Durant Stiles Brooks (born April 15, 1985) 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 ...

punter. He was drafted by

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in the sixth round of the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

. 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 ...

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. Brooks has also been a member of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

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 ...

, and

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

Early years

Brooks attended

Tattnall Square Academy Tattnall Square Academy (TSA) is a private Christian school located in Macon, Georgia, United States. It was chartered by Tattnall Square Baptist Church in 1969 and has been described at the time of its founding as a segregation academy. Tattnal ...

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

and was a student and a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. In football, he was the punter on the 2001 Georgia Independent Schools Association (GISA) Title team. In basketball, he averaged nearly 18 points a game. Brooks graduated from Tattnall in 2003. He credits his strong leg with saying, "Horseback riding has helped my leg get stronger." His father, Paul Brooks, now coaches at John Milledge Academy in Milledgeville, Georgia.

College career

Georgia Military College

Brooks attended

Georgia Military College Georgia Military College (GMC) is a public military junior college in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is divided into the junior college, a military junior college program, high school, middle school, and elementary school. It was originally known as M ...

and was a student and a two-year letterman in

. In football, he posted an average of 40 yards per punt over two years. In his senior season, Brooks had an average of 45.3.

Georgia Tech

After graduating from Georgia Military College, Brooks attended

, punting for the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Rambl ...

as a redshirt junior. In his two years at Georgia Tech, Brooks had 144 punts: nearly half (68) landed inside the 20 yard line, while 57 went for more than 50 yards. His longest punt came in his final ACC game in 2007: playing against North Carolina, Brooks stood at the back of his own end-zone and punted the ball to the opposite 16-yard line—the punt was officially marked as 77 yards (from the line of scrimmage at the seven to the opposite 16), but measured over 90 yards from the spot of the punt. As a junior, Brooks came in third place for the

Ray Guy Award The Ray Guy Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding punter as adjudged by the Augusta Sports Council. The award is named after punter Ray Guy, an All-American for Southern Mississippi and an All-Pro in the National Foo ...

, given to the best punter in the country. He was also named to the

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n second-team by AP, and the All-ACC first-team. As a senior, Brooks received the

, ranking second in the ACC (and fourth in the nation) in punting average while only allowing his opponents to return 19 of his 65 punts. That year, he was also named to the All-American second-team by AP (first-team by Sports Illustrated and Rivals) and the All-ACC first-team.

Professional career

Washington Redskins

Brooks was drafted by the

in the sixth round (168th overall) of the

. He signed a four-year contract with the Redskins on July 11. Brooks won the punting job over

Derrick Frost Derrick E. Frost (born November 25, 1980) is a former American football punter. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2003. He played college football at Northern Iowa. Frost has been a member of the Baltimore ...

, who was released on August 30. After week 6 of the

2008 NFL season The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League, themed with the slogan "Believe in Now." Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on February 1, 2009, w ...

reports surfaced that Brooks was to be replaced by a veteran due to his poor performance. His gross average of 39.6 yards and net average of 32.1 yards were last in the NFL at the time. On October 15, the Redskins signed punter

Ryan Plackemeier Ryan Steven Plackemeier (born March 5, 1984) is a former American football punter. He played college football for Wake Forest University, and earned unanimous All-American honors. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round of th ...

, effectively ending Brooks' tenure with the team.

Green Bay Packers

Brooks was signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

of the

on December 15, 2008 after

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Steven Korte Steve Korte (born January 15, 1960) is a former American football player. He played professionally as a center and an offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL) with the New Orleans Saints, from 1983 to 1990. He scored one touchdown f ...

was released. He was re-signed to a future contract at the end of the season. The Packers released Brooks on August 31, 2009 after he lost the punting job to

Jeremy Kapinos Jeremy D. Kapinos (born August 23, 1984) is a former American football punter. He was first signed by the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Penn State. Kapinos also played for the Pittsburgh Steeler ...

Philadelphia Eagles

After spending the 2009 season out of football, Brooks signed a two-year contract with the

on February 2, 2010. He was expected to compete with

Sav Rocca Saverio Giovanni Rocca (born 20 November 1973) is a retired Australian professional sportsman. He played Australian rules football for Collingwood and North Melbourne in the Australian Football League, and then switched to playing American f ...

for the starting punter job, but was waived on May 25.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Brooks signed with the

on August 5, 2010, but was waived a week later on August 12.

References

External links

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Durant 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Macon, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football punters Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players Washington Redskins players Philadelphia Eagles players Jacksonville Jaguars players Green Bay Packers players