Brooks earns scholarship and single-digit jersey
One of the cornerstones of the Geoff Collins Georgia Tech football program is every player is treated equally and given the same opportunities to compete and earn a spot in the rotation. He preaches in team meetings, on the field and privately with the players. Senior defensive lineman Djimon Brooks exemplifies that concept as a walk-on who worked his way often into the starting lineup in 2019 starting in four of the final six games and playing in all 12 games after only appearing in one game in three years. Collins honored Brooks on Friday giving him a scholarship and the coveted number zero jersey.
In a year of firsts, Brooks has the honor of being the first Georgia Tech player to don the number zero. Collins reserves single-digits for leaders and players who exemplify the qualities of a Georgia Tech student-athlete. The number zero was much-sought-after the NCAA announced that it was now a legal number to use. Collins fielded many requests from players on the team even publicly on social media, but Brooks got the honor first.
"Everything is new in college football this year," Collins told the team on Friday. "We are embracing it and making the most out of it. The one thing that is new and hasn't happened in college football before is there will be a number zero, a new single-digit. What matters is being a great leader and a great teammate, it doesn't matter how many stars you came in with, it matters the work you put to earn everything you get in the program and this person has earned it every single day. He is a consummate leader and teammate in this program. He had zero stars and zero scholarship offers and came here as a walk-on and earned the number zero and earn a scholarship from this program, Djimon Brooks."
In fact, Brooks played the second-most defensive line snaps in 2019 trailing only starting nose tackle T.K. Chimedza (499) with 415 snaps on defense plus another 60 on special teams.
Following the departures of two groups of upperclassmen in back-to-back seasons, Brooks found himself in a leadership role in the spring in a room full of younger players like Mike Lockhart, D'Quan Douse and Akelo Stone. He said it was an adjustment for the quite young man from Washington County.
"I'm not really the most vocal guy in the room, but being the oldest I've stepped into that role of getting guys ready in that room and showing guys the right way to get stuff done so we can be better," Brooks said this spring.
Coach Collins broke the news in style on his twitter account after practice on Friday.
