Derrick Dewan Brooks (born April 18, 1973) is an American former
football outside linebacker who played 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 14 seasons with the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...
. Brooks played
college football at
Florida State, where he twice received consensus
All-American honors, and was selected by the Buccaneers in the first round of the
1995 NFL Draft. An 11-time
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
selection and five-time first-team
All-Pro
All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...
, Brooks was the
NFL Defensive Player of the Year
Several organizations give out NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards that are listed in the ''NFL Record and Fact Book'' and ''Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League''. The Associated Press (AP) has been givi ...
in 2002 en route to winning the franchise's first
Super Bowl title in
Super Bowl XXXVII. Following his retirement, Brooks served as co-owner and president of the
Tampa Bay Storm
The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...
in the
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
(AFL) from 2011 to 2017. He was inducted to the
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...
in 2014 and the
College Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
Early years
Brooks attended
Washington High School in
Pensacola, Florida. In his senior season in 1991, Brooks carried Pensacola to the state playoff semifinals, where they lost to the eventual champion Manatee Hurricanes of
Bradenton, Florida. In 2007, he was named to the
Florida High School Athletic 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
While attending
Florida State University, he played for the
Seminoles
The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and ...
from 1991 to 1994. He was a four-year letterman, a consensus first-team All-American his junior and senior years, and a three-time first-team All-
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection.
[Former FSU football phenom Derrick Brooks to have jersey retired](_blank)
After playing as
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 ...
as a freshman he switched to linebacker as a sophomore. He was a member of the
1993 Seminoles National Championship team.
He finished his career with 274
tackles
Tackle may refer to:
* In football:
** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football
** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football
** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...
, five
interceptions, 8.5
sacks, 13 passes defensed, four forced
fumbles, and three fumble recoveries.
In November 2010, Florida State retired Seminoles jersey number 10 in honor of Brooks.
Awards and honors
* 3× First-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (1992, 1993, 1994)
* ACC Defensive Player of the Year (1993)
* 2× Consensus first-team All-American (
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...
,
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...
)
* 2×
Vince Lombardi Award finalist (1993, 1994)
*
Bowl Coalition National Championship (
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...
)
Professional career
Early career (1995–2002)
The
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...
selected Brooks in the first round (28th overall) of the
1995 NFL Draft. The Buccaneers traded both of their second-round picks (46th overall and 63rd overall) to the
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 ...
for their first-round pick (28th overall) and used the pick to draft Brooks.
Brooks was the second linebacker drafted in 1995 NFL Draft, behind
Washington State's Mark Fields (13th overall).
Brooks played 14 years for the Buccaneers and is widely considered one of the best players in franchise history and one of the best linebackers in NFL history. From 1995 to 2008, Brooks started 221 of 224 games, recording 1,698 tackles, 13.5 sacks, 25 interceptions, and six touchdowns (tied for the most in NFL history by a linebacker with
Bobby Bell
Bobby Lee Bell Sr. (born June 17, 1940) is an American former professional football player who played as an outside linebacker and defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the College Football ...
). He was selected to the
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
11 times, including 10 straight from
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
to
2006, was an
All-Pro
All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...
nine times, was the
AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2002, and led the team to the franchise's first
Super Bowl win in
Super Bowl XXXVII.
As a rookie in 1995, Brooks started 13 of 16 games. He finished the season with 78 tackles with a sack and earned first-team all-rookie honors from ''
Pro Football Weekly
''Pro Football Weekly'' (sometimes shortened to ''PFW'') is an American sports magazine, founded in 1967, and website that covers the National Football League (NFL). It was owned by Pro Football Weekly LLC and headquartered in Riverwoods, Illinoi ...
'' and ''
Pro Football Writers Association
The Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA), sometimes known as Pro Football Writers Association, is an organization that purports to be " heofficial voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve ...
''. During his second season 1996, he started all 16 games and finished with a team-leading 132 tackles and his first career
interception
In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...
. In 1997, Brooks earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl after recording 144 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and two interceptions in 16 games. In 1998, Brooks had another Pro Bowl season after recording 156 tackles and an interception.
In 1999, Brooks made the Pro Bowl for the third time and was a first-team All-Pro selection for the first time in his career. For the season, he had 153 tackles, two sacks, and four interceptions. In 2000, Brooks earned his fourth consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl and his second consecutive first-team All-Pro selection. He finished the season with 140 tackles, a sack, and had his first career
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...
on a 34-yard interception from
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Daunte Culpepper. Brooks was also, along with
Jim Flanigan of the
Chicago Bears, the winner of the
Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, given to a National Football League player for his community service activities as well as his excellence on the field. Brooks made his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl in 2001 after recording 112 tackles and three interceptions.
Continued success and Super Bowl victory (2002–2008)
Brooks' best season came in 2002. During that year he was named
NFL Defensive Player of the Year
Several organizations give out NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards that are listed in the ''NFL Record and Fact Book'' and ''Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League''. The Associated Press (AP) has been givi ...
by the ''
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
'' and helped the Buccaneers win the franchise's first
Super Bowl. He also made his sixth consecutive Pro Bowl and was a first-team All-Pro selection for the third time. For the season he had 117 tackles, a sack, five interceptions, and returned an NFL record, for a linebacker, four touchdowns (one off a fumble and three off interceptions). During the Buccaneers 48-21 victory over the
Oakland Raiders in
Super Bowl XXXVII, he returned an interception off of Raiders quarterback
Rich Gannon 44 yards for the clinching touchdown.
In 2003, Brooks broke
Lee Roy Selmon
Lee Roy Selmon (October 20, 1954 – September 4, 2011) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football as a defensive tackle ...
's team record for most consecutive Pro Bowl appearances with seven. He finished the season with 101 tackles, a sack, two interceptions, and returned an interception for a touchdown. In 2004, Brooks made his eighth consecutive Pro Bowl and fifth- first-team All-Pro selection after recording 137 tackles, three sacks, and an interception. In 2005, Brooks made his ninth consecutive Pro Bowl and earned his sixth first-team All-Pro selection. He finished the season with 125 tackles, three sacks, and an interception.
In Brooks' 10th consecutive Pro Bowl in 2006, he was named the
MVP
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
after returning a
Trent Green
Trent Jason Green (born July 9, 1970) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for fifteen seasons. He played college football for Indiana University. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in ...
interception 59 yards for a touchdown to secure the victory for the NFC. During the regular season he had 121 tackles, three interceptions and a touchdown. In 2007, Brooks had 109 tackles and was not voted to the Pro Bowl for the first time since 1996. In Brooks' last year with the Buccaneers in 2008, he recorded 73 tackles and an interception and was selected to his 11th Pro Bowl. The 11 Pro Bowls are tied for second-most by a linebacker in NFL history.
Tampa Bay exit and retirement
On February 25, 2009, the Buccaneers released Brooks. He was one of five veterans that the Bucs released on that day. The others were wide receivers
Joey Galloway and
Ike Hilliard, running back
Warrick Dunn
Warrick De'Mon Dunn (born January 5, 1975) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12th overall in the 1997 ...
and linebacker
Cato June. The Bucs had previously fired Head Coach
Jon Gruden and General Manager
Bruce Allen and were looking to build a younger team under the likes of
Raheem Morris and
Mark Dominik. Brooks never missed a game in his 14 years in Tampa Bay, a total of
224 consecutive games. He was the starting weakside linebacker for the last 208 of those games, an
NFL record for that position and the second-longest consecutive start streak for ''any'' linebacker in NFL history.
After spending all of the 2009 season as a
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
, Brooks officially announced his retirement on August 11, 2010.
On January 10, 2014, Brooks was named among the 15 modern-era
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...
finalists. Former Buccaneers safety
John Lynch (who was Brooks' teammate from 1995 to 2003) and former Buccaneers head coach
Tony Dungy
Anthony Kevin Dungy ( ; born October 6, 1955) is an American former football safety and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts. Dungy's teams be ...
(who coached Brooks from 1996 to 2001) were also finalists. On February 1, Brooks was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He is the third Hall of Famer to have earned his credentials primarily as a Buc, the others being
Lee Roy Selmon
Lee Roy Selmon (October 20, 1954 – September 4, 2011) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football as a defensive tackle ...
and
Warren Sapp (Brooks' teammate from 1995 to 2003).
NFL career statistics
Broadcast and executive career
Brooks previously was a football analyst for ESPN and co-host of The Red Zone on
Sirius NFL Radio
Since 2008, Sirius XM, Sirius XM Radio has had a similar channel lineup, with a few differences based on whether the individual has a Sirius, XM, or SiriusXM radio. For technical reasons, separate radios continue to be manufactured for the separat ...
and as an analyst on
ESPN First Take
''First Take'' is an American sports talk television show on ESPN. Episodes air daily Monday through Friday, with the live episode airing from 10am North American Eastern Time Zone, ET until noon, with reruns from noon to 2pm ET on ESPN2 and from ...
.
In 2011, Brooks became a part owner and the team president for the
Tampa Bay Storm
The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...
of the
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
. The team folded in December 2017.
Since 2014, Brooks has served as a jointly-appointed appeals officer for the NFL and NFL Players Association, charged with reviewing discipline for in-game misconduct.
Personal life
Brooks is married and has four children. Brooks is a
Christian.
Derrick Brooks is the founder of the Brooks Bunch charity and youth scholarship foundation in the Tampa Bay area. He has taken local youth 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 with fellow
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...
member
Edward J. DeBartolo Jr.
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
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush ...
.
References
External links
*
Official WebsiteDerrick Brooks CharitiesTampa Bay Buccaneers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Derrick
1973 births
Living people
African-American Christians
African-American players of American football
All-American college football players
American football linebackers
Florida State Seminoles football players
National Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League players with retired numbers
Players of American football from Pensacola, Florida
Sportspeople from Pensacola, Florida
Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
Arena Football League executives
21st-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American sportspeople
National Football League Defensive Player of the Year Award winners
Ed Block Courage Award recipients