Meet the Savannah-area eighth grade football player who received an SEC scholarship offer

At 6-foot-3 and 275 pounds at the age of 14, Robert Brown Jr. fits the description of a man child as he dominates on the football field.

Power Five college coaches have already taken notice as the Hinesville native picked up his first offer from Arkansas last week.

The standout offensive lineman played on the Bradwell Institute junior varsity squad as an eighth grader, and he is set to join a Savannah Christian squad fresh off a trip to the Class 3A finals next season, his father, Robert Brown Sr., said.

Brown Jr. has turned heads with his play at a number of high caliber football camps. He got the Razorback offer last weekend at the Born to Compete All-American game in Lilburn.

"It was crazy, I'm still in disbelief about it," said Brown Sr., a standout lineman at Bradwell in his high school days. "Alex Benson, who runs the event, had us come into this meeting room, and I thought we might be having an interview with some recruiting writers. Then Alex came in with Arkansas running back coach Jimmy Smith on speaker phone and he made the offer.

"Robert and I and shed some tears when we heard that, and I wasn't able to sleep for the next two nights because I was so excited. I keep asking myself if this is really happening with my son, who's just an eighth grader. It was a blessed weekend."

Brown Jr. joins a pair of current Savannah Christian stars as football players who received SEC offers before playing a down of high school football.

Junior defensive lineman Elijah Griffin, a 5-star prospect, picked up an offer from Georgia as an eighth grader in September of 2020.

And Damion Guyton, a talented edge who was recently named to the Maxpreps.com Freshman All-American team, picked up his UGA offer in June of 2023 before joining the Raiders.

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Brown Jr. also took a recent unofficial visit to Georgia Tech, his father said. He is currently playing basketball for Snelson-Golden Middle School in Hinesville.

"He's been working so hard in the weight room," said Brown Sr., who works in Savannah and said the family may move there to be closer to SCPS. "Robert is a really laid back, quiet kid. He needs to get used to you to show his funny side. He's a homebody who just wants to play sports, study, play video games and eat.

"In basketball, I'm on his tail a bit because he plays kind of scared. He doesn't want to foul out and plays more of a finesse game, but I told him guys his size need to have three or four fouls per game. But on the football field, he's a different person and plays much more physical. I always say he doesn't care about other people's kids when he's playing football."

Brown Sr. said his son is a "yes sir, no sir," type of kid, who does well in the classroom. Robert Jr. is set to attend the Under Armour Camp in Orlando on Feb. 10 and the Future Stars Game in Decatur the week after that.

Brown Jr. said he was excited about the offer from Arkansas and the chance to share the moment with his family. An avid college football fan who said he knows a lot about the Arkansas program, Brown said Georgia is his favorite team. He said the Arkansas offer made him want to work harder and stay focused on developing his game.

"I've been getting better as a player at all of these camps," Brown Jr. said. "I'm learning how to block players of all different shapes and styles -- from really fast, quick guys to really strong ones. I'm learning to be smooth and physical and improving with my technique."

Brown Jr. said he is excited about playing for Savannah Christian next season, where he will join a line that includes rising sophomore Jordan Dillon (6-3, 290) and rising junior JT Howell (6-2, 290).

"I know those guys, they are my home boys," Brown Jr. said. "They had a great season last year, but just came up short in the championship game. Next year will be different."

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Eighth-grader Robert Brown Jr. gets Arkansas football recruiting offer