Clifford Brooks, Jr. (born June 21, 1949) is a former

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 with ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

, and

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

and was selected in the second round of the

1972 NFL draft The 1972 NFL draft was held February 1–2, 1972, at the Essex House in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Buffalo Bills selected defensive end Walt Patulski. Player selections Round one Round two ...

. Brooks was born in

Pineland, Texas Pineland is a city in Sabine County, Texas, United States. The population was 888 at the 2020 census. Geography Pineland is located at (31.248094, –93.974688). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of w ...

, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1972. He became Vice-President/Commercial Lending for First City National Bank, Houston, where he remained for thirteen years. He started Brooks Associates, a business management company, in 1990. In 2000, he became part owner of an ambulance company, assuming 100% ownership in 2002, but sold the company in 2007. In 2008, he incorporated and became part owner of a crane servicing company, providing inspections, repairs, parts, and training for companies operating on-shore and off-shore hydraulic pedestal cranes in the oil and gas exploration industry.

References

1949 births Living people American football defensive backs Players of American football from Texas People from Pineland, Texas Tennessee State Tigers football players Cleveland Browns players Philadelphia Eagles players Buffalo Bills players New York Jets players {{defensiveback-1940s-stub