ATL Report – Atlanta News and Gossip

Keith Brooking is a linebacker.  From the crooked nose, to his two dogs named Nitschke and Butkus, Brooking personifies the position.  For the record, Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke are two Hall of Fame linebackers and 2 of the nastiest, meanest guys you’d ever meet.  Keith was like them on the field, but I’ve known him to be a good guy off the field.  He was always available for an interview, always worked in the community, great with kids and most importantly a good teammate.  Brooking took a lot of crap this year about his performance.  Folks said he was getting a little slow and we saw a running back get by him in the Cardinals playoff game.  Turns out, that Cardinals running back got behind a lot of linebackers and Arizona went to the Super Bowl.  Is Brooking the man he was, say, 5 or 6 years ago? No, he’s now 32 years old but I believe he can still play and apparently the Cowboys agree.  The Cowboys have long been viewed as America’s Team and a franchise that has elite status,  a chance to go out with Dallas? Why not?  Brooking deserves to go out having a shot.  Think about this, Keith Brooking played linebacker at East Coweta High School. At 190 pounds his speed earned him a scholarship to Georgia Tech, he quickly bulked up and played mean. Enough to earn some honors and become the first round draft pick of his hometown Atlanta Falcons.  His rookie season was storybook, Coach Dan Reeves undergoes a heart procedure during the season, the team wins the Division at 14-2.  Then goes to Minnesota a decided underdog and beats the Vikings to head to the first and only Super Bowl in franchise history.  From there Brooking became an icon in his hometown, involved in the community and a fan favorite.  Falcons owner Arthur Blank wished Keith well with his future team, owned by friend Jerry Jones. Keith we wish you all the best and in the immortal words of Bob Hope “Thanks for the memories.”