(Editor’s note – early this morning, Greg Brooks Jr.’s family posted a statement on social media acknowledging he had surgery to address a large brain tumor. This story was written following Tuesday evening player interviews when LSU was unable to release that specific information due to federal HIPA regulations related to medical privacy rights.)
By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
Ask any LSU player who has stood shoulder to shoulder in a defensive huddle with Greg Brooks Jr. or had to try to block him in practice, and the answers echo each other.
“Everybody knows he plays with his heart and he plays hard,” LSU starting center Charles Turner said.
Brooks’ self-assessment from a couple of years ago explains perfectly why he brings his best to every game, practice and off-season workout.
“I never get comfortable where I’m at because anything can be taken at any time, so I really just compete every day,” Brooks, the Tigers’ graduate student starting safety, said in August.
It’s why it was unusual last Thursday when Brooks, a team captain, wasn’t at practice preparing for the Tigers’ Southeastern Conference opener at Mississippi State.
“It was very tough especially not seeing that he was present at practice and having to find out what happened to him,” LSU starting defensive end Sa’vion Jones said.
What exactly has happened to Brooks remains unknown. But when Tigers’ head coach Brian Kelly revealed after last Saturday’s 41-14 win at MSU that Brooks was sidelined indefinitely with “a medical emergency” and the game ball would be presented to Brooks, it seemed drastically more serious than the vertigo he suffered in preseason practice.
“It was tough on the guys and tough on all of us,” Kelly said of explaining to the team about Brooks’ absence.”
The fact Brooks will miss Saturday’s game in Tiger Stadium vs. Arkansas, a team he started 31 times for in three seasons before transferring to LSU last season, resonated from Baton Rouge to Fayetteville.
“I want to start out talking about Greg Brooks,” Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said as he opened his Monday press conference.
“I’m not positive what is going on with him, but they talked about a medical emergency. Greg was a wonderful kid when he was here and did a great job for us.
“Whatever it may be, I want him and his family and LSU to know that we’re concerned, we’re praying for him, and we hope that he has a speedy recovery. I wish I knew more about it, but I don’t. I do know a medical emergency means there’s something wrong, and our thoughts and prayers are with him and the LSU football team and community.”
Brooks posted the following message on Instagram last Thursday:
“Ppl who overcome darkness in their life typically have a fire inside them that is almost impossible to extinguish. . .the story ain’t over it’s already written God makes no mistakes watch how I break the knob.”
When Brooks met with Baton Rouge-area media after transferring from Arkansas along with another former New Orleans area high school star, Joe Foucha, he spoke about the pride and responsibility of playing for his home state.
Despite Brooks’ West Jefferson High coach Cyril Crutchfield describing Brooks as “never having a player that was that much of a student of the game,” LSU never offered Brooks a scholarship in its signing class of 2019.
He originally committed to Mississippi State before signing with Arkansas, where he had 112 tackles, 5½ tackles for loss, 12 pass breakups and 4 interceptions in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Then, just like his father Greg Sr., who played a year at Michigan before transferring to Southern Miss for his final three seasons, the junior Brooks decided to put his name in the transfer portal in January 2022 knowing then-new LSU coach Kelly was seeking defensive backs.
Last season, Brooks started 13 of 14 games he appeared in and ranked fifth on the team in tackles with 66. In a 21-17 win over Auburn, he returned an interception 30 yards in the fourth quarter to seal the Tigers’ victory.
Through the first two games this season, he already had 8 tackles, 2 pass breakups and a QB hurry. “He had a dream as a kid just to play here his whole life,” Turner said of Brooks, So him coming back and playing for LSU was a big deal.
“He’s a guy that kind of went under the (recruiting) radar and then came back home and tried to do everything the right way. He’s worked his tail off every day he’s been here. He’s a tough, tough kid.”
Jones recalled a running workout this past summer that had a group of Tigers ready to call it a day early.
“Everybody was hunched over, hands on hips and ready to give up,” Jones said. “He (Brooks) walked to the front of us and said `We need to pick this up.’”
And now, he’s inspiring teammates as he battles his “medical emergency.”
“Him going through that makes you realize every day could be your last day,” Turner said. “So, you just have to go out there and attack every day. That’s the motivation he gives us.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com