Antoine Brooks Jr. (born October 28, 1997) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

for the

Seattle Sea Dragons The Seattle Sea Dragons (formerly known as the Seattle Dragons) are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. The team is a franchise of the new XFL and plays its home games at Lumen Field in Seattle. Originally founde ...

of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

. He played college football at

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Early life and high school

Brooks grew up in Lanham, Maryland and attended DuVal High School. He was a starting defensive back and quarterback for the Tigers. As a junior, he was named first-team All-Metro by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' and first-team All-State at defensive back. Midway through his senior season Brooks suffered a compound fracture on his ankle and a broken wrist while throwing a pass against Wise High School, requiring five hours of surgery to repair and putting his football career in doubt. He was still named second-team All-Metro, first-team All-State and the

Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...

4A Offensive Player of the Year despite missing half of the season. Although he originally had over 15 scholarship offers, much of his recruiting interest faded after his injury and he initially committed to play college football at Buffalo. Brooks committed to play at Maryland a few days before National Signing Day after a late push from coach D. J. Durkin over offers from Pitt, Indiana, Hawaii, Buffalo, Army, Old Dominion and Charlotte.

College career

Brooks played in six games, mostly on special teams, during his freshman season before being suspended for the rest of the season. He became the Terrapins' primary nickel back as a sophomore and finished second on the team with 77 tackles and led all defensive backs in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

with 9.5 tackles for loss along with one sack, two interceptions, three pass breakups and a forced fumble. As a junior, Brooks was Maryland's third leading tackler with 68 and led the team with 9.5 tackles for loss with 2.5 sacks, three passes defended and an interception and was named second-team All-Big Ten by the league's coaches. As a senior, Brooks played safety and nickel linebacker and lead the team with 87 tackles with 8.5 tackles for loss, and interception and six passes defended and again named second-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and to the third-team by the media.

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

Brooks was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 198th pick in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He was waived on September 5, 2020, and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was elevated to the active roster on October 31, November 7, November 14, and November 30 for the team's weeks 8, 9, 10, and 12 games against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

, Cincinnati Bengals, and Ravens, and reverted to the practice squad after each game. He was signed to the active roster on December 3. On August 24, 2021, Brooks was waived/injured and placed on injured reserve. He was released on September 2, 2021.

Los Angeles Rams

On September 4, 2021, Brooks was signed to the Los Angeles Rams practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on November 9, 2021. He was waived on January 29, 2022 and re-signed to the practice squad. Brooks won Super Bowl LVI when the Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals. On February 15, 2022, Brooks signed a reserve/future contract with the Rams. He was waived on May 4, 2022.

Seattle Sea Dragons

On November 17, 2022, Brooks was drafted by the

of the

References

External links

Maryland Terrapins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Antoine 1997 births Living people African-American players of American football Players of American football from Maryland Sportspeople from the Washington metropolitan area American football safeties People from Lanham, Maryland Maryland Terrapins football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Los Angeles Rams players Seattle Sea Dragons players 21st-century African-American sportspeople