Amon-Ra St. Brown's wild Thursday showcases Lions' strong off-field chemistry

Allen Park — Does winning breed chemistry or is it the other way around? It's a real chicken-or-egg debate. Regardless, conversations with wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown this week reveal how deeply the bonds currently run between he and his Detroit Lions teammates.

Thursday was a big day for St. Brown, who came to the team's practice facility late in the afternoon to sign his contract extension. Putting pen to paper broke up a long day of obligations, starting with a couple of community events earlier in the day. As he exited the building to head downtown to play a televised role in the opening of the first round of the NFL draft, St. Brown was met by a small swarm of teammates, led by Kalif Raymond, to celebrate the freshly minted deal.

Armed with balloons and cans of silly string, the group jumped around like school children before handing St. Brown a bottle of champagne to spray to cap the moment.

St. Brown and Raymond have forged a strong bond over the past three seasons. Two of the hardest workers on the team, they're often the last to leave the practice field, catching a couple hundred balls off the JUGS machine after each session. So, when Raymond found out St. Brown didn't have any family in town to share the occasion, Raymond went out of his way to organize a little something.

"He's the best teammate I've ever had," St. Brown said. "He asked me if I was going to have family around or anyone to celebrate the signing, and I told him no — just the way everything happened, it happened so fast. I came out here, the draft was out here, I had appearances and responsibilities to do for the team and whatnot. I wasn't able to get family out or anyone.

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"...They had planned the whole thing," St. Brown said. "(Raymond) was buying balloons when I FaceTimed him, I come to find out. But the teammates here, the guys that we have in this locker room, it's so much love it's insane. I can't put it to words. You hear all these stories that the NFL is a business, you don't really get to make friends like that, whatever it is. But I feel I've made a bunch of lifelong friends here."

At the draft that evening, St. Brown paid the love forward during the opening segment that involved rap superstar Eminem, franchise legends Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson, teammates Jared Goff and Aidan Hutchinson and commissioner Roger Goodell. The way St. Brown tells it, he wasn't scheduled to say anything to the gathered crowd, but he ad-libbed, grabbed the mic and led a chant of his quarterback's name.

"I asked the lady (giving backstage cues), 'Are we going to speak?'" St. Brown said. "She said, 'Oh, no. You guys aren't speaking.' I said, 'Oh, no. I got to do a chant for Jared.' I told Jared, 'I'm doing it.' We get up there. I actually told the commissioner before we go, 'I got to say something on the mic.' He's like, 'Go ahead. Go ahead.' He was cool about it. If I wouldn't have said anything, no one would have said anything."

Even better, in a response to a German reporter at his Friday news conference, St. Brown said he told Goff he was going to do and his teammate pleaded with the receiver to reconsider.

jdrogers@detroitnews.com

@Justin_Rogers