely because I feel like there's a little bit of a stereotype associated with like the wives and girlfriends of players in the NFL. And I feel like for you and some of the other wives and girls that we talked to on the show and that I've seen on social media and things like y 'all are really breaking the stereotype. And a part of that is being inclusive from other people, sharing a little bit of your story, sharing a little bit of your life, but also just being a genuine person. And I think people feel that energy. And now we're starting to see, at least for me personally, I'm looking at that lifestyle and those women differently.

25:39Brooklyn Adams:And also, like yourself, these are accomplished women. Like you're 26, for you to be 26 and speak the way you speak and have the things that you've already accomplished, that says a lot. And I think a lot of girls, especially in their 20s, can look at this and be like, okay, let me come back down to earth for a second. Like, yes, it would be cool to have this kind of lifestyle, but I can also be my own person, have a healthy, not a toxic relationship, and then, you know, conduct myself in a respectful way. So I think it's just all around beautiful and really, really cool to hear. Yeah. Yeah. It's really sweet to hear that the like the it's the the entirety of the organization is similar to what we see on the field.

26:22Brooklyn Adams:And, you know, like the way that you're explaining, it just seems like very well-rounded, which I think is really sweet. So with your position that you're in, how has it been? I kind of want to talk about you stepping into the public eye, which I mean, I'm sure at 16 you weren't, you know, and saying, hey, I'm going to go to the NFL. You're like, OK, I don't know if we'll be dating. We'll see what's going to go on. We'll see if you make it. And then all of a sudden, especially with the Lions, you know, becoming one of the best teams in the league, how has it been navigating and experiencing kind of the throes of fame that you kind of just got swept into essentially.

27:01Amon-Ra St. Brown:No, literally like thrown into it full force. No, it's been crazy to be able to experience all this type of stuff. And when Amun-Ra got drafted, and then even recently with this like Netflix show and having our entire life kind of just on view for the entire world, people don't know. But even prior to that, like between, I want to say, him getting drafted well even college so college until the netflix show like i wasn't on social media i've been off of instagram for about eight or nine years now i recently got tiktok because i was forced into it um which i love don't get me wrong i love it i love posting and stuff but i'm a very private person i i'm a protector of peace i my family and friends know that about me that's one thing that they could say is I really protect my peace.

27:55Amon-Ra St. Brown:I really protect my relationship, my family, my friends, and my privacy. So it's been crazy to experience now like our life kind of like on view for the entire world. And I know and I'm not in any way trying to come off any sort of way. Aminra knows what he signed up for. I know what I signed up for. We are so grateful and beyond happy for the opportunities that we've been given. But it's still hard for me to navigate because I want to be as transparent as possible and give people an insight but I also know that once you give people an insight they think that they have access to everything and then that's when people can say what they want or view things how they want or make opinions or assumptions on stuff that they don't know and I've always said that yes transparency is access but access is not privilege you do not have a privilege or a right into my life I let you guys see what I want you to see because I want you guys to be a part of everything but as soon as I see that anything sort of becomes negative I will take it away like that and I don't want to come off rude in any way and I don't want this to be misconstrued but I've seen how putting your life out in front of others and in front of the world can sort of change people and maybe put a negative view on how people view you and your life and your relationship.

29:24Amon-Ra St. Brown:So it's been hard to navigate. I'm always, even my TikToks, like that's the only thing that I have that's essentially public. And Aminra can tell you like, it takes me days to post stuff because I'm nervous. I don't know. Like I have to like make sure like, is the background okay? Can you see anything? did I say something right is this funny is this not funny is this not appropriate I have to be really careful just because I'm very it makes me scared it makes me nervous I don't like putting my life out there but at the same time I know that this is something that we did sign up for we're so grateful and obviously being in the spotlight on the positive side it's brought so many amazing opportunities for us it's given us access to so many things things um it's allowed us to do so much and give back so much so there's always the there's the good side and then there's the not so good side so yeah well we're we're loving everything that

30:18Brooklyn Adams:you're posting on tiktok we if you need us in the comments we'll fight for you in the comments you

30:23Amon-Ra St. Brown:just let us know no and it's it's been good it's been good it's been really positive and i'm so grateful for everybody who's just supportive of us and love us and it's crazy that like i go out now and I get recognized and people ask me for pictures and I'm like you're like me are you sure I'm not I'm not anybody out like why why me so it's it's so good but at the same time like I'm also very mindful about what I put out there and what I want people to see Aminra and I were very very private that's why you won't see me on his Instagram even like some of his stories that he posts. I'm like, delete it.

31:03Amon-Ra St. Brown:I don't want to be seen or I don't want stuff. So TikTok, that's like him and I agree. And he's very like, he has a lot of input into my posts as well. He'll let me know like what he wants us showing, what he doesn't want us showing. I'm the same exact way. So yes, I try and be as transparent as possible. But at the same time, we're very private.

31:24Brooklyn Adams:Yeah. Yeah. I like that it goes right back to that communication thing that you were talking about earlier of like, how do we want to be perceived? How do we want to show ourselves online? On that note, on the Netflix note, how was filming Receiver? Because you're saying you kind of went from no fame, thrown into fame, and then all of a sudden you have professional camera crews, Netflix, coming into your house. So what was that whole experience like?

31:51Amon-Ra St. Brown:It was crazy because I remember he called me and let me know that we had, or he had this opportunity and he was like well what do you think and I'm like well it's not up to me it's like are you because if it was I probably would have said no he's like don't ask me because the answer is not what you want right exactly but no it turned out amazing we had such amazing producer uh Shannon and our videographers and team Hannah honestly everybody they treated us like they were not like we we couldn't see them like they were so amazing they made us feel so comfortable nothing was scripted that was one thing that i think aminrah really sat down and like talked to them about the fact that he was like if you guys are going to be filming i don't want anything fake this is an insight on my life like you guys are going to come with me and you're going to see everything so that was really interesting and to be a part of something like that like they mic'd me up on game like i just this is not that was my favorite Yeah, this is not me.

32:54Amon-Ra St. Brown:Like, I don't do stuff like this. So this was it was so crazy just to go from essentially being nobody to then being on Netflix for millions of people to see. And they had an insight on really like who Amon Ra was in football, but a little sneak peek on who he was outside of football. I love the fact that I could have I was a part of something like this to show that I'm his biggest supporter and fan and if I could help him out in any way and just show like who he is as a person and athlete and boyfriend and even like son and brother with his family and everything it was really fun it was definitely different but it turned out absolutely amazing and really good feedback too from people loved it and people were like oh my gosh I love you guys and this is so amazing and it was so nice to see not only Aminra as a football player but outside of football and I think that was like the biggest takeaway was we just wanted to show people that they're football players but that's not their whole identity so that was it was super cool but like I said it's just going from nobody to then people recognizing me was crazy I'm like I'm not who you think I am.

34:10But I think you are because you come off as like, you're so poised and cool and interesting and smart.

34:20Brooklyn Adams:And then you meet you and chat with you and you are this badass girl who like has a ton going for you and is smart and is interesting and like, you know, is super supportive while being yourself. So I think that you deserve all of the flowers that you have gotten. But I'm sure that literally overnight fame was extra wild from Netflix. Seriously. Crazy. On the Netflix show, how long did you guys record for?

34:51Amon-Ra St. Brown:On the Netflix show, we recorded from... I'm trying to think. I think they ended up doing preseason... to end of season like playoffs end of season that and then they gave us a break and then they did a they did our final interviews during off season so I want to say it was from maybe end of July August till end of january and then maybe in may ish okay so it was a full year of kind of them having access yes and i could be wrong i think i'm like off the top of my head i can't remember there was so much going on but i think that's yeah that's the chunk of when they filmed but they were not here all the time which was good they let us know that right they didn't move in this was good they let us know that they were coming to select games and they honestly they let us also kind of direct how we wanted to go about stuff okay um just because having a camera in your face 24 7 and at dinner and it's just it's a lot and it's like sometimes and i get it and i said this prior to was he wanted to be as open as possible and nothing fake.

36:18Amon-Ra St. Brown:But at the same time, you also have to be like on. It's like, oh shit, did I say something that I wasn't supposed to say? Or how do I look? Or I have to do, like, it was just constant. So they weren't here all the time. They let us know like specific games and then specific times outside of football when they wanted. But they made it easy. But it was a long, long process.

36:40Brooklyn Adams:I watched Receiver two times, But I didn't conceptualize that it was a full year of filming because I watched it in a day each time, right? Like I just binged it and then I watched it again to like prep to chat with you. But yeah, it's like a full year of your life. I like that you guys went in and you're like, hey, just film our regular life because then you didn't have to worry about like media training and all of those details. and you got to be in front of the camera in like almost a more casual manner than maybe you would have done otherwise, which hopefully made it like less nerve wracking and like more enjoyable for you.

37:15Amon-Ra St. Brown:No, it definitely did. I think my mom would have preferred if I had media training with some of the stuff that I was saying, she watched it back and was like, that is so unladylike of you to be seeing on national TV. You're like, I was my girl.

37:30Brooklyn Adams:I couldn't help it. It's not my fault.

37:32Amon-Ra St. Brown:I think this is me.

37:34Brooklyn Adams:That was unapologetically me. I'm curious though, on the media training note, because Victoria and I have talked about this on our podcast very briefly. But obviously the athletes and them having interviews and being on stuff, they have somewhat of a PR media training with the organization. What does that look like for y 'all? Do y 'all have to have media training?

37:56Amon-Ra St. Brown:Right. Amon-Ra, obviously, I wouldn't say he had a specific training. He's been interviewed from a young age. And I think you kind of pick up as you go and you know and learn, okay, I can't say this or I can't act this way. And then obviously when you get to the NFL, you have your PR team and guides and guidelines on what you can and cannot say. So he's learned a lot. He's actually, seriously, and I don't even mean to like toot his horn and but he's so well no seriously he's so well spoken and so just smart and the way that he speaks like he's just you can ask him a question and like like this he has an answer whereas me I'm like give me a second like I don't know let me think about it right and then I've never had media training I I didn't know that was like an option given I probably if it was I probably would have taken it but I think working in sales dry bar as a receptionist, also being a nurse and talking to patients.

38:58Amon-Ra St. Brown:I think that's kind of helped me articulate my answers accordingly and making sure that like I think before I speak and make sure that like I'm getting my point across has helped me a lot. Because when you're speaking to patients, you have to be very mindful about like how you're speaking and patients always write. So I guess that's my media training. You're like my media training is my life.

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40:42Brooklyn Adams:What does a typical week look like for you? So maybe first we should dive into what you're doing now. Because we saw a receiver. You're in nursing school. We've been talking about nursing school here.

40:52Amon-Ra St. Brown:I went to West Coast University in Orange County. It's a private nursing school. I graduated last August. And then when I graduated, I took a year off because I've been in school nonstop. Okay. Like, dude, it's been go, go, go. And so I went to West Coast University, which is an accelerated program. So they take the entire nursing program, which is about four years or more, depending on like prereqs and they condense it into 39 months but because I transferred in prereqs it was condensed even more so I had no breaks you don't get like really Christmas or Thanksgiving like holidays off because they essentially are having you work as a nurse a lot of hospital personnel don't get holidays off yeah they don't shut down hospitals during holidays so I was constantly go go go during that.

41:48Amon-Ra St. Brown:Yeah, no holidays off, no nothing. Graduated in August, took that year off because yeah, no breaks, no nothing. And then moved to Michigan. And that's when before this move, one thing that I had to talk to Aminra about was, hey, if I move out here, what is my career like? What are we looking like? Because I'm going to move out here. Obviously, like I still want to be able to do something. But at the same time, if you're asking me to like be a stay at home girlfriend or stay at home wife or stay at home mom, I need you to also know that I'm sacrificing a lot. I'm sacrificing my career for you. And I need some sort of like level where if I'm sacrificing to support you, then I need you to support me.

42:38Amon-Ra St. Brown:And but like it needs to be this mutual sort of thing. So I sat down, talked with him and he was like, if you want to work, you can work. If you don't want to work, that's okay as well. What do you want to do? And he gave me that option, which I love. And I told him that if I was going to work in the hospital, I can't get up and go. I can't, we go, we spend the season in Michigan and then off season in California. I can't tell a job, Hey, that's why I thank you so much for hiring me. I'm gonna be gone for four to six months in California also Sundays off if they play Monday night I need Monday off Thursday night football might be off as well and every Tuesday they have off so I need off they would look at me and be like you're fired yeah like don't even don't even show up fired before you are hired right so we talked about like what that looks like for me so that wasn't an option.

43:36Amon-Ra St. Brown:I could have done per diem. I could have done anything I could have done. But I think we are in such an amazing sort of career and we have so many opportunities and resources like at our fingertips that I think the one thing that aligned us the most was giving back. Aminra and I have had such an amazing childhood and had all these opportunities because our parents were able to give us those type of opportunities. A lot of children don't have the same opportunities that we had growing up. So it's like, why not be able to give back? So we started the St. Brown Foundation, which is a foundation focused in education, specifically literacy, and just giving children other education opportunities if we can.

44:24Amon-Ra St. Brown:Obviously, not everybody has those type of opportunities. And I know that's something that we've always had. There's never been a time where we had any sort of like struggle like that because our parents work so hard. So why not give back? So that's what we're focused on right now. We're focused on education and literacy in Michigan. In Detroit, that's our focus. And hopefully growing that and expanding that to our hometown in California, Los Angeles, and then just expanding it as much as possible.

44:52Brooklyn Adams:Yes, that's awesome. I think it aligns so well with you as well, because you put your education first in your personal life when you were talking about taking care of yourself and making sure that you are happy. And you may be having other options of things to do, but continuing that education to get what you wanted. So I feel like it aligns just so beautifully. And then obviously, an education from USC is nothing to joke around about. That's not a school that you can just walk through. Like, even if you're an athlete, even if you're, you know, whatever the easiest major that they say it is, like, USC is not a walk in the park.

45:31Brooklyn Adams:So I feel like I love that it aligns with your true lived experience and not just, hey, we're going to do this foundation. Like, it feels deep, deep rooted. What is your role at the foundation? And what is your what are your kind of weeks look like working in the foundation and anything? Yeah, we'll start there.

45:51Amon-Ra St. Brown:So my role in the foundation, I kind of run behind the scenes. I feel like one thing that we talked about was we wanted, obviously, Amun-Ra and his brothers, his family, St. Brown Foundation, to be the forefront of that. Just because this is like the perfect opportunity to utilize the fact that Amun-Ra is in Michigan, is in Detroit, plays for the Lions, and he has such a big impact, especially with children. So I'm like, why not utilize that? So that is he's the full face center of everything. And then I run the logistics behind the scene. I have an amazing team. We work with Capture Sports and his agency, Vanguard.

46:36Amon-Ra St. Brown:So I have an amazing team. I am, I would say, the like lead when it comes to stuff. Everything is run through me. But we work as a whole. We work as a team. Amin Ra is very involved as well, which I don't want to speak for everybody. I know there's a lot of foundations that might not, a lot of athletes might have somebody run it for them. And they kind of just sit in the background. Amin Ra is very involved. He sits in on meetings when he can. He'll say yes or no to a lot of things. So he's really involved. I'm really involved in my week. We are in the process of trying to get these campaigns started.

47:13Amon-Ra St. Brown:We have a bowling event coming. We have a back-to-school campaign coming. We just did a Rhymes with Reason campaign with one of the schools. So my weeks have been pretty busy. I would say consistently, I have biweekly meetings and just making sure that this stuff is running and going. You're making it happen is what you're doing. You're like, I'm busy because I'm doing,

47:38Brooklyn Adams:I'm running the foundation.

47:41Amon-Ra St. Brown:Literally. And it's, it's, it's like a learning process for me. I, I didn't study like business and marketing and I studied nursing. Like, I don't know what it takes to a 5013C and all this other stuff and all these logistics and all these moving parts. So we have such an amazing team to help support us as well. So I'm learning as I'm going, I'm constantly studying what like stuff and every like it's hard it's really hard no it's been it's been such an amazing such an amazing thing and we're so happy and we've obviously it's still new but we've seen such a small impact already we've heard such good feedback from kids from the students from teachers and everything I think like I said we we're so grateful to be in the position that we're in.

48:33Amon-Ra St. Brown:And yes, Amun Ram makes enough money to be successful forever. And obviously I could work to bring in more money, but it's like, why when we can give back? Why when we can support and do more than just make money? I don't know if that makes sense, but just trying to give opportunities to less fortunate and underprivileged kids. And I think that's what makes us happy. Yeah.

49:02Brooklyn Adams:I mean, it makes sense to me. If you have the opportunity to give back in a way where financially you're comfortable and then you can give back, but it sounds like it's also very fulfilling for you as well. And I feel like the best things come when you're fulfilled and you can pour from a full cup. I think it's awesome. I love hearing that you're like, yeah, I'm running the show. I'm not fully, I did not study this, but I am doing it. I'm killing it Thank you I'm kind of curious though What's the next We never know what the next five years Look like or ten or whatever What tomorrow even looks like But for you specifically What are Brooklyn's goals For yourself in the next Let's say three years

49:49Amon-Ra St. Brown:In the next three years My goals I've never been asked that that's like that question you know what i think a few things like in my relationship i think aminra and i continuously building our relationship and getting to that next step i feel like people are constantly asking me about marriage and kids and what that looks like and yeah we've been together for it'll be 10 years in april and i also i thank you and i try to explain to people that we just turned 26. We also just moved in together last year. Half of our relationship was in high school and college. So why rush and engagement when we're still like figuring things out and building our relationship?

50:40Amon-Ra St. Brown:I feel like the biggest thing for us is having that solid foundation first and we're getting there. And I would say, yeah, we're there and we're still building, but you're still learning and you're still doing things. So I think in the next three years, maybe getting engaged and getting married. I know we've talked about it. That's both on our timelines, but there's also no deadline either. There's no rush to do anything. We're 26. We're living life. We're having fun. We're still figuring out the ins and outs of our relationship because we just moved in last year. We're still figuring things out.

51:21Amon-Ra St. Brown:So I would say in our relationship, I think that's next for us. And then for me personally, I think building on my nursing career, expanding the foundation, doing a lot more, giving back. Right now, we're only solely focused in Michigan, but hopefully expanding that to California, a home base and even maybe even Germany where Amunra's family's from. I think that would be super cool as well. So obviously we're starting small, but hopefully in these next few years, we can expand and do more and go from there. So yeah.

51:55Brooklyn Adams:Love the fact that like y 'all are not rushing marriage because like sidebar girlies, there is no deadline on when to get married. Like I feel like as girls, we always have this like ticking time bomb in our heads, which is like valid sometimes from like a health standpoint, But like coming from you and like your relationship, y 'all are high school sweethearts. Most people are like, oh, we have to be married by like 21 or like when we're done with college. No, like in college. I know there's like a term, especially in the South. It's like spring by ring or ring by the spring. And like that's just, it's so insane to me when you think about it and hear about that.

52:30Brooklyn Adams:Because it's like you haven't experienced life. Like y 'all haven't worked. Y 'all haven't like had an income. You haven't lived together. And like these, all these things swirling around. So I think coming from you, I think it's just really good advice and kind of comforting to hear. And I hope that all the girlies listening to this, if they're in a similar position, can relate. Right.

52:51Amon-Ra St. Brown:And nothing against anybody that did it that way. Everybody's different. Everybody's timeline's different. Everybody's relationship's different. Everybody moves at different paces. So if they did it that way and it works for them, amazing. But we're different. I'm different. I wanted to make sure that I had my career done and Amon Ra wanted to do stuff as well on his end. And then together we grow as our relationship and get stronger and do things for us. So, yeah, there's no rush. I mean, if you propose right now, would I say no? No. It's not that like either of us are holding out. I think it's trying to find the right time.

53:32Amon-Ra St. Brown:And also I try and tell people and family, I'm like, what is the rush? What is today, tomorrow versus a year or two years from now? We're still going to be in a relationship. our love is not going to change nothing's changing for us i think just making sure that we're solid and we know who we are and just making sure that we have the most solid and perfect foundation because if you don't have that it's not going to last like divorce rates are really high in the united states just everything so just making sure i this sounds but we're very like rationale like logistically thinking type of people, especially Amun-Ra, he will have an answer for everything and he talks through everything.

54:17Amon-Ra St. Brown:I think that's where I probably get it from. So just making sure that everything is done for a purpose and a reason, not just because it's there and we can do it.

54:28Brooklyn Adams:So yeah, it's wild hearing you, Giovanna, say ring by spring. So I grew up in California, but my sister's lived in Texas for like 10 years. She went to SMU for her grad degree. But I feel like in the South, people get married so much sooner. But then even thinking like 26, I'm about to be 31. And I'm, I thought I was, I would have gotten married at 22. I would have been one of those girls, put a ring on it. I've wanted to be a wife my whole life. But then like, now I'm like, okay, I'm almost 31. And look at this like, crazy, cool, interesting life that I've lived at, you know, like some if you find your person early, then you find your person early.

55:12Brooklyn Adams:But like, I don't have any, I don't feel sad that I didn't get married at 22.

55:18Amon-Ra St. Brown:And you shouldn't at all. It's like, you should go through life looking like no regrets. Like, I'm happy the way that everything turned out. And would it have been nice maybe to have someone else there and supportive and be there? Yes. But at the same time, I did all this shit on my own. I'm a boss girl. I did this without a man. And I'm living life and doing what I want to do. And if someone wants to be there in my corner supporting me, then when the time's right, the time's right. But as of right now, so what?

55:48Brooklyn Adams:you know like i feel like getting married later is a little bit underrated because you know your style like thank god i did not at 21 i could not dress as well as i could now my skin wasn't as good like i'm almost 31 i'm like objectively the hottest i've ever been i'm the most confident i know how to look at a photo i know what to ask for on my makeup like i'm not gonna be right you said i'm objectively the honest yeah great tell them yes exactly you know we we age like fine wine we didn't like we only get better with age right exactly you can paper a better wedding and you can plan things a little bit better you're like more you know much more like

56:33Amon-Ra St. Brown:Like people say this does not develop until you're 26. This virtual area of decision making and doing it. Of your brain. Right. Until you're 26. Like wait to make these big decisions. And like I said, if people do it a different way, that's fine. I'm not bashing anybody. I'm not telling anybody how they should live or how they should make decisions. But at the same time, I also want people to take that with a grain of salt. and don't judge me for the way I do stuff either. I'm not going to judge you, so don't judge me. People do stuff differently and that's okay. Like it is okay. I think it's so crazy that people have such an opinion and input in other people's lives, regardless of celebrity status or fame.

57:19Amon-Ra St. Brown:You could be like, not even have like fame or a whole bunch of followers and people still will have an input on the stuff that you do in life. And I think it's so crazy. I'm like, worry about yourself.

57:31Brooklyn Adams:Oh, please. It's interesting with you now because you are living a very non-traditional life. Your personal life is a whole separate story. But like if people online are coming at you for being like, you should get married. And you're like, our lives are so... Like the things that you are concerned about every day, obviously we have like normal stuff. We have bad hair days and we're girls and like we're people. And sometimes you wake up on the wrong side of the bed. But like your job and your partner's job and expectations from the world on you are so different than somebody who's like a keyboard warrior at home, like in the middle of wherever they're living.

58:14Brooklyn Adams:Yeah. I just think that's that's wild. The opinions just like make less sense when you think about it like that.

58:20Amon-Ra St. Brown:I'm like out of all the things that are going on in this world, you're really bothered by me.

58:26Brooklyn Adams:by me not having a ring yet like what has happened funny like that's so crazy yeah you're like maybe maybe i should invite you to my foundation and you could do something right right that's unreal

58:40Amon-Ra St. Brown:my little like link to donate under everybody's like forget the horrible comments i'm like donate

58:45Brooklyn Adams:here yeah literacy training obviously you need it what the heck no it's crazy but i will say too

58:54Amon-Ra St. Brown:at the same time, I also have, I get it. The girls that are like in my corner supporting, it's like, get that ring girl. But like, I also love that too. Like I'm not just crediting anybody or trying to come after anybody. I also love the girls who are very supportive as well. So.

59:09Brooklyn Adams:Yeah. We love a girl's girl. We love a girl's girl who just wants you to be happy. Right. I love girls, girls, always. We'll do a couple more kind of questions for you. Did you have a welcome to the NFL moment? I know that a lot of players get asked this moment, but kind of from you on stepping into this whole experience, did you have a moment that was like, wow, we are in it. We're in it now.

59:35Amon-Ra St. Brown:I did so yes I think my welcome to the NFL moment was Amina's rookie year they had a like stadium tour where all the like wives girlfriends coaches wives staff wives girlfriends everybody all significant others could take a private tour through the stadium in the locker room and I remember going in and this was like before season even started so we had the stadium tour before season and we go in and we're walking around and they take us to the locker room and I see St. Brown like number 14 in his locker and we got to like look at everything that was crazy but then going from the locker room out the tunnel to the field and getting on the field and it keep in mind it's empty so there's nobody it's just us and we're in the middle of the field and we get a walk around and I do like a whole like 360 and I was like this is not college anymore like this is this is real life like he's going to be on this field like next weekend playing in front of like thousands of fans like this is this is real life like this is serious because I remember I've been here since high school like like at the I think what what's our stadium's name in high school i think it was like the eddie edison i don't even know i can't even remember but just like showing up to that stadium and like not even a stadium it was like a football field in high school to then the usc coliseum to then now like it's it's such a surreal experience and it was crazy his first year just seeing him even fast forward to his first game and seeing him on the field suited up playing and walking around and there was people like inst brown jerseys and i'm like he hasn't even played a snap yet like he's not like how do you know he's gonna be good like i don't know like you're like what if this goes really bad you just spent 200 bucks on that jersey right and i'm seeing people in his jersey and i'm like what is going on and then now seeing like so many just fans that love him and love this team and it's it's been it's been amazing to be able to be a part of it and experience that with him I just I'm so grateful to to be here and to have these little moments with him it's been amazing what is your game day look like especially

1:02:05Brooklyn Adams:now that you're in Detroit obviously it looks different for traveling we recently learned that But players kind of like go like the night before and then come back like after the game, which I thought was crazy. In my head, they're at the Ritz-Carlton. They're like taking a breather. They're just like on a plane. They're coming back. So what does game day look like for you and then like any favorite parts that you have of game day? And you can do home or away, whatever you get better.

1:02:31Amon-Ra St. Brown:I can actually, I can differentiate between home and away. So away games, the guys leave Saturday. day so the day before they'll leave they'll do walkthroughs at like 10 and then Aminar won't come home until after the game on Sunday so he leaves Saturday at 10 and then I see him depending on like what time like for example this past weekend Ravens he left Sunday morning at 10 and then didn't come home until technically like Tuesday 3 30 in the morning because that was like monday night but it was like still the morning after so they're gone and then game days they'll have walkthroughs on saturday amonrell will come home from walkthroughs he'll hang out whatever like he has time off then they'll have meetings at eight and then curfew at night at 10 at the team hotel so the night before they're at the hotel so i don't see him and then for home games

1:03:29Brooklyn Adams:for home games yeah they stay at a hotel victoria's shook right now if i'm home and you're

1:03:37Amon-Ra St. Brown:telling me i can't sleep in my old bed no they have curfew and they do room checks so to make sure that the guys are in their room by 10 yeah okay that's crazy crazy and then some but not all so aminra has always done this some of the other players don't but on the game days they'll wake up they'll have like their meetings and then some of them will stay at the hotel and then just go straight from the hotel to the facility to the stadium Amonra comes home and that's like our little like normalcy like that's our routine is he will wake up he'll have his meetings and then he'll come home he'll get ready and then I always make depending on what time the game is I'll make either breakfast lunch or dinner that's like our little time together is right before the game.

1:04:24Amon-Ra St. Brown:I always make breakfast or if it's a later game, I'll make like a later lunch, early dinner. And then he'll leave straight to the stadium. And then I won't see him until after the game or on the field, but after the game and game days for me, I have that little like moment of just us two. And then I get ready. And then I'm either traveling with some of the girlfriends or girls. Honestly, it depends on what time it is because I love to pregame. so if it's like a night game we're going out we're going bar honking or out go but if it's early if the game's like at one and i know that like we have to be up early i'm like oh like do i really want to be drinking at like 10 o 'clock in the morning right now yeah like it depends it depends

1:05:08Brooklyn Adams:how i feel so yeah i'm curious what's your like favorite thing to make for him for breakfast i'm

1:05:14Amon-Ra St. Brown:very consistent i wouldn't say like amenra has like superstitions but like he'll never admit it but he also has like his like favorite things like low-key like low-key he wants breakfast sandwiches so i'll do a breakfast sandwich i'll make that every morning he'll do two of those he'll have one there and then he'll take one with him and then he'll eat it like whatever i don't even know what he eats i'm like when do you have time to eat it like that makes no sense to me but he'll eat it though right he'll eat it with him and then if it's a night game or like a later game he'll want like pasta which to me i'm like that seems very heavy but his also growing that right but his dad's always like and his saying his dad's saying is like eat dirty like red meat very heavy very dirty like protein so i'll do like pasta like spaghetti or like a pasta with like steak any sort of like red meat that's what he'll get

1:06:14Brooklyn Adams:nice yeah i love it i love that that was a great question giovanna i was just curious because i'm like let me add some game day recipes from brooklyn adams and spaghetti those are his spaghetti red meat yeah i think uh amin raw's dad is such it's so interesting to me that that the whole family and like the dynamic growing up and then hearing that like a lot of those things are still like ingrained in your guys's life is really cool. Also, when you were like, oh, yeah, he'll like come home. I'm imagining you guys in the mirror in the bathroom like you're doing your makeup and he's putting on his jersey.

1:06:56Brooklyn Adams:I don't know. Like, no, literally, that's exactly how. So he said this once.

1:07:01Amon-Ra St. Brown:So I'm going to take advantage of it because he'll never give me credit. But I dress him for game days. I do.

1:07:06Brooklyn Adams:just gonna ask you that because i feel like i've seen a lot of the wives and girlfriends dress their significant others and i was like you dress a little too good to just be doing that on your own that's me i will say though what was our what was our last home game it was the bears right

1:07:24Amon-Ra St. Brown:bear thank you the lions played the bears and i was rushing i was late so i was making breakfast was trying to get ready and i went upstairs and he picked that outfit out himself and i was so surprised like on a scale of one to ten ten like he ate he ate that up like i'm not even kidding head to everything and he really put thought into like everything i was like

1:07:52Brooklyn Adams:who are you talking are you like are you learning from me styling like are you into this now

1:07:57Amon-Ra St. Brown:no seriously but i will say i dress in for game days and then for us i'll i'll get ready early so I'll do my hair my makeup Aminor will come home I'll pick out his outfit maybe like the night before we literally do oh my god he's gonna kill me we do like a little like fashion show like I'll have him like the night before like try on his outfit for me and he'll be in the mirror doing like he's gonna kill me whatever doing like fashion show so he'll try on like different outfits and come around like he'll close and do stuff so then the night before I'll have his outfit picked out. Then the morning, so like, for example, Sunday, I'll be getting ready.

1:08:34Amon-Ra St. Brown:He'll come home and immediately, so we have surround sound like in our bathroom and our bedroom. He'll play music. He'll get like a good like playlist vibe going on and he'll just get ready. And then in the middle of me getting ready, I'll go downstairs, make breakfast. He'll eat. He'll come back, finish whatever, give me a kiss goodbye. And then he's out the door.

1:08:53Brooklyn Adams:I love it. I'm so glad you told us it's so fun we're also totally getting a picture of his 10 out of 10 self-made outfit oh my gosh

1:09:01Amon-Ra St. Brown:it was amazing like it was so it was so good he literally killed it let's see they did they professionally photograph it they did he posted it oh yeah i saw that yeah yes yeah like down to

1:09:16Brooklyn Adams:everything and i was like shoes the yes like i mean yes

1:09:24Amon-Ra St. Brown:that was all you right who told you how to do that yeah i'm a little curious because you're like

1:09:31Brooklyn Adams:but cool outfit but like where did you learn that learn that right whenever they like walk up they need to be like who styled you today and he was like my beautiful girlfriend brooklyn exactly but that's so awesome oh my gosh all right well we learned so much about you today This was such a privilege. So thank you so, so much for your time. I love chatting with you. You're so fabulous. I think that, yeah, you deserve all the flowers that have been thrown your way. I'm so excited to see what you do with the foundation. We'll be cheering you on from your home. Well, I'm in San Diego, from California.

1:10:10Brooklyn Adams:And to leave everyone with, is there anything else that you would like people to know about you that they can't find online through TikTok? Obviously shared a ton of info today. We got a lot of good stuff, but just if there's anything to close out.

1:10:25Amon-Ra St. Brown:No, I think honestly just, and I've talked about it before, but I think our sole focus right now is just our foundation. So if anybody wants to learn more, they can go to stbrownfoundation.org. There's information about us. You can learn about all the boys, about his family. You can learn about the purpose of the foundation, our current campaigns and challenges that we're doing. You can follow us on Instagram, on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. You can kind of get a little insight on everything that we're doing. And then you can donate as well because all proceeds go to better opportunities for children and education.

1:11:00Amon-Ra St. Brown:So, yeah, the handle is at St.

1:11:02Brooklyn Adams:Brown Foundation. Perfect. We'll put that in the show notes and tag it on social as well. Brooklyn, this has been the best. Thank you so much for being here. We're so grateful and we'll talk to you soon yes thank you guys bye

1:11:28Brooklyn Adams:the game's on the game is on oh my god the game's on the game's on the game's on the game's on the game's on the game's on the game's on