Brione 'Big Bubba' Brooks brings energy to match his size
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RIVALS CAMP SERIES: Info for 2022 series
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COPPELL, Texas – This is how Brione Brooks got into the Rivals Camp Series event in Dallas two weekends ago.
Someone signed up the massive offensive lineman from Dallas South Oak Cliff and Brooks didn’t realize it, but he showed up anyway, told the registration table he knew Rivals social media director Woody Wommack and was let on the field. Risky move, since Wommack didn’t know him at all.
Brooks was a little late.
So as the rest of the nearly 200 players got through registration and went through an extensive warm-up session, Brooks was still putting on his shoes and finally joined the group shortly before getting ready for position drills.
It was the one-on-one session where Brooks – all 400-plus pounds of him – really stood out and shocked so many people.
Here’s the thing: Brooks does not look like someone who could move his feet so well, who could take out some of the region’s best defensive linemen and control them physically, who could turn in a performance like that. There’s no getting around Brooks’ size, but also no getting around how well he moves.
There is some trimming up to do to play high-level college football but “Big Bubba” is going to be a big boy and he was there to prove he can play with anybody.
“I came in with a chip on my shoulder,” Brooks said. “I wanted to come prove myself and show what I can do.”
He did that and more. Lining up at center and both offensive guard positions, Brooks won nearly every rep. When the three-star lost one, he admitted it. When Brooks won, he let everyone know because he likes to chirp and talk a lot. It’s just in his nature – fun-loving, competitive, exciting to watch, life of the party.
In camp settings, sometimes there’s juice on the field and guys get after it, and sometimes it’s dull. Brooks brought all that energy and it flowed down to everyone else making the linemen one-on-one session at the Dallas camp thrilling to watch.
“That’s just my personality,” Brooks said. “That’s how I grew up. That’s the way my dad brought me up. It was always there.”
His videos from camp have gone viral. The Rivals social media feeds saw huge numbers from Brooks’ reps. Many other media outlets used the video as well.
To see someone that big be that light on his feet and that physical with his hands is impressive. Since the camp, Oregon has offered, joining Arizona, Georgia Tech, Kansas and Toledo on the list. Brooks said Texas, Baylor, Nebraska, TCU, SMU and Houston have all reached out.
And the coaches he’s talked to have one message for him.
“They just want me to come be a dog, be nasty,” he said.
For Brooks, that’s no problem at all.
