Dude is almost as phenomenal as Boldin:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=bucsbrookstrulyagoodguy&prov=tsn&type=lgns
Bucs' Brooks truly a Good Guy
By Paul Attner -
With the announcement of the 2003 Sporting News No. 1 Good Guy in pro sports coming the first week in July, senior writer Paul Attner reports on the latest activities of Bucs linebacker Derrick Brooks, the 2000 winner of this annual award.
After a year's break because of 9/11, Good Guy Derrick Brooks again is showing some lucky kids from Tampa-area Boys and Girls Clubs a glimpse of the world they might not otherwise see.
Brooks, the Pro Bowl linebacker for the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has a unique program in which he rewards deserving needy children from these clubs with summer trips that have taken them in the past to such destinations as South Africa, the Grand Canyon or, as is the case this year, to Chicago, New York and Atlanta. But to qualify, they first must enroll in, and pass, a curriculum that he helps devise which is connected directly with a trip-related theme.
This year, Brooks concentrated on skills that would prepare his Brooks Bunch kids for college. They took classes on SAT preparation, how to apply for college, how to search for college aid, even how to figure out where to attend school and what to study. They also had to behave properly in school and maintain their grades.
"In the past, the classes have concentrated on helping to break down stereotypes or make them think outside the walls," says Brooks. "But I looked at the dynamics of the Brooks Bunch. A lot of them started making trips with me from the start. They are getting older and it dawned on me, they will be going to college real soon. So why not expose them to what it will take?
"Before, we had all these glamorous places we were going. It wasn't the case this summer. But what we were doing for them was the most meaningful yet because it revolves around decision-making you have to make now. It impacts your immediate life more."
Since November, the kids prepared for this sixth trip sponsored by Brooks by attending the required classes, which were taught at the clubs by teachers hired from the local school systems. He let his Brooks Bunch members participate in devising the itinerary; they each listed the five universities they wanted to visit, and what places they would like to see in the cities where these schools are located.
"I had been a dictator before," says Brooks. "I told them what we were going to do on each trip. But these kids are veterans now, they have maturity, they know what I expect. We had a few picking out Canada and Australia. But mostly it all made sense. By the time the planning was done, they felt really good about the trip because they were part of the process."
Twenty-nine kids, along with Brooks and chaperones, left June 22 for New York City, where they spent three days visiting the Fashion Institute of Technology, Vibe Magazine, the NFL office, the Juilliard School of Arts, the Apollo Theater and the World Trade Center site.
The next stop was Chicago, where the group has visited the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Loyola University, Harpo Studios (where Oprah Winfrey's TV show is taped) and a Cubs game, where Brooks sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Brooks and the kids and chaperones then will fly to Atlanta for tours of Georgia Tech University, the King Center, Zoo Atlanta and the law offices of Thomas, Kennedy, Sampson & Patterson, the oldest minority-owned law firm in Atlanta. They also will go to church services at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
They will finish in Tallahassee, where Brooks earned a degree in communications at Florida State. They will tour the FSU campus, including the athletic facilities, then visit the Florida A&M campus before going horseback riding and tubing. The 11-day trip ends July 2.
"Even if these kids don't all go on to college, the trip is still worth it for them," says Brooks. "They are going to take what they have learned and bring it back to their high schools. They will tell their peers to start getting ready early for college instead of waiting until they are seniors, to start thinking now about what they want to be and how to prepare for it, to take away some of the stress by starting early instead of waiting until the last minute."
If those messages are passed along, he says, "then the trip is worth every minute of planning that went into it."
Senior writer Paul Attner covers the NFL for Sporting News. Email him at [email protected].
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=bucsbrookstrulyagoodguy&prov=tsn&type=lgns
Bucs' Brooks truly a Good Guy
By Paul Attner -
With the announcement of the 2003 Sporting News No. 1 Good Guy in pro sports coming the first week in July, senior writer Paul Attner reports on the latest activities of Bucs linebacker Derrick Brooks, the 2000 winner of this annual award.
After a year's break because of 9/11, Good Guy Derrick Brooks again is showing some lucky kids from Tampa-area Boys and Girls Clubs a glimpse of the world they might not otherwise see.
Brooks, the Pro Bowl linebacker for the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has a unique program in which he rewards deserving needy children from these clubs with summer trips that have taken them in the past to such destinations as South Africa, the Grand Canyon or, as is the case this year, to Chicago, New York and Atlanta. But to qualify, they first must enroll in, and pass, a curriculum that he helps devise which is connected directly with a trip-related theme.
This year, Brooks concentrated on skills that would prepare his Brooks Bunch kids for college. They took classes on SAT preparation, how to apply for college, how to search for college aid, even how to figure out where to attend school and what to study. They also had to behave properly in school and maintain their grades.
"In the past, the classes have concentrated on helping to break down stereotypes or make them think outside the walls," says Brooks. "But I looked at the dynamics of the Brooks Bunch. A lot of them started making trips with me from the start. They are getting older and it dawned on me, they will be going to college real soon. So why not expose them to what it will take?
"Before, we had all these glamorous places we were going. It wasn't the case this summer. But what we were doing for them was the most meaningful yet because it revolves around decision-making you have to make now. It impacts your immediate life more."
Since November, the kids prepared for this sixth trip sponsored by Brooks by attending the required classes, which were taught at the clubs by teachers hired from the local school systems. He let his Brooks Bunch members participate in devising the itinerary; they each listed the five universities they wanted to visit, and what places they would like to see in the cities where these schools are located.
"I had been a dictator before," says Brooks. "I told them what we were going to do on each trip. But these kids are veterans now, they have maturity, they know what I expect. We had a few picking out Canada and Australia. But mostly it all made sense. By the time the planning was done, they felt really good about the trip because they were part of the process."
Twenty-nine kids, along with Brooks and chaperones, left June 22 for New York City, where they spent three days visiting the Fashion Institute of Technology, Vibe Magazine, the NFL office, the Juilliard School of Arts, the Apollo Theater and the World Trade Center site.
The next stop was Chicago, where the group has visited the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Loyola University, Harpo Studios (where Oprah Winfrey's TV show is taped) and a Cubs game, where Brooks sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Brooks and the kids and chaperones then will fly to Atlanta for tours of Georgia Tech University, the King Center, Zoo Atlanta and the law offices of Thomas, Kennedy, Sampson & Patterson, the oldest minority-owned law firm in Atlanta. They also will go to church services at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
They will finish in Tallahassee, where Brooks earned a degree in communications at Florida State. They will tour the FSU campus, including the athletic facilities, then visit the Florida A&M campus before going horseback riding and tubing. The 11-day trip ends July 2.
"Even if these kids don't all go on to college, the trip is still worth it for them," says Brooks. "They are going to take what they have learned and bring it back to their high schools. They will tell their peers to start getting ready early for college instead of waiting until they are seniors, to start thinking now about what they want to be and how to prepare for it, to take away some of the stress by starting early instead of waiting until the last minute."
If those messages are passed along, he says, "then the trip is worth every minute of planning that went into it."
Senior writer Paul Attner covers the NFL for Sporting News. Email him at [email protected].
