Thanks, Derrick — Don’t go far

Posted Aug 12, 2010 by Tom McEwen

Updated Aug 14, 2010 at 04:39 PM

The valedictory so-long to a Tampa Bay Buccaneers amphitheater full house of media, friends and co-Bucs on Thursday, the retiring peerless All-Pro linebacker Derrick Brooks pretty much poured out his heart to the rapt assembly, which was respectful throughout his thoughtful commentary.  This wondrous Buccaneer, sideline to sideline linebacker, thanked all there and all others on television for the grand support he had always received — always deserved. 

The Buccaneers have never had a linebacker like him and won’t in my lifetime, not likely in yours.  He was that good until he knew precisely the time to quit the sport.  He had slowed a bit but not much and you can’t slow much at linebacker in pro football and be the star he became — an 11-time Pro Bowl, 14-year career, all with the Bucs. Brooks was a lifetime booster for the state of Florida, for his Florida State University Board of Trustees for which he serves. He was and is enthusiastic for Florida (the University of Florida excepted) for he was a blood and guts Florida State Seminole and always will be. The Noles are doggone fortunate to have him as a booster, as is the state of Florida.

He never wanted to leave, hasn’t and won’t.  He is comfortable now in Tampa with his family, where he can do so much good for the state and for his college. He remembered in his recollection Thursday that his mother told him when he was 5, go play football and he did and never stopped. No one of the Seminole sect or of the state of Florida product can be anything but proud of this man. If he ever accessed a personal foul penalty, I was never aware of it and if he did, he had to have gotten it for stepping on a fallen foe who had clipped him. Brooks covered the field defensively at linebacker as well as any Buccaneer ever has, perhaps as well as any NFL All-Pro has. He will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and will someday join Lee Roy Selmon and Coach John McKay in the Ring of Honor of Buccaneers that surrounds Raymond James Stadium. He said Thursday he still gets chills at kickoff at RJS.

“I would not have wanted to play anywhere else for the Buccaneers once I was hired by them and I will be available for whatever they may need,” he said. They will need him, and they will surely use him to his limit. Present-day linebackers recognize Brooks as among the best ever, notably for his wide range and speed. He referred Thursday repeatedly to his upbringing and his mother’s caution to treat others as he wanted them to treat him.

Brooks gave great credit to two teammates, Lomas Brown and Warren Sapp. Brown taught him to practice as he hoped to play and to play every down as hard as he could. Sapp helped his sense of humor, taught him how to skip through the opposition as they did the pregame calisthenics. Sapp also taught him to snarl at the opponent and not to step on them when he was arising from a tackle unless it was accidental and then to express his regrets to the fallen, and to say he would not step on them again, but often did. Warren Sapp was a rascal. Sapp also taught him to laugh at adversity, which he did. Warren Sapp was a master at taunting when the official was not looking and to keep that sense of humor under all conditions.

Derrick Brooks was a good as they get at linebacking and for his sideline-to-sideline coverage. After his football days, Brooks has continued to contribute to the Bucs as an unofficial advisor. He continues to maintain an above-board approach to all things. Indeed, as he was Thursday, Brooks has been able to address all sizes of audiences and to keep them rapt. He is as sincere behind the mic as he was at his linebacking position just before he was about to knock your block off, but help you up, dust you off, pat you on the backside and say, “Nothing intentional, man.”