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.
--
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
