For as talented as Marquise “Hollywood” Brown is, the former first-round pick has had a strange odyssey of an NFL career to date.
The Baltimore Ravens drafted him 25th overall in 2019, and although he fared rather well in the team’s run-heavy scheme tailored to Lamar Jackson’s strengths, he was traded after the 2021 campaign when he posted his first 1,000-yard season. Then, Brown had to toil away on the Arizona Cardinals, whose NFLPA organizational report card ranked 27th out of 32 teams in 2024, and that was a 3-spot improvement from the prior year.
Well guess what? The Kansas City Chiefs, whose patchwork receiving corps Patrick Mahomes just dragged to a second straight Super Bowl win, went and got themselves a player in Brown who should be a legitimate difference-maker.
Pair up Hollywood with rising second-year stud Rashee Rice, and the Chiefs suddenly have a solid 1-2 punch to lead their wide receiver room. Not to mention, it helps having the GOAT pass-catching tight end in Travis Kelce as a complementary piece. That trio of Brown, Rice and Kelce is formidable to say the least, especially with Mahomes under center and Andy Reid dialing up the plays.
Kelce also happens to be dating Taylor Swift. Thus, it was only appropriate for Brown to ring in the celebratory occasion of joining the dynastic Chiefs by hopping on a live stream to blast “Blank Space.”
It took Hollywood a second to recognize the song, but we can give him some grace for not being a Swiftie fully steeped in the music icon’s extensive discography. That should come naturally with quality time spent around Kelce and T-Swift, who’s attended plenty of games and should continue to be around the team.
This is a total green flag if you’re a Chiefs fan. Your new playmaker is already getting up to speed on being a good teammate to Kelce, one of the greatest and most beloved players in franchise history. I say this jokingly, but if Kelce’s blow-up at Reid on the sidelines of Super Bowl LVIII was any indication, I’d do everything in my power to get on Kelce’s good side. Not getting that type of wrath directed at you, plus getting to be cool with Taylor Swift? Not the worst combination in the world.
Good for Hollywood Brown. He may not be Tyreek Hill levels of explosive, yet he’s still a legit 4.3-second 40 guy who can blow the top off a defense. Never has Brown been in a position where he’s had so many good, complementary skill players around him. As long as he does his part on this one-year deal, Brown will either set himself up for an excellent future in Kansas City, or cash in with a massive payday elsewhere.
Turn it up.
