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All-ACC linebacker wants to improve leadership as junior
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 10, 2005
The NFL will have to wait at least another year to get Ahmad Brooks. The all-ACC linebacker said last night that he'll return to the University of Virginia for his junior season.
"It was kind of a hard decision, but I wanted to stay in school," Brooks said by phone from his family's home in Woodbridge. "I felt I needed to improve on a couple things before I entered the NFL."
The main thing, he said, "is leadership. I felt I needed to be more vocal on the squad. As far as playing linebacker . . . I don't feel like I've showed the world enough. I don't really feel I've lived up to the hype yet."
An inside linebacker in U.Va.'s 3-4 defense, the 6-4, 255-pound Brooks led the team in tackles in 2003 and '04. He was one of three finalists this season for the Butkus Award, given annually to the nation's top linebacker, and made The Associated Press' All-America second team.
Brooks, 20, graduated from Hylton High in 2002, so he's eligible for the upcoming NFL draft. He enrolled at U.Va. in January 2003 after spending a semester at Hargrave Military Academy.
Winning the Butkus Award would be nice, Brooks said, but that's not why he's coming back.
"I'm just thinking about winning the ACC championship and going where Virginia Tech was this year," he said, referring to the Bowl Championship Series. "That's my whole goal. If we do that, that'll be a lot better than winning the Butkus."
Virginia finished 8-4 after losing in overtime to Fresno State in last month's MPC Computers Bowl at Boise, Idaho.
"I feel like there's unfinished business," Brooks said.
His father, Perry Brooks, played for seven years in the NFL. Ahmad Brooks almost certainly would be a first-round pick if he entered this year's NFL draft, and it's "kind of tempting," he said.
"You know, first-rounders are getting paid so much these days," he said. "It's amazing how you could call into that category and be making millions of dollars. But with my luck I'd get drafted by Dallas and their defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer, would ruin my career."
But Brooks likes college.
"These are the best years I'm going to have in my life," he said. "I'm still in the learning process. I'm just trying to feed off what everybody's telling me."
Two other U.Va. underclassmen, outside linebacker Darryl Blackstock and offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, have said they plan to return for their senior seasons. All-America tight end Heath Miller, who has a season of eligibility left, has yet to announce where he'll play in 2005.
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 10, 2005
The NFL will have to wait at least another year to get Ahmad Brooks. The all-ACC linebacker said last night that he'll return to the University of Virginia for his junior season.
"It was kind of a hard decision, but I wanted to stay in school," Brooks said by phone from his family's home in Woodbridge. "I felt I needed to improve on a couple things before I entered the NFL."
The main thing, he said, "is leadership. I felt I needed to be more vocal on the squad. As far as playing linebacker . . . I don't feel like I've showed the world enough. I don't really feel I've lived up to the hype yet."
An inside linebacker in U.Va.'s 3-4 defense, the 6-4, 255-pound Brooks led the team in tackles in 2003 and '04. He was one of three finalists this season for the Butkus Award, given annually to the nation's top linebacker, and made The Associated Press' All-America second team.
Brooks, 20, graduated from Hylton High in 2002, so he's eligible for the upcoming NFL draft. He enrolled at U.Va. in January 2003 after spending a semester at Hargrave Military Academy.
Winning the Butkus Award would be nice, Brooks said, but that's not why he's coming back.
"I'm just thinking about winning the ACC championship and going where Virginia Tech was this year," he said, referring to the Bowl Championship Series. "That's my whole goal. If we do that, that'll be a lot better than winning the Butkus."
Virginia finished 8-4 after losing in overtime to Fresno State in last month's MPC Computers Bowl at Boise, Idaho.
"I feel like there's unfinished business," Brooks said.
His father, Perry Brooks, played for seven years in the NFL. Ahmad Brooks almost certainly would be a first-round pick if he entered this year's NFL draft, and it's "kind of tempting," he said.
"You know, first-rounders are getting paid so much these days," he said. "It's amazing how you could call into that category and be making millions of dollars. But with my luck I'd get drafted by Dallas and their defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer, would ruin my career."
But Brooks likes college.
"These are the best years I'm going to have in my life," he said. "I'm still in the learning process. I'm just trying to feed off what everybody's telling me."
Two other U.Va. underclassmen, outside linebacker Darryl Blackstock and offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, have said they plan to return for their senior seasons. All-America tight end Heath Miller, who has a season of eligibility left, has yet to announce where he'll play in 2005.
