What Derrick Brooks Means to Me and the Rest of Tampa Bay

December 9, 2012; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers former player Derrick Brooks is introduced during the 10th anniversary of the 2002 Super Bowl champions during halftimduring the second half at Raymond James Stadium. The Eagles won 23-21. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

“Who’s my favorite player? Mr. Derrick Brooks!”

It’s a line from a commercial that the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer great did for United Way, and yet nothing described Derrick Brooks more perfectly than that.

He was Tampa Bay’s favorite. An “undersized” linebacker with the heart of a lion who helped changed the culture of the Buccaneers on the football field, in the locker room, and helped this entire community grow.

My father, being from New York, is a Jets fan through and through. Before I was born, my family had moved south to sunny Tampa, Florida, which is where we all still reside. I didn’t start getting into football until age 7 or so, and while my dad did everything in his power to make sure I followed in his footsteps as a Jets fan, my heart just wasn’t in it.

Instead, I would turn the TV on during a Sunday afternoon and see Derrick Brooks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers barely squeak out wins against the NFL Central division. That was the team I wanted to root for, because of the excitement of barely scratching and clawing your way to victory with a smashmouth style of football was way more appealing to me than the alternatives.

My dad had realized that there was no turning back on my fandom at around age 9. It was around then when he had brought me home an autographed poster of Derrick Brooks, addressed specifically to me, with the words “DEFENDER OF THE SHIP” in bold lettering. And although I had a hero in my father away from sports, my football hero from that day forward was Brooks.

Tampa Bay had a player that led by example. He wasn’t like his teammate Warren Sapp, because he didn’t like to talk. Instead, he let his play do all of the talking. 1,297 solo tackles, 25 interceptions, 24 forced fumbles, and seven touchdowns over a 14 year career said it all for him: Hall of Fame.

Brooks became the third Buccaneer to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame this Summer, following Sapp and the original Buccaneer, Lee Roy Selmon.

You can measure his greatness through stats, but one thing that is impossible to measure is all of the people he has helped off the field. Derrick Brooks is a true hero to the entire Tampa Bay community, and today we acknowledge that.

At halftime of today’s game against the St. Louis Rams, Brooks will be inducted into the Buccaneers’ Ring of Honor and receive his Hall of Fame ring. And in a time in which Bucs football is pleading for new success, we will stand up and recognize a man that had everything to do with their success of the past.

From being drafted along with Sapp, to picking off Rich Gannon and taking it to the house to clinch Super Bowl XXXVII, to right now, Derrick Brooks has always served his team and community with dignity, pride, and a relentless work ethic.

Congratulations, Derrick. Forever and always the Defender of the Ship.