His father Alan had gone to Wesleyan University and was good enough to be invited to the Baltimore Colts training camp.
However, he did not think he would be accepted at Division III Williams College, because although his academics were good for a football player, they were low for the school.
Nevertheless, Williams admitted him with financial aid [citation needed] and he chose to attend, because of both their stellar academic reputation and rich football tradition.
He also contributed to his team having a 17-0-1 record in his final two seasons He was an All-American in track and field in the hammer throw.
Brooks was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the seventh round (229th overall) of the 1996 NFL draft, with the intention of being converted into an offensive tackle.
In 1997, Dan Reeves replaced June Jones as the new Falcons head coach and Brooks was allocated to the World League of American Football.
He made the All-WLAF first-team as a right tackle with the Rhein Fire, playing in World Bowl V. However, the league schedule forced him to miss the Falcons minicamps and was not able to appropriately learn the new offense being implemented.
In 1999, he was expected to compete for the starting right tackle position, but his wife Jackie was diagnosed with cancer, which impacted the time he could devote to training.
He was released on July 19, because the team considered that he wasn't progressing as they'd hoped and he was also experiencing chronic back problems.
[10] He played left tackle under head coach Bill Parcells, attempting to help replace the injured Pro Bowl player Flozell Adams.
When the doctors pronounced Jackie in remission, he accepted an offer from the Arizona Cardinals for the 2000 season and made the team.
His older brother Fletcher was the head coach of the Ephs men’s and women’s track & field teams, before moving on to Iowa State University in 2013.