Reginald Arthur Brooks (born January 19, 1971) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

. He attended Booker T. Washington High School in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

. He is the uncle to

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansio ...

Linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

Anthony Barr.

Career

College

Brooks, following his older brother Tony, enrolled at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

in 1989. Originally a defensive back, he converted to tailback for the 1991 season and won a spot in the starting lineup for 1992. During his senior season at Notre Dame, Brooks enjoyed massive success, rushing for 1,372 yards with an 8.0 yards per carry average while scoring 13 touchdowns. He was named an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n and finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting that year. *1991: 18 carries for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns. 1 catch for 4 yards. *1992: 167 carries for 1,343 yards and 13 touchdowns. 1 catch for 24 yards and 1 touchdown.

Professional

He was drafted by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

in the second round of the

1993 NFL Draft The 1993 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot M ...

. Brooks had a great

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

season with 1,063 rushing yards with a 4.8 average. The rest of his career didn't pan out and he was out of football by the end of the

1996 NFL season The 1996 NFL season was the 77th regular season of the National Football League and the season was marked by notable controversies from beginning to end. Most significantly, the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy resulted in a then-unique ...

. He spent three years with the Redskins and one with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

Post-football career

Brooks is employed by Notre Dame as its Director of Student-Athlete Alumni Relations/Engagement. He is also a fixture on Notre Dame's football post-game show and other productions of Fighting Irish Digital Media. He is married and has five children.

Notable performances

The Unconscious Touchdown

He is well known for a 20-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

run against rival

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1992. After catching a pitched ball on an option-right, Brooks broke six

Wolverines The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

tackles, the last of which knocked him unconscious before stumbling across the goal-line and collapsing face-first in the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...

The Snow Bowl

The Fighting Irish went up against

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High ...

in the final home game of 1992. A heavy snowfall throughout the first half made for a highly defensive struggle between the two perennial powerhouse programs. Trailing 16–9 with 4:25 left in the fourth quarter, senior quarterback Rick Mirer led the Irish on a 64-yard scoring drive, throwing to fullback

Jerome Bettis Jerome Abram Bettis Sr. (born February 16, 1972) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nicknamed "the Bus" for his large size and run ...

on fourth down for a 3-yard score. Down by one point, Notre Dame coach

Lou Holtz Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is an American former football player, coach, and analyst. He served as the head football coach at The College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York ...

opted to go for two points and the win. Mirer dropped back to pass and was forced out of the pocket by the Penn State defense. Brooks, who had lined up as a slot receiver, worked across the field as the two primary receivers on the play were covered. Despite the fact that Brooks only had one reception all season, Mirer lofted the ball towards him in the back corner of the end zone. Brooks made a diving catch and the Irish prevailed 17–16. He was the winner of the 1995 and 1996 Madden Bowl.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Reggie 1971 births Living people American football running backs Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Washington Redskins players Sportspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma