On Day 2 of the 2023 NFL Draft, the San Fransisco 49ers moved up 15 spots in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings and ended up selecting former Penn State safety Ji’Ayir Brown in the third round, No. 87 overall.
Brown got the initial call from 49ers general manager John Lynch to let him know that he was the newest member of the 49ers.
JL: Ji’Ayir, this is John Lynch of the San Fransisco 49ers. We’re going to take you here, buddy.
JB: You going to take me?
JL: Yes. You fired up buddy?
JB: Let’s go! Let’s get it! Let’s get it! That’s the right move.
JL: I know it’s the right move. That’s why we moved up for you.
Lynch handed the phone to Brown’s new head coach Kyle Shanahan and doubled down on what Lynch told him.
“We’re so pumped to get you,” Shanahan told Brown as his family was cheering over the phone in his home in New Jersey.
“That’s why we’re so fortunate to get you where we were at. That’s why we had to come up and get you.”
“When John Lynch wants you and moves up for that should say something, that should say something,” 49ers’ CEO Jed York told Brown.
Lynch made nine Pro Bowls, four All-Pro teams, and helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl XXXVII championship. Lynch was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.
Brown will most likely start his career learning and playing behind Tashaun Gibson, hoping to start alongside 2022 First-team All-Pro Talanoa Hufanga.
Brown’s Penn State teammates Brenton Strange (Jaguars) and Juice Scruggs (Texans) also went on night two.
Watch the 49ers’ call to Brown here.
#JL knows safeties.
The call that made @_Tiig2 a member of the 49ers 📞 pic.twitter.com/k0B0AcFvpa
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) April 29, 2023
Twitter: @bwalkerdadon
