Angry Pope
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Here is a story on Brooks....
Brooks Flowing in Oakland
June 29, 2006
By Kevin Hale
In 1999, Aaron Brooks out of the University of Virginia, was selected during round four of the NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. After spending one year with the Packers, he went on to New Orleans, where he played with the Saints for five years.
The first regular season game that Brooks ever started was on November 26, 2000, against the St. Louis Rams. After becoming the Saints' field general, Brooks logged 82 consecutive starts. During his time with the Saints he became the second all-time ranking quarterback in Saints history in almost all passing categories including yards (19,156), pass attempts (2,771), and pass completions (1,563). He is the all-time leader in Saints history in touchdown passes with 120. He has thrown for over 250 yards in a team-record 31 regular season games, and in 2004 he completed 309 passes for 3,810 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions. This was the fourth straight season where Brooks had thrown over 20 touchdown passes and over 3,500 passing yards, with both streaks signifying the best in team history.
In 2000 against the Denver Broncos, he passed for 441 yards, which is the highest single-game total in Saints history, and the next week he rushed for over 100 yards against the San Francisco 49ers, making him the only quarterback in franchise history, to rush for over 100 yards in a game.
Now that Brooks has become a Raider, he has put his old career in the past and is ready to look towards setting new records in his future. "I'm moving on, I'm glad to be a Raider," Brooks said recently. "I'm loving the fresh start; I think it was very necessary, particularly coming to a place like this, a great tradition, to have a coach with a lot of experience, particularly a Hall of Famer and a lot of Hall of Fame coaches around him. So what better situation to be in, then this one right here." Brooks feels that his energy, mobility, leadership qualities, and communication skills will help bring the Raiders back to prominence in the AFC West.
His positive attitude about being in Oakland is one that can't go unnoticed and is typical of other players that have been given the opportunity to play with the Raiders after leaving other teams in the league. "I'm very proud to be an Oakland Raider. I don't think you guys [media] know what it means for a player to come inside from another organization, to be a part of the Raider Nation. It's just a wonderful feeling."
He has expressed his excitement many times in recent months and says he could not be happier, especially since he is now getting the opportunity to play with one of the best receivers in the league, Randy Moss. "I'm very excited to be here, I'm very excited to be working with Art Shell, and having the opportunity to be able to throw the ball to arguably the best receiver in the game today (Moss), and the guys around him that are so good also, is almost like a dream come true. It's a perfect situation; I wouldn't trade it for the world. I'm just very happy to be a Raider right now," Brooks said.
Though he has not received the word that he will be the starter for the Raiders this coming season, he believes that he will be a good addition to the team and that his strong arm and mobility can help the Raiders stretch the field and move the chains. He understands that he has to earn his way in the NFL, and he will continue to compete for the starting job, until the coaches have made their decision. "I come in thinking I'm going to have to compete anyway, nothing is given, so with that mind set I'm just going to continue to go out there and work hard, do the best I can, and let the coaches make that decision," Brooks said.
With just a few short weeks left until the start of training camp, Brooks is hoping to make that decision a tough one for the Raiders coaching staff.