Every rookie has a moment when they first start playing in the NFL where they are humbled. This is commonly known as a “welcome to the NFL” moment. There is no better setting for that moment to happen, on either side, than in the physical AFC North rivalry between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Former Ravens OT Orlando Brown Jr. was asked about his recently.
“Oh yeah, bro. We ran a toss crack—you’re not even going to believe this shit—but it was my third game, first Ravens-Steelers game,” Brown said via the New Heights podcast posted on YouTube. “First series of the game, maybe second play, we call a toss crack to fucking Joe Haden. He hit me so fucking hard. He hit me right in my chest. Joe Haden is still to this day, that’s the hardest hit I ever received…that was my welcome to the NFL moment. Like, wow!”
This sent me down a rabbit hole for the afternoon of trying to hunt down the specific hit that Brown was talking about. He only played three or four offensive snaps in that game against the Steelers in Week 4 of his rookie season, and there was no such play like he described. His first start against the Steelers came in Week 9 of that season, and towards the end of the first quarter came the closest thing to what he described.
It may not seem like the most impressive hit, and perhaps this isn’t even the one he was talking about, but let’s first set the stage. Joe Haden is a cornerback and measured in during the combine back in 2010 at 5106, 193 pounds. Sure, maybe he added a handful of pounds over the next eight seasons, but that is the last time he would have had an official measurement. Orlando Brown Jr. is an offensive tackle, drafted in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He measured in at his combine at 6077, 345 pounds.
Not to get too into the physics of it all, but force is the product of mass times acceleration. It would be one thing if Haden delivered such a blow to a stationary Brown, but on this play, Brown was pulling and moving out in space. They hit pretty direct and square to each other, and Haden stopped him in his tracks, turned his body sideways, and made the tackle. Had he not made that play, Alex Collins might have found a lane up the sideline for a touchdown.
It is possible Brown is a little hazy on the details of when and where the play took place. It was six years ago, and I would probably try to forget the details if I were him, given it wasn’t one of his finest moments.
Regardless, that is a pretty unexpected pairing for a welcome to the NFL moment. A bit of a David and Goliath story.
