AJ Brown’s throwback photos may not actually have the sentimental value New England Patriots fans were hoping for.
The Patriots made the blockbuster move on Monday to acquire Brown in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. The veteran wide receiver appeared to be ecstatic about the move, as evidenced by the pair of childhood photos he posted on Instagram repping New England’s football team as a little kid.
Both snapshots showed a young Brown wearing a Tom Brady jersey.
AJ Brown’s latest IG post. Seems pretty excited to be in New England. pic.twitter.com/LGvx4gu23C
— Victor Williams (@ThePhillyPod) June 1, 2026
Some fans questioned the authenticity of the photos for varying reasons.
One Eagles fan page noted that Brown’s uniform in the second picture had a Nike logo, even though the Oregon-based company did not produce NFL jerseys until 2015. Brown was well into his teenage years at the time.
AJ Brown posted a ‘childhood’ photo in a Patriots jersey for his big homecoming moment.
— Eagle Times (@_EagleTimes) June 1, 2026
One problem: Nike didn’t make NFL jerseys until 2012—when AJ was already 15.
So either he was tiny at 15… or that photo’s edited. 👀 pic.twitter.com/UxFGMtmROW
While it’s possible Brown could have been wearing a bootleg Nike jersey, even more damning evidence was noticeable on the Instagram platform itself. The social media app’s AI detection software flagged that the post “may have been created by AI.”
TRENDING: New #Patriots WR AJ Brown is under criticism from #Eagles fans for posting AI photos of himself in a Patriots jersey — despite claiming he grew up a New England fan.
— MLFootball (@MLFootball) June 2, 2026
Nike started making jerseys in 2012 and Brown does not look 15 in these photos: pic.twitter.com/TARz9TG8u1
It’s possible that Brown wasn’t hiding the fact that it was made with the help of artificial intelligence. It’s not uncommon for players to post edited photos of themselves wearing their new team’s colors before ever taking the field in them.
It’s quite a strange choice to do the same thing with a set of photos that made fans believe Brown had always been destined to be a Patriot. But at the end of the day, all New England fans care about is how Brown looks and performs in the Patriots uniform in the current year, 2026.
There’s no way for Brown to use AI to fudge his numbers on the field this coming season.
