Aaron Brooks Interview...

[Angry Pope]

Raiders put former Saint Brooks in charge of revitalizing offense
STARTING OVER

By Jason Jones


Say this for Aaron Brooks: His confidence is unshakable.

He doesn't speak about how his six seasons with New Orleans ended bitterly, with the Saints benching him after 13 games while they struggled in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.


He has said he has nothing to prove, but many disagree.
Praised for his talent, but knocked for being erratic, Brooks has a chance with the Raiders to silence the critics.

Brooks can start that process Sept. 11, when the Raiders host San Diego in the second game of a "Monday Night Football" doubleheader.

Brooks chatted with The Bee's Jason Jones recently, discussing the upcoming season, playing with Randy Moss and being an African American quarterback.

Q: Can you really carry momentum from the preseason into the regular season?

A: I guess we'd use another term. Our term we like to say is 'get better.' If we can continue to get better each and every time we go out on the field … the better we will be going into the season.

Q: You've talked about learning this offense being a process. Are you where you thought you would be in that process?

A: No, not completely. This is a process that continues to evolve throughout the season. Like I said, the key is to get better. Yes, I've gotten better in some areas, but obviously there will always be other areas that I can improve on. I just want to take the team concept, take a good hold of it, and try to get better at what I'm doing. Hopefully that translates to very good production out on the field.

Q: How is your relationship with offensive coordinator Tom Walsh?

A: So far, so good. I think the communication level has been very outstanding. Nothing I have to really fuss and cuss about. He's always open to us to give him plays that we feel may work in the game because we are the guys in the game. The relationship with the quarterbacks and him has been very outstanding and very understanding when it comes to his play calls. We understand exactly what he wants to get done out there on the field. So far, it's been working.

Q: When you look at guys around you on offense, does it make you wonder about the numbers you're capable of putting up?

A: No … no, no.

Q: Is this the most talent you've had around you?

A: By far. I'm not concerned about numbers. It's all about winning. You guys know that. If we win, the quarterback may come out as the hero. If we lose, I'll be the first one probably to blame. The first one to get out of here. I'm not really concerned about numbers. I'm just concerned about getting these wins whether they look pretty or ugly. As long as we get wins and we stand in there and fight every game, and getting those wins, that's what matters.

Q: It must be nice to have a lot of options, especially if you have a four-wide receiver look.

A: It's definitely a bonus. It can take some pressure off me and it can also take pressure off one of the receivers and, hopefully, we continue to keep LaMont Jordan going and running. That will help us all if LaMont can get out there and run for 100 yards and be very effective in the run game. That can open up the passing game, it can open up receivers, it can do a lot of things for us.

Q: How fine is the line determining whether to force a ball into tight coverage or be conservative?

A: That's all within the play. You've got to know when you can take a chance and when you can't. You got to know when it's in a crucial part of the game. You just got to know the situation. It's just being very careful with that and try not to force the ball when you can definitely go to an open receiver. So, that's probably the key, just being careful, knowing when to do it and when not to. And knowing who you're throwing it to.

Q: How much does it factor into your decision when it's Randy Moss you're looking at?

A: Well, it's not all about Randy. Randy did make a hell of a play (in a preseson game). Doug Gabriel can do the same thing. I think Jerry Porter, when given the opportunity, he can do the same thing. It all depends on the type of throw and the type of coverage.… There's going to be some opportunities, a small window of opportunity, to get the ball in there to possibly get a touchdown, a big play. You just got to know when and where and trust that the guys can make the play for you.

Q: Do you feel comfortable being one of the guys yet, or are you still feeling your way around?

A: I'm not necessarily feeling my way. I'm just being myself. I'm just being who I am. There's no need to go outside of my element to please or to let guys know that I'm here or anything. My play alone has showed that I'm here. So, I'm just going to continue to be me and just do the best that I can.

Q: As an African American quarterback, does it mean a lot to play for Art Shell?

A: It means a great deal. … My first opportunity was with Ray Rhodes in Green Bay, which I was very grateful for -- him drafting me in the fourth round in Green Bay. I didn't get the opportunity to play, but when I realized I was leaving New Orleans, I thought it would be wonderful to have the opportunity to play for a black head coach. … I think it has a lot of meaning. It becomes a personal pride thing. When you've got the opportunity, you don't want to make a fool out of yourself, nor do you want to make a fool out of him.

Q: Is it no longer considered a big deal to have an African American quarterback?

A: There's always going to be opinions, and there's always going to be stereotypes. There's always going to be judgments on people. When I came in, there was a big boom of black quarterbacks, the 'New Millennium Quarterbacks.' Guys just having the ability to scramble and get out and do things. I think that has come and gone -- it's kind of leveling off right now. You can see there's not as many starting black quarterbacks out there right now. That's just the way things are. There's nothing you can do about it except go out there and try to do the best you can and like Warren Moon said, "Represent for your own."


AARON BROOKS' NUMBERS IN 2005

• Games started: 13

• Pass attempts: 431

• Pass completions: 240

• Completion pct: 55.7

• Passing yards: 2,882

• Touchdown passes: 13

• Interceptions: 17

• QB rating: 70.0

 

[Angry Pope]

Are these guys up to the task?

By Marcos Bretón


It's an occupational hazard that an NFL quarterback gets too much credit for a win and too much flak for a loss. Such is life. These guys make a ton of money and deserve no pity.

But at the dawn of the 2006 NFL season, you wonder if the Raiders' Aaron Brooks and the 49ers' Alex Smith are like two heifers on a truck bound for Whataburger.


You wonder if they will sizzle this season, but in a dinner-is-served kind of way for opposing defenses feasting on the tasty remnants of two fallen legacies at the quarterback position.
Which brings us back to the unfair aspects of a position embodied by Brooks and Smith, two men with exceedingly narrow shoulders for the loads about to be dumped on them by you, me and their organizations.

Talk about unfair. Smith is the amiable pretty boy with the sunny attitude to mask the burden of leading a faulty bunch of 49ers while learning as he goes.

Meanwhile, Mr. Brooks was no longer wanted by the New Orleans Saints.

Enough said.

Yet here they are and here we are, expecting too much from men who have done too little to earn starting roles once synonymous with glory and fame.

But that's where we are today -- wondering which of two local teams is worse, not better. Or wondering if either team is capable of going 7-9.

That's fine in Atlanta or Detroit, but in Northern California we experienced more than 30 years of NFL excellence until very recently. It was only four years ago that both the Raiders and 49ers were Super Bowl contenders with a league MVP at quarterback in the Raiders' Rich Gannon and a 49er Pro Bowler in Jeff Garcia.

Then came the crash of mismanagement by the Bay, which was followed by perennial losing, coaching changes and lowered expectations among disillusioned fans. And then came Brooks and Smith, two men so different in so many ways.

A 30-year-old Southerner and a veteran of the NFL, Brooks seems constantly on guard in Oakland after past lapses in judgment and performance painted him negatively and made him expendable. Consequently, dude isn't exactly a colorful quote with his clichés of working through a "process" to learn his role with the Raiders.

Maybe it's Raider paranoia filling Brooks. Or maybe it's getting benched by the Saints at the end of a 2005 season that began with a grieving Brooks and the Saints forced -- in an obscene lapse of judgment by the NFL -- to play a meaningless exhibition game against the Raiders right after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans. It got no better after that.

"I've been through a lot," Brooks told The Bee's Jason Jones the other day -- and you believe him, want to root for him. But Brooks keeps intruders at a distance, refuses to answer even whimsical questions about the potential fireworks he could trigger by throwing often to the Raiders' superior wideout, Randy Moss.

"No, no, no" is all he would say when asked if he pondered the yardage he and Moss could devour together -- when most NFL types would devour such questions like sushi.

Smith, on the other hand, couldn't be more accommodating at 22 and still the dutiful pupil recently of the University of Utah and Helix High School in suburban San Diego.

He has pretty much gotten smacked with a two-by-four since entering the league as the No. 1 draft choice in the NFL last season -- all for $49.5 million and the cost of carrying the future of the 49ers' franchise on his back.

Smith says he doesn't worry about the piano on his back, the expectations trailing his every step.

"I think it's something that, whether I like it or not, it's out of my control. … I can't do anything about it," Smith told The Bee's Matthew Barrows.

All Smith and Brooks can do is play and win to prove they belong in the NFL, which is easier said than done on teams with holes up and down their rosters and especially on offensive lines that could leave these two guys exposed as no quarterback should be.

Thus creates the potential for two men on the brink to inspire an emotion no quarterback should -- pity.

 

[Angry Pope]

Q: How is your relationship with offensive coordinator Tom Walsh?

A: So far, so good. I think the communication level has been very outstanding. Nothing I have to really fuss and cuss about. He's always open to us to give him plays that we feel may work in the game because we are the guys in the game. The relationship with the quarterbacks and him has been very outstanding and very understanding when it comes to his play calls. We understand exactly what he wants to get done out there on the field. So far, it's been working.

I liked the interview but his part was nice to hear. For me, it shows that Walsh isn't going to be stubborn in his play calling and willing to abandon what isn't working.

 

[RaiderIVlife]

Brooks gives a good interview. Sounds thoughtful and intelligent. I think he might be the next reclamation project that works. Or that's what I'm telling myself at least.

 

[Crossbones]

I've been telling myself the same thing since we signed Brooks. I thought the "change of address"might be good for him and that he might really step up. So far I haven't seen it. One flash in the 4th preseason game. Other than that he hasn't been much. Maybe he's a better game day player than a practice player. We'll see in a week where this is going.

 

[Angry Pope]

Good Brooks / Bad Brooks

A guy could have a full-time career trying to figure out Raiders quarterback Aaron Brooks. Instead of a notebook and recorder, though, you might need a PhD in psychology.

Brooks can be appear dismissive, aloof and downright uncaring. Last week, someone lobbed him a softball question about New Orleans and the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Many celebrities, including athletes, had been offering condolences and testimonials.

Here is what Brooks said: "It's in the past, it's over and it's done with. I only have a house to sell, so I'm moving forward. I try not to think about any of that stuff."

Asked if it was hard to forget the tragedy of 2005 because it was getting such heavy air play on TV, Brooks replied, "No, because I'm not from New Orleans. New Orleans was my place of residency for six years and during the season, but I only worked there. - It was a job, and I have a new job."

Just as often, Brooks can be thoughtful, accessible, funny, polite, even vulnerable. It just depends on which day you catch him. During training camp, for example, a reporter from USA Today asked Brooks if his psyche had been damaged during the 2005 season, when the Saints had to relocate because of the hurricane and Brooks was benched by Saints coach Jim Haslett.

"Psyche?" Brooks interrupted, looking at the reporter as if he had asked about crop circles. The quarterback continued to give such a withering look that the writer started to ramble nervously about having something to prove. Finally Brooks said to him, "I'm gonna let you answer that one. Next question."

But Monday, Brooks was at his best. He talked about the Doug Gabriel trade, the memories of his first start and his leadership role on the team. And when someone asked him the hut-button question -- about having something to prove - he bared it all.

"I'll always play with a chip on my shoulder," Brooks said. "That's me. But I'm not playing this game with people who have been doubting me for years and stuff like that. I've grown out of all that. But I'm always going to play with a chip on my shoulder. I'm always going to go out there and give it all I've got and try to do the best I can, because you know what that does for me? I've learned it doesn't help me. It doesn't help me. I correct people and all of a sudden they're coming back and they've got some more fuel to throw to the fire. So I'm not trying to get into proving points to people and trying to have a confrontation about it through the media, through TV and all that type of stuff. That's why you guys see the approach that I have. I've been through so much, and I don't need that in my life right now. This team doesn't need it either. New place, new start, new foundation, new beginning. Everything is great for me. I don't want to do anything to bring all that craziness here. That was back then, and I try to leave it back there."

All in all, I prefer Brooks' up-and-down personality to a quarterback with none at all.