Jordyn W. Brooks (born October 21, 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 with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

of 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). 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 ...

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

and was drafted by the Seahawks in the first round of the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

Early life and high school career

Brooks was born in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

and later moved to

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

where he grew up. He attended Stratford High School. Brooks was named All-District 19-5A in his junior and senior seasons. Brooks committed to play college football at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

over offers from Arkansas, Houston, Missouri and Washington.

College career

Brooks was named a freshman All-American by '' 24/7 Sports'' and honorable mention All-

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

after leading Texas Tech with 86 tackles (five for loss) with four passes broken up and a forced fumble. As a sophomore he finished third on the team in tackles with 89 (0.5 for loss) with an interception and two passes broken up and was again named honorable mention All-Big 12. Brooks was named honorable mention All-Big 12 for a third straight season after leading the Red Raiders with 84 tackles and with 7.5 tackles for loss with three sacks and an interception. Going to his senior season, Brooks was named to the

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

watch list and was named the top inside linebacker prospect for the 2020 NFL Draft by ''

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

'' analyst Mel Kiper. He made 19 tackles with three sacks in an upset win over #21

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

on October 5, 2019, and was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week and the national defensive player of the week by the Football Writers Association of America and the

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

(WCFF). Brooks was named first-team All-Big 12 and a consensus second-team All-American selection after recording 108 tackles, including 20 tackles for loss and three sacks. Brooks finished his collegiate career with 367 tackles (seventh-most in school history), 33 tackles for loss and seven sacks with two interceptions, two forced fumbles and three fumbles recovered.

Professional career

Brooks was drafted by the

in the first round with the 27th overall pick in the

2020: Rookie season

Brooks was named as the backup weakside linebacker to starter K. J. Wright to begin the season. Brooks ended up playing seven snaps in the team's week 1 game against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

where he recorded his first career NFL tackle. Following the season-ending injury

Bruce Irvin Bruce Pernell Irvin Jr. (born November 1, 1987) is an American football outside linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round with the 15th overall pick o ...

suffered after the team's week 2 victory over the New England Patriots, the team announced that Brooks would replace Irvin as the starter. In a week 13 game against the

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

, Brooks recorded 4 solo tackles and 6 assists, the most he had all season. He was the co-leader in tackles that game, with Jamal Adams also finishing with 10. In a week 16 game against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

, Brooks recorded 7 solo tackles and 1 assist, leading the team with Jamal Adams and D. J. Reed. He ended his rookie season with a total of 57 total tackles, and 2 pass deflections.

2022

Following the Seahawks' 23-6 victory over the

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 ...

in Week 17, it was announced that Brooks had suffered a torn ACL and was placed on injured reserve. He finished the season with a team-high 161 tackles, one sack, five passes defensed, and a forced fumble.

Personal life

Brooks is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. In November 2022, he helped distribute 10,000 cans of soup with Campbell’s Chunky.

References

External links

Seattle Seahawks bioTexas Tech Red Raiders bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Jordyn 1997 births Living people Players of American football from Houston American football linebackers Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Seattle Seahawks players