Brooks getting plenty of looks

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Elk Grove, Calif., athlete Brannon Brooks is one of the better running backs in California, but he knows his future might be on the defensive side of the ball, so that's why he spent Saturday at the NIKE Training Camp working out on that side of the ball. He said going through the drills was definitely a learning experience.

"I really learned about how to improve my breaks," he said.

"During the season I wasn't very good with that. Coming here will help me focus on improving my breaks and hopefully make me a more complete player. I did pretty good in the drills. There were a lot of drills that I've never seen before and seeing them one time helped me figure them out real quick."

Brooks also came away with a valuable lesson from three-time Super Bowl winner Jerry Rice, who spoke to the players before the camp about preparation in the off season.

"I really liked hearing him talk about how he worked hard when nobody was watching him in the off season," Brooks said. "He worked hard when nobody was there and that made him the great player that he was. That's something that really stuck with me, and that's going to help me out a lot. During the off season and the summer, I'm going to be the guy hanging out late and working harder than anybody else."

Brooks has one scholarship offer on the table early on from BYU. Coach Brandon Doman from BYU has already placed a May call to him and Brooks took time during spring break to head up to Provo, Utah, for an unofficial visit.

"It was real good to talk to him after my visit during spring break," Brooks said." We were just catching up and seeing how track and my grades were going. BYU has offered me, but I'm just weighing out all my options and seeing what's going to happen after (Saturday). I'll probably decide before the football season."

Nevada is another team that Brooks said is showing him a lot of interest. He's also hoping that many of the more than 250 college coaches at the camp came away impressed with him.

"I think I definitely proved I can be a very good college defensive back," Brooks said. "I was pleased with how things went today."