First a presidential election and a nation's future hinging on a dimpled chad. Then Alabama, North Carolina and every other collegiate institution in the western hemisphere engage in a heated check-writing contest for the services of Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer, whose personality is often confused for that of a dimpled chad. Next thing you know, Aaron Brooks is going to be a starting quarterback in the NFL.
Um, I stand corrected ... Aaron Brooks is a starting quarterback in the NFL, and judging by his three-touchdown, 31-point effort to lead his New Orleans Saints by the once-unshakeable world-champion Rams, Brooks is much more than a starting QB ... he's a star QB.
Aaron Brooks!?!
If you just heard a thud resonating through the wintry Charlottesville air, it's likely the sound of my jaw hitting the floor.
Don't mistake my unabated shock for sarcasm. I'm simply stunned that, of all Cavalier quarterbacks over the last decade who possessed the ability to shine at the highest level, Brooks is the one who actually fulfilled that promise. Brooks - or as I liked to call him during his orange and blue playing days, "The Big Bravado" - is about the last Wahoo I'd ever expect to catapult from ACC to NFL to MVP. Unless you're counting David Rivers.
|
The reason for my skepticism is quite simple: Under George Welsh's tutelage, Brooks never maximized his limitless potential.
He's an extraordinary talent, blessed with physical gifts most players could only beg the football Santa Claus to deliver.
At 6-feet-4, 205, he's colossal, yet nimble enough to drive opposing defenders batty. He owns a light saber for an arm and a set of feet ballerinas would scrap for. Only problem was, Brooks had a brick for a brain.
He was not stupid. But he was cocky. I quoted Brooks five days prior to Virginia's 1998 showdown with Florida State crowing that he would be "too explosive, ya know what I'm sayin'." With doubt smeared all across my face, I nodded. The Cavs were demolished, 45-14. The following week, Welsh muzzled him from the media.
Brooks knew exactly how talented he was. He knew the slightest open-field fake could bring a fire-breathing Virginia Tech linebacker to his knees, knew that needling a defense with a perfect strike could toast Dre Bly. Problem was, the brash Brooks believed he was every bit the superfreak everyone else proclaimed him to be.
As a result, he didn't strain to perfect his craft. The results manifested themselves on the field during his senior season. Just as he was capable at any moment of busting the big run, which he did in the waning moments of Virginia's Peach Bowl loss to Georgia, he was equally proficient in being boneheaded. Moments before his dazzling dash against the Bulldogs, Brooks threw a costly interception on a ball that should never have left his hand.
Trailing 41-38 to Georgia Tech in October 1998, the seventh-ranked Cavaliers rode Brooks' coattails on a march to an apparent game-tying field goal. Virginia held the ball at the Yellow Jacket 25 with under a minute to play, and all Brooks had to do was eat the clock while safely securing any extra yardage to set up Todd Braverman's boot.
Instead, Brooks inexplicably and cluelessly roamed the pocket before Nate Stimson cornered him for a would-be sack. Brooks aggravated an already abysmal scenario by intentionally grounding the ball as he collapsed to the turf. The five-yard penalty and loss of down turned a 3rd and 11 into a 4th and 23. Braverman's 42-yard kick became a 54-yard prayer that the football gods didn't answer.
Mental bungles like these provided me all the evidence to substantiate the point I hammered home when the Green Bay Packers selected the Newport News native in the fourth round of the NFL Draft: Aaron Brooks will never make it.
But with Saints quarterback Jeff Blake sidelined by a broken ankle and Bobby Herbert/Wade Wilson nowhere to be found, head coach Jim Haslett had no choice. His man was Brooks.
Afterward, Haslett, now the leader of an 8-4, first-place football team, patted himself on the back. Though hours earlier, he was likely sweating bullets imagining what the Brooks experiment could produce.
"I've said all week that people always worry about putting the backup quarterback in," Haslett said. "The guy's really calm and cool."
Well, congratulations Aaron. You grabbed a starting spot on the largest football stage there is and showed yourself to be pretty darn effective ... at least for one afternoon against the Rams.
In the process, you proved one Cavalier fan wrong who steadfastly believed his opinion of you was the truth. But hey, we all make mistakes ... you know what I'm sayin'?
Read More
The Cavaliers conquer Wake Forest, winning a Saturday night thriller 31-30
By Peter Kriebel | 36 minutes agoVirginia recovered a chaotic fumble and took over in the fourth quarter.
Own goal dooms men’s soccer in tepid loss to Duke
By Michael Liebermann | YesterdayNot since 2019 has Virginia beaten Duke.
No. 3 field hockey eviscerates Temple 7-0
By Eleanor Lynch | YesterdayVirginia dominated from start to finish, showcasing both overpowering offense and tenacious defense.
