We Have Our First Na Brown Award Candidate, WR Damaris Johnson

If you aren't familiar with our yearly "Na Brown" award, it is the title we award to the Eagles camper who comes out of almost nowhere to cause a big stir at camp and raises his expectations unreasonably high in the process. Previous winners include guys like Hank Baskett and Lorenzo Booker.

While we are still some ways away from training camp, we've got an early contender, UDFA WR Damaris Johnson. The 5-8 WR from Tulsa fits the bill almost perfectly. He's entirely unheralded, plays WR and is tailor made to impress in shorts. In fact, he's so under the radar that he didn't even play college football last season (suspension).

He's been the name on the lips of everyone covering the OTAs this week. Geoff Mosher featured Johnson in his OTA piece today.

For those curious about this year’s Cinderella story, the best candidate so far is tiny wide receiver Damaris Johnson. Teammates have compared him to DeSean Jackson, mainly because of Johnson’s size and frame – 5-foot-8, 175 pounds – and dynamic return ability.

Johnson makes sharp cuts and gets out of his breaks especially quick for a rookie. His speed is top notch. He looks very comfortable in the offense and just seems like the kind of guy that Andy Reid finds room for. If Johnson can raise eyebrows on the return teams during the preseason, I don’t think he’ll have trouble making the roster.

Spadaro has been talking up Johnson, as has Adam Caplan... Even Michael Vick was asked about Johnson today.

"He works really hard, and that’s really the most important thing. It’s your work ethic and wanting to be great. If you don’t have a desire to do something, you won’t happen. When you have a desire and set your mind out to be the best that you can be, you’re going to be that. It may come in time and the pace may become an issue, but it’ll happen."

Good luck to Damaris, the leader in the clubhouse for the 2012 Na Brown award!