Reggie Brooks Sportscity Blog

Former Washington Redskin and Tampa Bay Buccaneer Running Back Reggie Brooks has joined the Sportscity.com team. Throughout each week, Brooks will be providing opinions, weekly analysis of big game match ups, blow-outs and upsets.

The Greatest Show on Turf: The Sequel

Written by Reggie Brooks on February, 1st 2008

There are always pros and cons to sequels. Depending on the actors, it can have you walking up to the ticket counter asking for your money back when its all over or you could come away from the theater adamantly sure the sequel was way better then the first movie. So when I sit down this SuperBowl Sunday with a good supply of hot wings, my Smokin’ Bacon Cheddar Doritos and a ice chest full of cold drinks, I will patiently wait 5 hours for the answer to my questions today…What kind of sequel will this be? Will the Giants pull an upset victory reminiscent of the 2001 Patriots SuperBowl XXXVI history-making win? Or will I be glad I didn’t spend the money on SuperBowl tickets? Remember seven years ago when the unknown New England Patriots handcuffed the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’? Everyone figured the Super Bowl victory was a foregone conclusion with the Saint Louis Rams’ high powered offense featuring NFL MVP Kurt Warner, All-World running back Marshall Faulk and the receiving tandem of Issac Bruce & Tory Holt. The 2001 Patriots were not regulars on the highlight reel on ESPN, there were no truly high profile players on either side of the ball, offense or defense. Injuries and off-the-field press took center stage for the Patriots and the question was not, who would win; but how many Super Bowl scoring records the Rams would break. The Patriots were considered lucky to be in the Super Bowl (remember the infamous ‘Tuck Rule’ in the AFC Wild Card game against the Oakland Raiders?) let alone having any chance of winning.

Fast forward seven years later and look at the Super Bowl matchup of the AFC Champion New England Patriots and the NFC Champion New York Giants. Once again we see two teams with distinctly different skill sets. New England finds itself on a magical run much like the 2001 Rams, with a chance at making history riding an offense that has been close to unstoppable. Once again you see a NFL MVP quarterback in Tom Brady and host of offensive weapons to choose from (running back Lawrence Maroney, wide receivers Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth). On the other side of the ball you find a fairly non-descript Giants team with an adequate offense but a solid defense. We got a preview of what this game could be in Week 17 when the Giants took the Patriots to the wire. While diehard Patriots fans will undoubtedly say that the Patriots were purposefully playing tight; trying to finish a 16-0 regular season, the flipside of the coin will say that the Giants exposed the Patriots weak spot. So with the actors in place, my hotwings in the refrigerator and my Doritos hiding in the back of the pantry from my four children…let the sequel begin. Let’s just hope this game will be better than the original…This coming Sunday night will provide the answers.
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Where There’s a Run…

Written by Reggie Brooks on January, 17th 2008

Where there’s a run, there’s a way…to win that is. Anybody that watched the NFL divisional playoff games last weekend had to see the beauty in a simple football principle…the ability to run and defense wins games. Don’t just take my word as a former running back who knows the full value of the run, just look at the Patriots, the Chargers and the Packers. They showed a balanced attack with short to intermediate passes and a high yield per rushing attempt. Teams that are able to manage the game via the run and have efficient passing have a significant advantage.

The one game last weekend that defies my logic was the Giants vs. Cowboys. Even though the Giants run game was weaker compared to the Cowboys, their dominant defense not only kept them in the game, but it ultimately won out. That’s not something you can expect statistically every Sunday, but hey…everybody catches a break sometime.

You don’t have to be swami to read the tea leaves about next weekend’s games. I predict the Patriots will beat the Chargers and the Pack will see the Giants fall. Long live the run. 0 Comments |

What Do Brittany Spears & High School Football Have In Common?

Written by Reggie Brooks on January, 8th 2008

The New Recruiting Game

What do high school football and Brittany Spears have in common? They both suffer from overexposure. In my estimation, we have a giant leap into the information age to thank for that. Don’t get me wrong; technology can be a very good thing. It has been paying the bills in my household since I left the NFL, but there is something to be said for balancing academic necessity, athletic pursuits and a little personal down time which seems to be in short supply for four and five-star prospects. Gone are the days when coaches sent telegrams to ‘blue-chip’ players updating them on how their college seasons were going and enter IM, text messaging and emails where real-time information is sent on the progress of a game being televised on a national network, or better yet a cable network.

Depending on the time of the year and how many colleges are interested, those instant contacts can be relentless. Gone are the local All-star games where the best from the north side of town played the south side’s best in lieu of a nationally televised All-star game in which the best players from the East coast of the United States go head-to-head with the elite of the West coast of the United States. Local newspaper reporters have been replaced by national recruiting analysts that utilize websites like Rivals.com and Scout.com.

Forget going to your local college for a football camp if you want to be considered for a top tier Division I-A university or college. You better hope you’ve impressed your high school coach enough for him to write a recommendation for you to attend a Nike or an Adidas camp. At some point you have to ask, is this a good thing and if it is, who is getting the lion share of the benefits of all this instant information?

My father taught me everything I know about football. He was the first four letter man at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma and in almost every “lesson” I remember him comparing football circa 1944 to my generation of football players. The leap from his era to mine and from my era to this current era seems almost baffling.

I will give you that the stakes are higher now. There is definitely more money to gain or lose in this new millennium and that may be what is at the root of the need for reaching players earlier and more often. But the real cost to the student-athlete is the threat of imbalance. Between the IM’s, text messages, emails, camps, combines, workouts and campus visits a player has to manage a more rigorous academic course load and understand the importance of personal down time.

I was pretty lucky. I only worried about phone calls from college coaches and maybe the local newspaper reporter. My Mama was my caller ID. She made sure they called at a decent hour or they didn’t speak to me. I didn’t worry about my quote showing up published nationally on ESPN.com or Sports Illustrated.com…well at least not as a high school football player. 0 Comments |