November 2, 2015

Highlighted Year: James Brooks, 1981

Running Back, San Diego Chargers


Age: 23 (Dec. 28)
1st season in pro football
College: Auburn
Height: 5’9”   Weight: 180

Prelude:
Brooks was an all-purpose star in college, rushing for 3523 yards while averaging 5.7 yards per carry and returning 68 kickoffs for an average of 25.4 yards. Those numbers included a SEC-leading 1208 rushing yards in 1979 and 1314 yards as a senior in ’80. Brooks was an All-SEC selection, along with his teammate RB Joe Cribbs, in 1979 and received second-team All-American honors from the Associated Press and NEA in addition to All-SEC recognition again in ’80. He was chosen by the Chargers in the first round of the 1981 NFL draft (24th overall).

1981 Season Summary
Appeared in 14 of 16 games
[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Rushing
Attempts – 109
Most attempts, game – 17 (for 97 yds.) at Oakland 11/22, (for 50 yds.) at Tampa Bay 12/13
Yards – 525
Most yards, game – 97 yards (on 17 carries) at Oakland 11/22
Average gain – 4.8 [6]
TDs – 3

Pass Receiving
Receptions – 46
Most receptions, game – 9 (for 90 yds.) at Seattle 11/16
Yards – 329
Most yards, game – 90 (on 9 catches) at Seattle 11/16
Average gain – 7.2
TDs – 3

Kickoff Returns
Returns – 40 [4]
Yards – 949 [5]
Most yards, game – 123 (on 5 ret.) at Seattle 11/16
Average per return – 23.7 [8]
TDs – 0
Longest return – 47 yards

Punt Returns
Returns – 22
Yards – 290 [14]
Most yards, game – 79 (on 2 ret.) at Oakland 11/22
Average per return – 13.2 [2, 1st in AFC]
TDs – 0
Longest return – 42 yards

All-Purpose yards – 2093 [1]

Scoring
TDs – 6
Points – 36

Postseason: 2 G
Rushing attempts – 9
Most rushing attempts, game – 6 at Cincinnati, AFC Championship
Rushing yards – 42
Most rushing yards, game – 23 at Cincinnati, AFC Championship
Average gain rushing – 4.7
Rushing TDs – 0

Pass receptions – 6
Most pass receptions, game – 4 at Miami, AFC Divisional playoff
Pass receiving yards – 36
Most pass receiving yards, game – 31 at Miami, AFC Divisional playoff
Average yards per reception – 6.0
Pass Receiving TDs – 2

Kickoff returns – 9
Kickoff return yds. – 172
Most yards, game – 87 (on 4 ret.) at Cincinnati, AFC Championship
Kickoff return avg. – 19.1
Kickoff return TDs – 0

Punt returns – 1
Punt return yds. – 8
Punt return TDs – 0

Chargers went 10-6 to finish first in the AFC West while leading the NFL in total yards (6744), passing yards (4739), touchdowns (61), and scoring (478 points). Won AFC Divisional playoff over Miami Dolphins (41-38). Lost AFC Championship to Cincinnati Bengals (27-7).

Aftermath:
Brooks followed up his outstanding rookie season by again leading the NFL in all-purpose yards with 1383 in the strike-shortened 1982 season. He gained another 1475 total yards in ’83 but became disgruntled and was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals for FB Pete Johnson in 1984. Brooks continued in a limited role for a year before being used more extensively at running back in ’85 and rushed for 929 yards and gained another 576 yards on 55 pass receptions. In 1986 he ran for 1087 yards and had 54 catches for 686 yards and was selected to the Pro Bowl. Following a lesser year in ’87 when he suffered an ankle injury, Brooks went to the Pro Bowl after each of the next three seasons. He rushed for a career-high 1239 yards in 1988 as the Bengals won the AFC title. Despite being undersized, Brooks proved to be a tough and dependable runner and productive as a receiver out of the backfield. He finished his career with Cleveland and Tampa Bay in 1992. Overall, Brooks ran for 7962 yards on 1685 carries (4.7 avg.), caught 383 passes for 3621 yards (9.5 avg.), returned 52 punts for a 10.9-yard average, 132 kickoffs for a 20.9 avg., and scored a total of 79 touchdowns. Of those totals, 1471 rushing yards and 84 catches for 610 yards came with the Chargers, along with all of the punt returns and the majority of the kickoff returns. He received first-team All-AFC recognition once, second-team honors after three other seasons, and was selected to the Pro Bowl four times.  

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Highlighted Years features players who were consensus first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the following statistical categories:

Rushing: Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing: Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving: Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs, Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose: Total Yards
Defense: Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff Returns: Average
Punt Returns: Average
Punting: Average

*Leagues include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)

**NFC/AFC since 1970