Slow start did not derail Tim Brown’s Hall of Fame career

Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series acquainting fans with the Raiders’ illustrious 60-year history as the team moves to Las Vegas for the 2020 season.

In today’s hyper-impatient world, Tim Brown would have been considered a disappointment after the first five years of his NFL career. At that point, the sixth pick in the 1988 draft had accumulated just 147 receptions for the Raiders and never had more than 49 catches in a season.

Yes, he was a dynamic return man. In fact, as a rookie he was the NFL leader in kickoff return yards with 1,098. One of his NFL-best 41 returns went for a 41-yard touchdown.

But as a wide receiver, he wasn’t having the impact one would expect. That was all about to change.

As Brown proved, it’s not always how you start a career, but where you take it from there. In Brown’s case, that was all the way to the Hall of Fame.

After five so-so seasons, he had 80 catches for 1,180 yards and seven touchdowns in his sixth season, launching a string of nine straight seasons in which Brown exceeded 1,000 receiving yards. He had 80 or more receptions in nine of the next 10 years. He also started all 16 games nine straight years and in the 10th made 15 starts in 16 games.

Along the way, he set Raiders records in receptions (1,070), receiving yards (14,734), receiving touchdowns (99), punt return yards (3,272), all-purpose yards (19,431) and yards from scrimmage (14,924).

The first wide receiver to win the Heisman Trophy, Brown brushed off the slow start to his career to become one of the most dynamic, durable and consistent players of all time.

Brown was never considered the best NFL wide receiver. But from his sixth season on he was among the best. And as the seasons of productivity kept piling up, all of a sudden Brown began to be talked about as a potential Hall of Famer.

“I think I was 33 or 34 the first time someone mentioned to me that my numbers may be good enough to get in the Hall of Fame,” Brown told ESPN in 2015. “It really wasn’t something I thought about. I was so focused on trying to finish my career and get to the Super Bowl and win a Super Bowl. That was all that mattered to me.”

Brown and the Raiders played in Super Bowl XXXVII but lost to Tampa Bay, which was coached by Jon Gruden.

By playing 16 seasons with the Silver and Black, spanning their Los Angeles days and back to Oakland, Brown became a Mr. Raiders of sorts. Aside from Marcus Allen, no one personified the franchise more than Brown during that era.

Part of what made him so great was his ability to adapt. During his time with the Raiders, there was a turnstile at the quarterback position, continually forcing Brown to get on the same page with new passers, sometimes multiple times during the same season.

“I caught passes from 19 different quarterbacks in my career,” Brown told Will Brinson of CBS Sports in 2015. “So being able to be consistent with those type of situations almost year in and year out is something I believe helped me to get where I am right now.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore onTwitter.