AJ Brown reveals Mississippi State fans sent death threats to him for choosing Ole Miss

Not much is more intense than a high-level in-state recruiting battle between Mississippi State and Ole Miss — especially when a player is from the city of Oxford or Starkville. AJ Brown might be the best recent example, ultimately choosing to play for the Rebels. The Starkville High School product controversially left to play for Hugh Freeze.

To say Mississippi State fans were not happy would be an understatement. Brown revealed he received death threats over his decision. At the time, he brushed them off due to still being “a kid”. But naturally, his father took them a lot more seriously.

“I was getting death threats,” Brown said via Pardon My Take. “It was serious. I didn’t really take it serious but my Dad took it very seriously. I was just a kid, getting ready to play football. Just kind of brushed it off… Long story short, I had a white Challenger with a red stripe — everyone knew it was me. License plate 1K. I was getting followed, people taking pictures of my car online. I didn’t even know it, I’m a kid. My Dad was like ‘This is serious.'”

Turns out, Mississippi State was not even a finalist for Brown. He chose Ole Miss over Alabama, entertaining the possibility of leaving the Magnolia State. Brown did cite Mississippi State wearing Adidas instead of Nike as one of his reasons.

As for the death threats, they began once Brown decided to officially cut Mississippi State out of his recruitment. He held a conversation with then-head coach Dan Mullen and from there, the hate messages began to flow.

“It was between Alabama and Ole Miss,” Brown said. ” … They just expected me to to there (Mississippi State). So when I closed off the recruitment, I remember telling Dan Mullen, ‘You no longer can recruit me. I’m not coming here.’ That’s when it kind of started like, ‘Oh shoot, what have you done? You’ve messed up.'”

Brown went on to have a fantastic career with Ole Miss. He caught 189 passes for 2,984 yards and 19 touchdowns over the course of three years before leaving in favor of the NFL Draft. No performance more legendary than the 2017 Egg Bowl, where Brown went for 167 yards on six receptions, including a 77-yard touchdown.

However, Mississippi State fans might tell you they got the last laugh. Brown was on the losing side of the rivalry on two of his three appearances.