Former NFL All-Pro Derrick Brooks receives 2012 Walter Camp “Alumni Award.”
Brooks joins a distinguished list of former “Alumni Award” winners, including Alan Page (Notre Dame), Bo Jackson (Auburn), Tony Dorsett (Pittsburgh), Herschel Walker (Georgia), Mark May (Pittsburgh) and last year’s recipient, Chris Spielman (Ohio State).
For Immediate Release: December 11, 2012
Former NFL All-Pro Derrick Brooks Named Walter Camp Alumnus of the Year
NEW HAVEN, CT – Former NFL All-Pro linebacker Derrick Brooks (Florida State University) is the recipient of the 2012 Walter Camp “Alumni Award.”
Brooks joins a distinguished list of former “Alumni Award” winners, including Alan Page (Notre Dame), Bo Jackson (Auburn), Tony Dorsett (Pittsburgh), Herschel Walker (Georgia), Mark May (Pittsburgh) and last year’s recipient, Chris Spielman (Ohio State).
The Walter Camp “Alumni of the Year” award is bestowed on a worthy individual who has distinguished himself in the pursuit of excellence as an athlete, in his personal career and in doing good works for others. He must be an individual who has exhibited dedication and good moral conduct in achieving success. He must be a compassionate and unselfish person who contributes his time and assistance in helping to encourage and comfort fellow human beings less talented and less fortunate than himself. He must be an individual who takes pride in having been a Walter Camp All-American.
“We are pleased to recognize Derrick Brooks with the Walter Camp Alumni Award,” Foundation president John Marks said. “Derrick’s exceptional results on the football field pale in comparison to his charity work and advocacy of the value of education for young people.”
A native of Pensacola, FL, Brooks played scholastically at Washington High School and was named to Florida’s “All-Century Team” as one of the Top 33 players in the state’s 100-year history of high school football. He attended Florida State University and was a four-year letterman, three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference honoree, two-time Walter Camp All-American (1993 and 94), and a key member of the Seminoles’ 1993 National Championship squad.
Selected by Tampa Bay in the first round (pick #28) of the 1995 NFL Draft, Brooks played his entire 14-year professional career for the Buccaneers. He earned 11 Pro Bowl appearances, including 10 consecutive from 1997 to 2006, and was a nine-time All-Pro selection. The 11 Pro Bowls are tied for second most by a linebacker in NFL history.
In 2002, Brooks was named the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year after leading the team to the franchise’s first Super Bowl win in Super Bowl XXXVII, a 48-21 victory over the Oakland Raiders. Brooks officially retired following the 2009 season and was named to the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team.
He is well known for his charity work and advocacy of education. He was the co-recipient of the Walter Payton Award in 2000 and was named to the Florida State University Board of Trustees in 2003. He is the founder of the Derrick Brooks Charities (http://www.db55.org) whose mission is to “provide educational opportunities for youth that will instill, inspire, broaden, and develop cultural and social vision outside of the walls in which they live to ensure that these young people have every chance to develop into the strong and productive leaders of tomorrow.”
Brooks and his wife Carol, have four children.
In addition to Brooks, the Foundation will honor Tom Osborne (Distinguished American), Herm Edwards (Man of the Year), the 2012 Walter Camp Player of the Year (Manti Te’o, Notre Dame) and the 123rd annual All-America team at the organization’s national awards banquet on Saturday, January 12, 2013, at the Yale University Commons in New Haven.
The Foundation is offering a “Holiday Ticket Promotion” for the National Awards Dinner. Buy two tickets for $400 (you save $150) before December 31. Please call (203) 288-CAMP (288-2267) for more information.
Walter Camp, “The Father of American Football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.
