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Bucs/NFL

Lunchpail in hand, Brooks keeps building

By GARY SHELTON
Published July 27, 2006

Today, a man goes to work. It is as simple as that.

Today, a man drives to the office, and he punches in. He will be assigned a hard hat and a company shirt, and come Friday he will work a full shift in the sun. It is a hard job, there in the trenches with sweat and soreness, but it is all he knows.

Such is the essence of Derrick Brooks, an uncommon athlete with the work ethic of a common laborer. Some athletes are royalty, and some are rock stars. Some are actors, and some are bankers. Brooks? He is the star who approaches his job like a man working on a roof, like a mason stacking greatness one brick at a time.

Today, when the Bucs report for training camp at the Orlando sweatbox known as the Wide World of Sports complex, Brooks is back on the job.

When you think about it, who else would you rather have as foreman?

Here in his 12th training camp, that is the secret to Brooks. For all of his years, for all of his accomplishments, his approach to the workday has never changed. He shows up on time, and he puts his back into his job until the whistle blows. He dares the young guys to watch him, to keep up if they can.

"I'm the guy in the ditch with a shovel," is the way Brooks puts it. "I'm going to dig, and you're going to dig. There are still things out there for me to accomplish."

For the Bucs, it is special enough to note that Brooks is still here.

Another man might not have been.

Want to talk about paying the price? Over the offseason, Brooks agreed to slash his contract by more than half so he could stay. This wasn't one of those restructurings where salary is moved around for the benefit of the salary cap; Brooks sacrificed real dollars. His old contract would have paid him $7.75-million this year; instead, he'll make $3-million. His old contract called for $33-million in the next three years - an invitation to a veteran being cut; instead, he'll make $3-million a year.

Had Brooks not agreed to the cut, he might have been waived, making him a free agent. Some players would have welcomed the chance to shop.

"Less than 2 percent of players would have done what Derrick did," said linebacker coach Joe Barry. "A lot of players would have looked at this as an opportunity to get one more big contract. Someone would have paid him. A number of teams would have paid him.

"It's another way of showing how great a person he is. He had a loyalty to this team. He's been here 12 years, and he's played in this defense for 10. He knows every line call, he knows his teammates, he knows his coaches. Maybe that's more important than a few million dollars."

When is the last time anyone in sports tossed the word "loyalty" around? By now, we are numb to the sight of familiar players in unfamiliar colors. We have seen Warren Sapp as a Raider and John Lynch as a Bronco and Warrick Dunn as a Falcon. We have seen Joe Namath as a Ram and Johnny Unitas as a Charger and Joe Montana as a Chief.

"I cannot imagine Derrick Brooks in another uniform," Barry said. "I can't fathom it."

To Barry, and to the rest of us, Brooks has become the face of the Bucs. Here, he has reached nine consecutive Pro Bowls. He has been defensive player of the year. He has won a Super Bowl.

"This was the right decision for my family and for me," Brooks said. "I want to see some other guys get a big bite of the pie. I had the big (salary) numbers. I ate good. Now let me see my teammates eat good. That's why I did that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not starving. My piece of the pie is just a little smaller.

"I like the direction the team is going. I like how we're starting to build. I want to keep our veteran guys together. We have a couple of guys who are due some good contracts. I hope they get it."

There is a purpose to Brooks these days. The Bucs are the reigning NFC South champions, but according to early-season prognostications, almost no one expects them to defend.

"The last time we defended any kind of championship, we didn't defend it the right way," Brooks said. "We stunk, in other words. I want to do it right this year. That's what's fueling my fire. To defend this championship, to get into the playoffs and to make a run at the Super Bowl and win it."

For that to happen, Brooks will have to play a significant role. Again, there are doubts for him to dispel.

He is 33 now, an age when critics count your footsteps. Already, there has been talk of what Brooks has lost. Yeah, Brooks has heard it.

"Every time those comments are made, you look at the game I had," Brooks said. "I went through the hamstring injury early in the season, and there were a lot of things said. But as soon as I got well, about Week 7, I turned it on.

"You hear the rumbling. One side of you gets ticked, and the other side wants to go out and silence the critics. It doesn't do any good to get emotional about it."

For the truth, Brooks says, he has a Circle of Critics who he turns to for reviews of his play. He won't tell you the names, but he says they are five people around the league whom he trusts to be brutally honest with him.

"They are guys I can trust," he said. "They told me I played hard when I was hurt last year but I didn't make the plays I was supposed to make. But when I came back, I came back and played like I always had."

Barry, whose occupation involves watching for signs of slippage in Brooks' play, says Brooks is still among the top linebackers in the game.

"He is still an elite player," Barry said. "He made the Pro Bowl last year on merit, not because he had made it in years before. It's obvious that your body changes; none of us are the same at 33 that we were at 23. But when I look at a player, I want to know if he can do all the things we ask of him. And Derrick can make every play we ask (him) to make."

As for the future, Brooks laughs and talks about playing 18 seasons, the way former Buffalo and Washington defensive end Bruce Smith did. Who is going to say he can't?

"I know this," Barry said. "I hope to coach for a long time, and during that time, I hope they master cloning. Because I don't want to line up without No. 55."

Has it been 12 camps already? Brooks still remembers his first, when he was a fresh-faced kid out of FSU who was supposedly too small for the position. Even then, he was serious about his game. One of the things he remembers about that '95 camp was that everyone else wasn't.

"I remember thinking there had to be more to the NFL than all of the playing of pranks on rookies," Brooks said. "I look back now and laugh, but I thought it was a little bit overboard. The coaches and everyone got involved with the singing and hazing. They would hide your clothes and put stuff in your uniform.

"We had a good football team. If we had focused a little better, we could have won more."

Perhaps that is a reason that, even now, Brooks is serious about his job. He is a woodchopper, a blacksmith, a house painter. Most of all, he is a linebacker.

Starting today, there is work to be done.

[Last modified July 27, 2006, 01:43:27]