Derrick Brooks Quotes (42 Quotes)

It's no secret. The spotlight is going to be on him. My advice is for him not to feel the pressure. He has 10 other guys he can lean on.

We've got to re-establish our personality. That group I played with back then, you saw a personality. Guys trusting each other. Embarrassed if they didn't make it to the pile in time. Now it's time for a new personality to come along and get established.

It's a very humbling experience. But we understand this is just one of the championships that we're after.

We pounded the rock, baby.

The ironic thing is that was the talk before we won the Super Bowl ... that this defense is not what it used to be. We stepped up and showed people they were wrong. The same little mumblings are starting to rumble now, and we're going to step up and show the world again.

I would give up one thousand yards to get a win.

I plan on being here until they bury me at Raymond James Stadium.

I stand real humble. I've been here a few times, and I don't have many wins.

Chris coming in, that's something he has to learn Everyone is watching -- everyone. And I want them to watch me so everyone knows what everyone is doing and we all can succeed.

Everyone feels the same way we feel, that their chances are just as good as ours. If everybody is not feeling that way in this locker room, I hope to have a conversation with them.

Twice we've played him and he's hurt us for big runs.

In 11 years, I've done it eight times. I believe in keeping a good team together. So far, if those conditions are the same, if it's a two-way street, then we'll do it.

Everybody understands the opportunity we have. After that game in St. Louis, I prepared myself to be back here in 2000 and 2001. But it didn't happen. That's why you've got to take advantage when your chance comes.

I feel grateful, to be honest with you, ... Thank God for the effort out there, on both sides of the ball. ... Thank God the replay official saw it as we did in our locker room and changed that call. Things like that go your way throughout a ballgame sometimes, and we've been pretty fortunate this year at the end of games to make plays to win games.

We have a good defensive team. You have a good group of guys who made the team defensively so I wasn't surprised we went out there and played well.

If I get out of this element, I don't what will happen to me, ... This is what it is. I appreciate the leaks, I appreciate the walls that are caving in. I'm here, so I'm going to make the most of it.

This is probably one of the toughest years for me in terms of making it, because I can name five or six guys who I know should have made it, who had deserving years to be in the Pro Bowl. All I can do is just thankfully continue playing at the level they're playing at.

You know they can do one of three things. Somebody has got to run it somebody has got to block. Or they are both going out for a pass route. We have no idea with both of them in the backfield. And if that presents itself, you just have to read your keys.

For whatever reason, as a team, we haven't been able to get it done, ... It's one of the things we talked about in training camp, doing things that this franchise has never done before.

We are in second place, one game back. But we're by no means out of it. I guess it's a little down because of the way we lost. It appears we got dominated. ... It could be a whole lot worse than where we are at.

Obviously, business decisions are made in this league,

It appears we got dominated. We're a defense, really as a team, that does not give up 34 points, and today we did. The most disappointing thing is we had a good week of practice, and today we didn't show up.

The style in which we won says a lot. The previous two games were blowouts, so the question was, 'Could we win a tough one' Yeah, we can get in a fight, walk away with a few bruises and come away with a win.

Our field-goal team has really stepped up to the plate and answered all the criticism that they had. Closing out games, whether it's kicking offense or defense, that's something that we haven't done well in the past two seasons and that's something we've done well this year. Obviously, it's the difference in three or four wins.

People are just now starting to notice Troy as a game-changer. From a standpoint of making plays, he's carried Pittsburgh to where they are today. He's got a unique style all his own, and I'm a fan of his hair. I like that flair he plays with.

You can pick any game and there are two or three plays that determine whether you win or lose, going either way. That's the beauty of the league, man. Every game counts, no matter who you're playing or what their record is.

Our fans are usually loud when the defense is on the field. I think from my standpoint, we respect that. So a lot of things we do we'll go off hand signals and wristbands when we're playing at home. Something we addressed this morning is our defensive communication. With the first home game, hopefully fans will come revved up. A young quarterback and an offense playing in our home is something you have got to account for.

Hopefully he felt the love that I have for him and Lauren. He's doing the best he can under the circumstances. A lot of people have come to pay their respects because he's meant more to this community than just a football coach.

I expect him to have his career-best season. If I expected anything less than that, I'd be cheating him. I'm going to ride him hard because he's got so much potential to be great.

Every rep that you take off, somebody else gets another look. That's just how I am. It's not a matter of being paranoid, it's a matter of being confident and not taking anything for granted.

Each guy has got to get his (meeting) room. That's where my leadership comes, (by) kind of stepping aside, and that way they take ownership. That's one of my better qualities.

In years past, we have had a lot of turnovers and defensive scores. Last year, that part of our game was missing. We got our hands on a lot of balls. We caused way more fumbles that we didn't recover. The turnovers we got, we didn't turn them into touchdowns.

To me, that's Hall of Fame, ... To know you had an impact on one person in this world. For them to give you so much credit when you hear young people tell you what you mean to their lives. That changed me as a person. Being around those kids at that young age helped me mature as a man. It kept me from all other distractions that could've knocked me off the path. They were saving me as much as I was saving them.

Obviously, business decisions are made in this league. Losing the players we lost the last few years, I'm not going to tell you it didn't hurt because it did. It hurt to see you build something with someone and they're gone, not by their own will but by the will and the decisions made by others.

Let's not be naive to the system. For the countless examples of people who have changed teams, there are countless of examples of people who haven't changed teams. Darrell Green finished his career with the Redskins and he always was one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in the league. Jackie Slater was always one of the highest-paid tackles in the league and he played his whole career with the Rams. Brett Favre got a 100-million contract a few years ago and they found a way to keep him, so it can be done. Is it important to me Yes. Is it in my hands No.

As good as this feeling is we're looking to feel even better next week.

We started an important streak, in my opinion. The first time we lost this season, we come back. In the past, one loss meant two, meant three, meant four. But today, from that standpoint, we took a huge step in bouncing back from a loss.

Obviously, we wanted to play better than we played last week, come out of the gates a little faster. We had an opportunity to make some plays ... and we did.

For anybody who thought I lost a step, I hope I showed them.

We'd share a conversation, make sure he's OK. What with Tony being in Indianapolis, if he needed someone to talk to or just hang around, he had my phone number.

I feel a lot more humility, a lot more togetherness this training camp. The fire is lit. ... That's something we lost the last two years,

This was about helping the team and putting us in the position to keep a lot of our players here that we currently have and, at the same time, give us something to go get a player that we felt could help us win a Super Bowl. That's the way it's always been when I've done this, a two-way street.