Brooks lived in a public housing project in the East End area of Newport News.

He competed with fifth year senior Tim Sherman, whose father Tom was the wide receivers coach,[3] for the starting quarterback job in 1996.

The coaching staff made Sherman, who had played well against Michigan and Virginia Tech in 1995 after starter Mike Groh went down to injury, the primary quarterback instead of the inexperienced Brooks.

The Cavaliers finished the regular season with a 9–2 record, which earned them an invitation to the Peach Bowl where they suffered a 35–33 defeat at the hands of Georgia.

In 1999, Brooks began his career as a third-string backup to Brett Favre behind second-string quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, taking no snaps during the regular season.

The Saints were without their starting running back, Ricky Williams, and lost their best receiver, Joe Horn, early in the game.

In late 2005, after losing to the Falcons, the Saints benched Brooks and announced Todd Bouman as the team's starter for the last three games of the season.

In his first regular season game as a Raider, he was sacked 9 times by the San Diego Chargers in a 27–0 loss.

Despite slightly improved play, Brooks was unable to lead the defensive Raiders to very much success finishing with a league worst 2–14 record.

In the summer of 2008, work began on his first project to be underway, Burlington Woods, an upscale subdivision located on 17 acres (69,000 m2) in James City County, Virginia.

[12] Earlier in 2008, he announced plans to invest in Southeast Commerce Center, a redevelopment project in his hometown of Newport News.

[13] The multimillion-dollar investment would be a mixed-use development between Jefferson and Terminal avenues and 33rd and 29th streets in the economically depressed East End area.,[14] including 190 town houses, a grocery store and retail offerings.

"[15] Brooks commented, "It's a great opportunity to give back to the community and at the same time let retailers know we don't just have the stigma of being 'bad news,' ... a lot of hard-working, middle-class people that live in the area.