SAN DIEGO – People wanted to know what Derrick Brooks had to say, just not as many people as were crammed around Warren Sapp and Keyshawn Johnson. Even Jon Gruden attracted more of a crowd.
Brooks noticed this.
“The cameras are over there to hear Warren,” Brooks said one day this past week, gesturing over to layers of cameras and notebooks surrounding the gregarious Sapp. “I really do not have much to say. I just go on the field and do what I do. That’s just the makeup of our team.”
Others grab the headlines, Brooks grabs the ballcarrier and hauls him down, does it efficiently and without attracting attention to himself. There was no buzz around Brooks this week and that’s the way he likes it. As the unquestioned leader of a defense that wants to be considered an all-time great unit, Brooks is respected throughout the league and revered within his own team. He suffered through the lean years in Tampa and it is entirely fitting that Super Bowl XXXVII is at Qualcomm Stadium, site of a moment Brooks will never forget.
“We were here in 1996 and Warren and myself were being made fun of, being called the ‘Yuckaneers’ on a pregame show,” Brooks said. “It’s quite ironic we have come full circle. We have not been here since then and now we’re back on the biggest stage ever to win a championship and bring this franchise full circle. From a laughingstock to the best in the world.”
No one is more deserving to bask in the glow of success than Brooks. He’s a six-time Pro Bowler who this season outdid himself with four returns for touchdowns. At a mere six-foot and 235 pounds, he epitomizes the sleek, jet-quick Bucs defense and he’s a dominating presence from his outside linebacker position. No wonder he was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year.
“Any time you think of the Bucs defense I think of Derrick Brooks,” said Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, who won the award last season. “He’s definitely the heart and soul of that defense. How many touchdowns does he have this year? Four. More than most running backs and wideouts. He’s always picking the ball off, recovering fumbles, making things happen. The first two times you think it’s kind of lucky, but after a while you realize it’s because the guy really works hard. From being around him at the Pro Bowl, he works at it, that’s why he’s successful.”
Brooks is always a major factor and against the Raiders he’ll be needed to keep tabs on Charlie Garner, whom Gruden calls “as dangerous a football player as there is in the NFL.” Garner can motor with the best of them and is especially dangerous as a pass-catcher out of the backfield. There is no better linebacker in coverage than Brooks.
“We have been checking [Marshall] Faulk for the last four years and [Brooks] says he’s never missed him,” Sapp said, “so I’m going to have to press that on him this week, too.”
When Gruden was hired, one of the first players he sought out was Brooks, who was extremely close to the fired Tony Dungy. Gruden knew he needed Brooks on his side. “He said straight at me, ‘I’m going to need you to lead this football team,'” Brooks recalled. “He told me everything he heard about me was well-deserved and he was looking a lot more for me to get this team going.”
Brooks got the Bucs going, all the way to the Super Bowl.
To the house!
A look at the four touchdowns that helped Bucs LB Derrick Brooks become the 2001 NFL Defensive Player of the Year:
Sept. 15 at Baltimore – 97-yard interception return of Chris Redman
Sept. 23 vs. St. Louis – 39-yard interception return of Kurt Warner
Oct. 6 at Atlanta – 15-yard interception return of Doug Johnson
Oct. 20 at Philadelphia – 11-yard return of Donovan McNabb fumble