Derrick Brooks
Template:Infobox NFLactive Derrick Dewan Brooks (born April 18, 1973 in Template:City-state) is an American football linebacker. He was released following the 2008 NFL season by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team with which he had spent his entire 14-year NFL career. He was drafted by the Buccaneers 28th overall in the 1995 NFL Draft after playing college football for Florida State University.
An eleven-time Pro Bowl selection and nine-time All-Pro, Brooks was named AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2002. He earned a Super Bowl ring with the Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII.
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Early years
Brooks starred at Washington High School in Pensacola. In 1989, his junior year, Brooks carried B.T. Washington to the state playoff semifinals, where they lost to the eventual champion Bradenton Manatee. In 2007, he was named to the Florida High School Association All-Century Team, which selected the Top 33 players in the 100 year history of high school football in the state of Florida's history.
College career
At Florida State University he was a four-year letterman and was first-team All-American his senior year. Brooks was on the 1993 Seminoles National Championship team. He graduated from college early because of his academic excellence.
Awards and honors
- 3× First-team All-ACC (1992–1994)
- 2× All-American (1993, 1994)
- ACC Defensive Player of the Year (1993)
- 2× Vince Lombardi Award finalist (1993–1994)
Professional career
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Brooks was selected in the first round of the 1995 NFL Draft by Tampa Bay. Brooks was instrumental in turning the Buccaneers from perennial doormats into eventual Super Bowl champions.
Brooks has long been considered one of the premier linebackers in the NFL, as respected off the field as he is feared on it. He was selected to the Pro Bowl every year from 1997 to 2007, but his 10-year streak ended in 2007, as he did not make the 2008 Pro Bowl. He was selected to the 2009 Pro Bowl, his eleventh selection. Brooks is one of 5 players in history to be voted to 10 Pro Bowls, named Defensive Player of the Year, and be a Super Bowl Champion. The other 4 are Mike Singletary, Reggie White, Lawrence Taylor, and Ray Lewis. He has also been named All-Pro 9 times. Brooks currently leads all defensive players in consecutive starts, surpassing the 200 start mark late in the 2007 season.
Brooks also was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press in 2002. That year, Brooks returned three interceptions for touchdowns in the regular season, an NFL record for linebackers, and also returned a fumble for a score, for a total of an NFL record 4 defensive touchdowns at the OLB position. In Super Bowl XXXVII, his 44-yard interception return for a touchdown ensured a victory for the Buccaneers.
Brooks earned 2006 Pro Bowl MVP honors by returning a Trent Green pass 59 yards for a touchdown, leading the NFC to a win. He has also won the Bart Starr Award in 2004 for his off the field accomplishments in the Tampa Bay community.
Brooks was released by the Buccaneers after 14 seasons on February 25, 2009.[1]
NFL awards and honors
- 6× First-team All-Pro (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)
- 3× Second-team All-Pro (1997, 1998, 2001)
- 9× First-team All-NFC (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)
- 11× Pro Bowl selection (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008)
- Co-Walter Payton Man of the Year Award (2000)
- AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year (2002)
- Super Bowl champion (XXXVII)
- Pro Bowl MVP (2005)
Personal
Derrick Brooks is married to Carol Brooks. They have four children their daughters Brianna Monai (11) and Denice (born September, 2005) and sons, Derrick Brooks, Jr. (7) and Darius Dewan. Brooks has donated much of his money to charity. In addition Brooks donated $1,000 for every tackle he made against the Seahawks (10) which was a total of $10,000.
Derrick Brooks is the founder of the Brooks Bunch charity and youth scholarship foundation in the Tampa Bay area. He has taken local youngsters across the nation and South Africa with the objective of presenting a first hand experience, or a "mobile classroom." Brooks also headed the founding of the Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School in Tampa.
Brooks is well known for his charity work and his advocacy of the importance of education. He was the co-recipient of the 2000 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award and was named to the Florida State University Board of Trustees in 2003 by Governor Jeb Bush.
