Las Vegas Raiders Legend Tim Brown Details ‘The Perfect 10’ Documentary And Why He’s So Underrated

Tim Brown is one of the greatest wide receivers football has ever seen.

It’s why he’s the executive producer behind an NFL Films production titled “The Perfect 10.” The documentary features the story behind the only 10 football players to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame — while also holding the distinction of winning the Heisman Trophy.

These prestigious athletes are referred to as “H2H” athletes. In other words, Heisman to Pro Football Hall of Fame.

It’s an exclusive list that includes legends such as Barry Sanders, Roger Staubach and Marcus Allen.“The Perfect 10” is a joint production between the Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment Company (HOFV) and Brown’s own entity, Elite Holdings, LLC.

The documentary was previously titled “The Nine” before Brown’s former Las Vegas Raiders teammate, Charles Woodson (the 10th member), was announced as an inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for 2021.

“I was blown away, because I thought I could name 20 guys that won the Heisman and in the NFL Hall of Fame,” said Brown. “But that certainly wasn’t the case. And the more we looked into it, me being the only receiver, Roger (Staubach) being the only quarterback and Charles Woodson being the only defensive back, I just thought it was amazing.

“I felt that it was a story that needed to be told,” Brown continued. “I feel like that this is an inspirational story that needs to be told to inspire people. And I think that’s the name of the game at this particular point. We won all the trophies, we caught all the balls, we’ve thrown all the touchdowns and did all that stuff. But now it’s really time to inspire people that want to be inspired.”

There are still discussions on how to tell the story of the elite group. There’s talks of doing half-hour episodes of each player or an overall longer production of all 10 players, says Brown and Marc Bluestein, President and CEO of Aquarius Sports and Entertainment. Bluestein is partnering with the Raiders great to bring “H2H” and the “Perfect 10” to life.

While this will be an NFL Films production, the content distributor has yet to be determined. That means the “The Perfect 10” could be on the NFL Network or even ESPN by the time it premieres.

“Over the next several weeks, we do have meetings with content distributors,” continued Bluestein. “We’ll talk to NFL Network and the ESPN’s of the world. But we’ll also talk to people showing and producing content like this as a potential output to show these stories.”

“Think of it as a ‘Football Life’ meeting a ‘30 for 30.’ You can create it episodic. It’s all about the feedback from the folks in the entertainment community to see the value in the story,” Bluestein explains.

The HOFV’s mission and its value is to honor the past and inspire the future.

“We have left an incredible legacy on the football field. Now we’re trying to do something where we (H2H athletes) leave an incredible legacy off the football field,” Brown said.

The documentary’s purpose is to inspire people — and it’ll do so by partly focusing on Brown’s own historic career.

The former Heisman Trophy winner is the first — and only — wide receiver to win the Heisman Trophy. He not only excelled at the college level, he more than exceeded expectations at the pro level.

The Notre Dame product was the face of the Raiders franchise during the 90’s after he was selected as the No. 6 overall pick in the 1988 NFL Draft. Furthermore, he established himself as the best wide receiver in the league not named Jerry Rice by the turn of the millennium.

Brown was a nine-time Pro Bowler and named to the All-Decade Team of the 90’s. And despite playing for an up-and-down franchise punctuated by instability at the quarterback position — Brown played with starting quarterbacks such as Donald Hollas and Jeff George— the speedy receiver’s production never declined.

To this day, he holds the NFL record for most consecutive seasons with 75-plus receptions (10), the record for most consecutive games with two-plus receptions (147 games) and he shares the record for most consecutive seasons with at least five touchdown receptions (11).

That’s not even mentioning an often-forgotten fact about Brown — he’s the Brett Favre of wide receivers. The Raiders star wideout made 176 consecutive starts from 1992 until 2003 — and his missed start wasn’t even due to injury. In fact, outside of a left knee injury that Brown suffered at the start of the 1989 season, the guy rarely missed games. From 1990 until 2004, Brown was absent for just two games.

To top it all off, unlike other all-time great wide receivers, Brown excelled in the return game. In fact, he was a First-Team All-Pro selection as a kick returner in his rookie campaign. He served as the Raiders’ punt returner until the 1996 season.

Considering his all-around accomplishments in college and the NFL, Brown has a case as the greatest wide receiver ever.

Although the Raiders great still ranks No. 7 in career receiving yards and receptions and No. 9 in receiving touchdowns — he retired in 2005 ranked second in the first two categories and third in the latter — he’s often overlooked when it comes to the discussion of the best receivers in history.

As Brown explains, there are many reasons for this — and it’s not necessarily that he didn’t win a Super Bowl.

Some of it has to do with the fact there was never any dirt on him.

“I think all those things certainly come into play. But Randy (Moss) never won a Super Bowl. And Terrell Owens never won a Super Bowl,” Brown says. “But one of my friends from college once told me, ‘Man, you need to do something bad. And then for the rest of your career, we can say that you’ve changed from your wicked ways and you’re a changed person.’”

“He said the same thing back in college. They see you as a Notre Dame, goody-two-shoe guy. And you could play great football, but people want to see extra stuff. I was never willing to go there just for that reason.”

Part of the reason Brown is often forgotten may have to do with the Al Davis-owned Raiders refusing to promote their star players during the receiver’s career.

“Playing for the Raiders, the team did not do an incredible job of promoting their players, that wasn’t something that Al Davis was big on,” Brown explains. “They would never let me be the representative for the ‘Man of the Year’ award. Just because he didn’t want me out there, because he didn’t want me to win it.

“In my time with the Raiders, there was not a representative for the ‘Man of the Year’ award,” Brown continued. “When you have that sort of stuff happen, and you’re fighting against, ‘you’re going to get what you’re going to get,’ you gotta be happy with it.”

“I’ve never shaken my head about the situation I’ve been in. Playing with 20 different quarterbacks, and still being able to put up the numbers, you think would have changed somebody’s mind or turned some heads, but it didn’t,” Brown says.

“But at the same time, I’m in the College Football Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame and five or six more Hall of Fames. So from that standpoint, what God wanted me to have, I got,” Brown concluded.

Although the Raiders legend may not receive the credit he deserves, you can’t take away the fact that he’s part of an exclusive football group — “The Perfect 10.”

Production of Brown’s documentary is expected to begin in the spring. The intended release date for the “Perfect 10” will be during the 2022 Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremony.