Robert Brooks

Robert Darren Brooks, born June 23, 1970, is a former American professional football wide receiver who played in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers from 1992 to 1998 and later for the Denver Broncos. He played college football at the University of South Carolina. The Packers selected him in the third round, 62nd overall, of the 1992 NFL draft.

Brooks began playing football at age six in a pee wee league, then moved on to Northside Junior High. He played running back until college. During his senior year at Greenwood High School, he scored 14 touchdowns and gained over 700 yards. He was also a state champion track star, winning the 110-meter high hurdles in 13.9 seconds at the Keebler International Prep Track and Field Invitational in June 1988.

At South Carolina (1988–1991), Brooks was a fan favorite known for fluid running and sure hands. Originally recruited as a running back, he played wide receiver wearing jersey number 49. As a freshman in 1988, he made an exceptional over-the-shoulder one-handed touchdown catch against Georgia and was named a Freshman All-American.

In the NFL, Brooks led the league in kickoff returns in 1993 with a 26.6-yard average. After teammate Sterling Sharpe suffered a career-ending injury in 1995, Brooks came into his own, leading the Packers with 102 receptions, 13 touchdowns, and 1,497 receiving yards—a franchise record that stood until Jordy Nelson broke it in 2014. During a Monday Night Football game on September 11, 1995, he caught a 99-yard pass from Brett Favre against the Chicago Bears, tying the record for longest pass play from scrimmage.

In week 7 of the 1996 season, Brooks suffered a severe knee injury against the San Francisco 49ers when cornerback Tyronne Drakeford pulled him down, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament and patellar tendon. He missed the rest of the season and Super Bowl XXXI, which the Packers won 35–21 over the New England Patriots. He vowed to return and won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award in 1997, catching 60 passes for 1,010 yards and 7 touchdowns.

Back problems later forced him to change his running mechanics. After a painful 1998 season, he briefly retired, then attempted a comeback with the Broncos in 2000, appearing in only a few games before retiring again. He finished his career with 309 receptions, 4,276 yards, and 32 touchdowns. In 2007, he was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. Brooks also popularized the Lambeau Leap touchdown celebration. As of the 2019 NFL off-season, he held at least three Packers franchise records, including most punt return yards in a playoff career (214), most 100-yard receiving games in a season (11 in 1995, including two in the postseason), and most 100-yard receiving games in the playoffs (3, tied with Antonio Freeman and Greg Jennings).

After football, Brooks entered the music industry under the nickname “Shoo-in,” creating the record label “Shoo-in 4 Life” and producing two CDs: Jump and Down wit’ tha Bay. He serves as wide receivers coach at Brophy College Preparatory, a high school in Phoenix, Arizona. Brooks is married with three children—Robert, Elisha, and Austin—and lives in the Menomonie, Wisconsin area, where he is the minister of The River Of Life Church.