Dec 14, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens safety Terrence Brooks (31) is assisted off the field after suffering an apparent injury on the opening kickoff against the Jacksonville Jaguars at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports
When an NFL player tears an ACL, expectations for a slow recovery are the norm. Generally the player is looking at a good calendar year before they are going to realistically make it back on the field. Oftentimes it is even longer before they are truly back to their pre-injury form. Sometimes, a player comes along and shatters that timeline.
Ravens safety Terrence Brooks appears to be one of those players. After tearing his ACL and MCL back in week 15 of last season (December 14th), it was widely expected that he would miss most of the offseason program and begin the 2015 season on the PUP list. His expected contribution for the coming season was virtually nil.
But now, less than six months following his devastating injury, Terrence Brooks is not only on the field and practicing, but he is running with the starters in 11-on-11 scrimmages. His movement suggests that nothing ever happened. So how did he do it? Brooks simply wasn’t going to accept the fact that he would miss his entire sophomore season.
"“I was like, ‘I definitely don’t want it to be a whole year.’ I didn’t think about it and I just thought about rehabbing. I’m blessed to be where I am now,” Brooks said."
Obviously, there was a lot of hard work involved as well. Brooks approached his rehab with vigor and a positive attitude. It has also given him a new perspective on his football career, and a renewed work ethic.
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"“I’ve learned not to take it for granted. It could be gone at any second,” Brooks said. “I needed to study more. It kind of got me out of whack not studying as much as I should have been. Now I see, after talking to the vets and guys who played here before, studying and film work is probably 60 percent of it. The rest is you going out and making plays. Now when I’m on the field, it’s straight business, no mercy. [The injury] definitely changed my mindset.”"
It’s obvious that Terrence Brooks has been blessed with the combination of a strong support system, good doctors, and health. But his positive attitude and work ethic, along with a refusal to quit or accept the status quo, has made him an exception to the rule rather than another example of it.
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