Michael Brown-Stephens entered the transfer portal this offseason and joined head coach Alex Golesh's team in what is the pair's first season with the program.
TAMPA, Fla. — A famous celebrity watched the University of South Florida play its football home opener of the current season back on Sept. 9.
Grammy award-winning singer John Legend stood on the sidelines inside Raymond James Stadium with his son, Miles. The pair also walked out of the team tunnel before the game and spent time with fans while wearing their USF gear.
Legend, along with the other USF fans in attendance, celebrated the team's 38-24 victory over Florida A&M.
It didn't take long for Bulls supporters or any person who either watched the game or followed the team's social media pages to wonder why Legend was at the game.
Looking at his history, the "All of Me" singer is from Springfield, Ohio, and currently resides in Beverly Hills, California. He also graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. So he doesn't have a direct connection to Tampa, let alone the Sunshine State.
But the answer to Legend's attendance was in front of everyone's eyes all along.
"He's my mom's brother," Legend's nephew and Bulls wide receiver Michael Brown-Stephens said.
Speaking with 10 Tampa Bay digital content producer Leo Santos at USF's new indoor football practice facility, Brown-Stephens — who entered the transfer portal this offseason to join head coach Alex Golesh's team in his first year with the Bulls — said it's a part of his life for people to talk to him about being Legend's nephew.
It's something that doesn't bother him. Instead, he embraces it.
"It's surreal [being his nephew] and it's something I'm kind of used to," Brown-Stephens said. "Growing up, he's always been John Legend to me. Our relationship is just like any other good and healthy uncle and nephew relationship. He's very supportive of me and my family."
The former Minnesota player said his uncle was at the home opener to also celebrate Brown-Stephens' birthday.
When his teammates first discovered that he was related to Legend, Brown-Stephens said almost every reaction was the same.
"When people come up to me, they usually ask, 'Seriously?'" he said. "Sometimes I won't tell anybody and when they come up to me, they just say, 'I didn't know he was your uncle.'"
The graduate student has certainly been making Legend, Golesh and Bulls fans excited about his addition to the team.
In the past six games, he has logged 338 reception yards on 25 catches and scored two receiving touchdowns.
Michael Brown-Stephens
It took some time for Brown-Stephens to get into the fold of things for USF due to an injury he suffered heading into the season that limited his role in the first four games.
But now, the wide receiver says he's finally showing fans what he brings to the table.
"I feel like me getting more comfortable [with this offense] is starting to show now," he said. "[Getting my first USF touchdown against Navy] was a confidence booster. Just being able to get a touchdown and make a big play in critical moments and see a smile on all my teammate's faces, it just feels amazing."
Brown-Stephens made sure to give a lot of credit to Golesh for the way the USF has played so far.
Golesh was named the new head coach for USF last year in December and has reiterated since day one that he wants to have an instant change in the program's culture.
With only three games left in the season, he has done exactly that.
Golesh currently has the Bulls at a 4-5 record, which is already more wins than former head coach Jeff Scott had in his entire three-year tenure at USF.
Although it may not be a like-for-like comparison between the two coaches, Brown-Stephens said Golesh being an offensive-minded coach has made the Bulls play an attractive style of football.
This is one of the main reasons Brown-Stephens decided to head to Tampa when he entered the transfer portal and believes it's a similar reason for other recruits.
"I wanted to get into an offense where we throw the ball a lot," he said. "What better offense to go to than the offense that is being run by a coach who had the No. 1 offense last year at Tennessee? [Playing in his system] requires a lot of work, but I feel like he hand-picked the players that he wanted to be here.
"This season has been a quicker turnaround than a lot of people thought it would be."
Brown-Stephens said he's excited to continue flourishing in Golesh's offense for the remainder of the season and he knows he can also count on Legend to motivate him.
Although Brown-Stephens' uncle does his work in the music and entertainment industry, there are still some things Legend has taught his nephew that he applies in his collegiate football career.
"We had a really good talk a couple of weeks ago and he was basically just telling me to just stay focused and locked in on the main thing," he said. "He's very supportive and I really look up to him as a role model. He did a really good job of setting the right path for my family and even just for people in the world in general."
The USF wide receiver also revealed his favorite song by his uncle.
Most fans would likely pick "All of Me" or "Love Me Now" as their favorite song by Legend, but Brown-Stephens said his top choice is not one of his most popular.
"This one song called 'Home' off his latest album, I like that one because I feel like it's my parents talking to me. I even throw it on before a game just to feel that extra comfort right before I go to battle. But outside of him being my uncle, I'm actually a big fan of him. I really like his music."
Legend was back in the Tampa area for his "An Evening with John Legend" concert on Oct. 29 at the Seminole Hard Rock complex.
With only two home games left for the Bulls, Brown-Stephens hinted that Legend may make another appearance at Ray Jay.
The Bulls wide receiver will look to build off his impressive outings in recent games when USF takes on Temple on the road on Saturday, Nov. 11.
Ticket information for home games can be found here.
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