Derrick Brooks, Warrick Dunn educate Bucs' rookiesRick Stroud, Times Staff WriterFriday, July 8, 2016 4:36pm
Derrick Brooks is commanding the room like a defensive huddle, pacing back and forth and leaning toward Bucs players as he speaks.It is the first day of the team's three-day rookie transition program and the message at every symposium for first-year players is the same: The odds are stacked against you. It's unlikely you will make it in this league. Take advantage of the experience and decide that your character is more important than your pro football career.The idea is to begin with the end in mind.Of course on this day, there are 24 rookies who hear what is being said and it's likely all 24 believe the speakers are talking about the guy next to them."No. 55 belongs to the Bucs. If you're fortunate enough, you'll see it every Sunday. It's hanging up in the stadium. It belongs to them. The name beside it, that's what belongs to me," Brooks said. "And I never got it confused. Because at the end of the day, you want people to connect to that name, not that number."Brooks, 43, is one of only three Bucs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He never missed a game in his 14 seasons, all with Tampa Bay. But despite being named to the Pro Bowl 11 times, winning a Super Bowl and becoming the defensive player of the year in 2002, there came a point when even Brooks was told his "services were no longer needed.""How many of you guys thought I retired? Raise your hand," Brooks said. "No. I was fired in this same building that I'm standing in now. …"It took me about 15 years, 14 years of playing and one year after I got released, to understand it. I understood because of the way I carried myself. But I never really got it until one year after I was fired."[...]On the second day, Dunn takes the stage and it's obvious to those who know him that he's not the same introverted person who left the Bucs as a free agent after the 2001 season.His story is a familiar one. The oldest of six children to a single parent, his mother, Baton Rouge police officer Betty Smothers, was ambushed and shot to death while helping make a night bank drop. Dunn was 18 years old."My life changes just like that," said Dunn, snapping his fingers. "And my priority became my family."Dunn explained, in explicit detail, how driven he was to succeed, not just for himself, but to care for his family. A first-round pick by the Bucs in '97, he was named rookie of the year. Statistically, his second season was slightly better, but he said he struggled when three of his teenage siblings came to live with him."All of you guys have people depending on you," Dunn said. "This is an opportunity to make their lives better. My brothers and sisters still have to work. But I've helped them as much as I can."People call me cheap. I spend on necessities. You have an opportunity to make a lot of money. But you have an opportunity to make a difference in your own personal lives and in the lives of your family."Because of his experience, Dunn began his Home for the Holidays charitable initiative, making the down payment on houses for single-parent families. He got corporate sponsors to provide appliances and every necessity, right down to linens and bed sheets."When I started the program, I wrote the check out of my pocket," Dunn said. "I wanted to do something in the community that could help me in a sense."His real healing, however, didn't begin until he got to Atlanta. Despite five good seasons with the Bucs, the team didn't make a competitive offer to re-sign him. "It's a cold, cold business," Dunn said. "Just what it is. To make matters worse, I missed out on winning a Super Bowl."When Dunn got to Atlanta, he was encouraged by former receiver Shawn Jefferson to seek counseling. Dunn discovered he suffered from depression."For eighth months, I was sitting in a room with a little crazy old white lady who was my counselor and I never looked her into the eye," Dunn said. "I can tell you I knew everything in that room. But eventually, I got there."More at link: http://www.tampabay.com/sports/football/bucs/derrick-brooks-warrick-dunn-educate-bucs-rookies/2284697
