He played college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the first round of the 1998 NFL draft.

Brooking had 131 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, three passes defensed, one fumble recovery and one blocked field goal to lead Tech to a Bowl game as a senior.

Brooking finished his collegiate career with 15 tackles and one interception to help the Yellow Jackets defeat West Virginia in the 1997 Carquest Bowl.

He recorded 8 tackles in the NFC Championship game vs Minnesota Vikings, when the Falcons reached the Super Bowl XXXIII, but Atlanta fell to the Broncos 34–19.

After that season, in 1999, he started 13 games, finished with 95 tackles (4th in the team), and he added 2 sacks and 2 passes defended.

During the 2000 season, Brooking was placed in the Injury Reserve after suffering a sprained foot in a game vs Philadelphia.

In 2002, Brooking became the fifth Falcons player to total 200 tackles in a season, following Tommy Nobis (296 in 1966), Fulton Kuykendall (284 in 1978), Buddy Curry (229 in 1983) and Jessie Tuggle (201 in 1990, 207 in 1991).

In 2003, was named to his third consecutive Pro Bowl after registering a team-high 207 total tackles and career-high 130 solo stops in 16 starts and posting two fumble recoveries.

Although, Brooking was named with Pro Bowl honors for the fourth straight year after totaling a team-high 144 tackles.

Brooking established a career-high with his fourth interception of the season at Tampa Bay in addition to tallying a team-high 12 tackles.

In 2006, Brooking led the team with 165 tackles for the sixth year in a row, he added 2.5 sacks, one fumble recovery and one pass defensed.

In 2007, finished with 127 tackles ( 82 solo ), 2 sacks for a loss of 13 yards, one fumble recovery and 4 passes defensed in 16 starts.

Notched a team-high 10 tackles in the Thursday night game vs. Indianapolis Colts, in addition to recording one sack (5 yards).

In 2011, with the emergence of Sean Lee, he split snaps with James at the other inside linebacker spot and finished with 50 tackles.

He spent much of his off seasons as a player raising awareness of his foundation, visiting local schools, businesses and organizations that serve and support children.