Keith Brooking

Lore & Background

Brooking graduated from East Coweta High School in Sharpsburg, Georgia in 1994. He played both offense and defense as #35, was a member of the Key Club and was also voted Mr. ECHS. He was recruited to play college football by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. He started 34 straight games to end his college career as he led the team in tackles during his final three seasons at Georgia Tech and became the leading tackler in Georgia Tech history (467).

He had two of the best tackle seasons in school history with 147 and 146, respectively, as a junior and sophomore. 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. Voted a permanent team captain by his teammates and a finalist for the Dick Butkus Award. He was the top tackler in the ACC in 1995 after averaging 13.3 stops a game and ranked second in the conference in 1996 with 13.4 tackles a game.

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 is remembered one of the greatest players to ever play at Georgia Tech.

Reader's Guide

After being the 12th overall selection in the first round by the Falcons in the 1998 NFL draft, Brooking quickly became the foundation of their defense. In his rookie season, he played in 15 games and posted 32 tackles, 1 interception, 2 forced fumbles, and 5 passes defensed as he served as the team nickel linebacker in passing situations throughout the season. 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. His first career start was against the Vikings, recording 8 tackles, and his first career sack was against Baltimore, sacking Stoney Case. During the 2000 season, Brooking was placed in the Injury Reserve after suffering a sprained foot in a game vs Philadelphia. He finished with 39 tackles, 1 sack and 1 forced fumble.

In 2001, he started all the games and did not miss a play on defense in 957 total snaps as he made the transition to middle linebacker, registered 15 tackles and a sack in his first game as a Middle linebacker. He led the Falcons with 167 tackles and registered 2 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 9 passes defended and 3.5 sacks. He was named Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career at New Orleans (October 21) after recording 12 tackles, one sack and two passes defensed, also he had a key interception vs. Dallas Cowboys to seal a 20–13 win with 0:16 remaining on Atlanta 30-yard line.

This season he was named to the Pro Bowl, becoming the first Falcon Pro Bowler since 1998, when six falcons made the trip to Hawaii. 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). He also established a new career-high with 22 tackles vs Green Bay Packers. The 22 tackles were the most by a Falcons player since Jessie Tuggle had 22 vs. New Orleans on September 29, 1991, was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts vs. New Orleans Saints (September 17) when he collected 15 stops and one fumble recovery.