MARIA TAYLOR: How would you describe your relationship with Jalen Hurts right now?
A.J. BROWN: Uh … Not as close as we once were. I believe that’s fine. It’s like, there’s no bad blood. There’s actually still a lot of love, I love him to death. I want him to succeed and accomplish all the things that he wants to accomplish. I didn’t truly understand why our friendship became the center of everyone’s attention when it comes to football because looking back on it, we haven’t been as close as we were [for] a couple years now. But that didn’t stop anything. We still competed, we still pushed each other, we still led the team. It was just kind of strange, people just got so fixated on our relationship, and wanted to talk about— maybe because the history of this place, but that wasn’t what this was. I’ma say it to you, I’ma say it on camera, I have nothing but love for him. I want him to do well and accomplish everything that his heart desires.
MARIA TAYLOR: I think, at the end of the day, people always just want to know why and there’s an understanding that people grow apart. What is the best way you can put a description so people can understand?
A.J. BROWN: Yeah, uh, nothing happened. Nothing happened. People just grow apart. Nothing happened between me and him, or our families, our wives, anything. Nothing like that ever happened. But life happens and you just look up sometimes and you find yourself drifting away. And that’s fine. And I think both parties accepted that.
