Ethan Brooks

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the South African soccer player, see Ethan Brooks (soccer).
Not to be confused with Ethan Brookes.

Ethan Brooks
No. 73, 77, 66, 70
Position:
Offensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1972-04-27) April 27, 1972 (age 52)
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Height:6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight:330 lb (150 kg)
Career information
High school:Westminster (CT)
College:Williams
NFL draft:1996 / Round: 7 / Pick: 229
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
  • 2×
    All-NESCAC
    (1994, 1995)
  • NESCAC
    defensive player of the year (1995)
  • All-WLAF
    (1997)
Career NFL statistics
Games Played:76
Games Started:26
Player stats at PFR

Ethan Barbier Brooks (born April 27, 1972) is a former

offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons, St. Louis Rams, Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Williams College
.

Early years

Brooks grew up in Simsbury, Connecticut. He attended Westminster School, a small prep school with a poor football record while he was there. He was not recruited by Division I-A schools, but had opportunities to play with a scholarship at Division I-AA schools.

His father Alan had gone to

Baltimore Colts training camp. When Brooks graduated, Williams College had a better football program than Wesleyan and the other school of the "Little Three", Amherst College
, good enough to be a Division III "football power".

College career

Brooks had NFL aspirations and thought that the Division III level of play would not be the best route to the NFL. He intended to go to Bucknell University which had a superior football program as a Division I-AA program and was still a good academic institution. However, he did not think he would be accepted at Division III Williams College, because although his academics were good for a football player, they were low for the school. Nevertheless, Williams admitted him with financial aid [citation needed] and he chose to attend, because of both their stellar academic reputation and rich football tradition.

He became a starter at

NESCAC
defensive player of the year as a senior. He also contributed to his team having a 17-0-1 record in his final two seasons

He was an

All-American in track and field in the hammer throw
. On his last throw of the 35 lb. weight at the 1996 NCAA Indoor Championships, Brooks broke the NCAA Division III record with a heave of 63’ 8 ¾” and later that spring he won the NCAA hammer throw (194’ 2”). His major was psychology.

Professional career

Atlanta Falcons

Brooks was selected by the

defensive line
due to team injuries in training camp. As a rookie, he dressed for the final two games of the season.

In 1997,

World Bowl V. However, the league schedule forced him to miss the Falcons minicamps and was not able to appropriately learn the new offense being implemented. He was again moved back to defense and eventually waived on August 27.[2]

St. Louis Rams

On November 20, 1997, he was signed as a

right tackle
position, but his wife Jackie was diagnosed with cancer, which impacted the time he could devote to training. He was released on July 19, because the team considered that he wasn't progressing as they'd hoped and he was also experiencing chronic back problems.

Arizona Cardinals

On February 3, 2000, he signed as a free agent with the Arizona Cardinals, after spending the 1999 season out of football.[3] He appeared in 14 games with 3 starts. He was not re-signed after the season.[4]

Denver Broncos

On March 15, 2001, he was signed as a "camp body" for the Denver Broncos.[5] On August 28, he was cut after the third exhibition game, having had almost no playing time.[6] He would return to Atlanta and eventually home to Connecticut.

Baltimore Ravens

A year after Jackie's death he was ready to start training again. His trainer, Charles Poliquin was headed to Arizona and Brooks followed him to get himself in football shape. On August 2, 2002, the

right tackle.[8]

On March 13, 2003, he was signed to a new two-year contract.

right tackle
, having recovered from a freakish eye injury, and Brooks went back to being a swing backup tackle behind Brown and Ogden. He started 3 games in place of an injured Brown.

In 2004, he started 7 games at

unrestricted free agent
at the end of the season. He started 23 games in 3 years with the Ravens.

New York Jets

On May 23, 2005, he signed with the New York Jets, but was released at the end of training camp on August 27.[9]

Dallas Cowboys

The

offensive tackle Marcus Price
.

Personal life

Brooks met his wife Jaqueline Smith on a blind date during his first year in Atlanta. They were married in less than a year in the Spring of 1997. In the Fall of 1999 Jackie was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Brooks put football on the back burner while he stayed with his wife who was having chemotherapy treatment.

He also was struggling with a back injury and was released by the Rams. He turned down new signing offers from the Saints, Cowboys, Cardinals, and Jaguars. When the doctors pronounced Jackie in remission, he accepted an offer from the Arizona Cardinals for the 2000 season and made the team. Jackie joined him but she was already ill with a fatal recurrence and died in March 2001. Brooks did not tell many people about the situation and was not re-signed at the end of the season.[11]

In September 2009, he joined the staff of the Pomfret School in Connecticut as a strength and conditioning coach. He left for a similar position at his alma mater, Williams College in 2011.[12]

Brook's sister, Rebecca, was an

All-American in soccer, basketball and outdoor track & field. His older brother Fletcher was the head coach of the Ephs men’s and women’s track & field teams, before moving on to Iowa State University
in 2013.

References

  1. ^ "1996 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  2. ^ "Transactions". The New York Times. August 28, 1997. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  3. ^ "Arizona Cardinals Sign Ethan Brooks". Associated Press. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  4. ^ "Transactions". The Index-Journal. January 10, 2001. p. 16. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  5. ^ "Transactions". The New York Times. March 16, 2001. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  6. ^ "Transactions". The New York Times. August 29, 2001. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  7. ^ "Transactions". The New York Times. August 3, 2002. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  8. ^ "Brooks Plays It Close". November 28, 2004. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  9. ^ "Transactions". The New York Times. May 24, 2005. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  10. ^ "Transactions". The New York Times. October 20, 2005. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  11. ^ "Ravens' Brooks blocks pain, too". September 21, 2002. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  12. ^ "Ethan Brooks '96, 9-year NFL veteran returns, to Williams as asst. strength & conditioning coach". Archived from the original on August 17, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
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