HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610) -- Tight end Pharaoh Brown is entering his fifth NFL season, but he doesn't even count the first three before playing for the Texans.
Undrafted and signed by the Oakland Raiders in 2017, Brown spent most of his first year on the practice squad (played in two games with one start). He was waived as part of roster cuts in 2018, and then signed to his hometown Cleveland Browns' practice squad.
Brown was briefly on the active roster before landing on the injured reserve with a shoulder injury that season.
In 2019, Brown played in nine games, starting in six. But he was targeted just three times for two catches.
It wasn't until last season, when Brown signed with the Texans, he was able to make an immediate impact. Brown finished with 14 catches, two for touchdowns, in 13 games (started in nine).
"I was more playing politics my first two years," said Brown, who is unapologetically himself no matter the environment. Here, Brown is stressing the point of not having the opportunity to show his skills in the earliest days of his career.
"I came here initially because the Texans didn't have a guy at my position (making a lot of money). So I knew I would be able to get my fair shot. I betted on myself and I was right. I'm finally getting my opportunity."
Brown signed a one-year deal to return to the Texans this offseason for up to $1.6 million. He'll earn a $950,000 base salary, with the $200,000 signing bonus guaranteed.
Brown had a bout with COVID-19 last month, suffering symptoms both from the virus and still some side effects from the vaccine.
"I feel like I'm playing pretty good. I still don't have my wind back yet," Brown said. "I had COVID in July and then I had some more reactions to the vaccine, so I've been having a kickoff and headaches. I still don't have my wind back. I think once I can get through that, I'll be feeling much better."
At training camp, he's competing with Jordan Akins and Kahale Warring, both former third-round picks by Houston in 2018 and 2019, respectively; fifth-year veteran Ryan Izzo, formerly of the Patriots and traded to the Texans in March for a seventh-round pick in next year's draft; Antony Auclair, who was on the Buccaneers' Super Bowl roster last season; and rookie Brevin Jordan, who the Texans selected in the fifth round out of Miami.
Akins appeared on track to be a starter for the Texans last season before suffering a concussion from a helmet-to-helmet hit with Vikings safety Harrison Smith in Week 4 at NRG Stadium.
That's when more was asked of Brown, who'd been on the team for about three weeks.
"I'm a great football player," Brown told SportsRadio 610, laughing but serious. "That's just what it boils down to in this league, especially when you're undrafted. You never know when your opportunity is going to come. Being undrafted, those opportunities come slim. They slim. So when you get it, you got to take it and I been prepared each year, you know ...
"I've been prepared each year like I knew I was a starter, I believed I was a starter and I believed I could play in this league and it was just a matter of opportunity. Just preparation -- opportunity is finally meeting preparation and that's why I'm confident and that's why when I got out there last year, you know what I mean, it was just like, stepping into it, you know what I mean."
Akins spoke about two learning from each other both on and off the field, where Brown is described as a "very funny, nonchalant, laid back, great guy," who's "really chill."
On the field, Brown's confidence is backed up by his peers and coaches.
When Tim Kelly talked about Brown last December, he said "football makes sense to him," speaking to his value in both the run and pass game.
"You can ask him to do different things, whether it's align him away from the formation, align him as a fullback, align him as a tight end in-line, align him as an off the ball tight end," Kelly said last year during a Christmas Eve press conference. "He finds ways to make it work and to excel at it."
Akins said to expect tight ends to make more plays and be more involved in the offense this season -- down the field, blocking out on the edge and moving around to create mismatches for defenses.
In 2020, the Texans ranked 24th in tight end targets.
Brown also stood out blocking in the run game, another area the Texans desperately hope to improve after finishing last in rush DVOA, which measures efficiency.
