Keith Brooking
Atlanta
December 26, 2007
(On this season…) “I don’t know if I can really put it into words. Tough season is
probably an understatement. But it’s been quite a season, there’s no doubt about it. As the
season progressed, it seemed like every few weeks we were getting bad news. About the
eighth or ninth week of the season I was thinking it just absolutely can not get any worse
but then obviously with what happened a couple weeks ago it did. That proved me
wrong. It’s been tough, there’s no doubt about it. There were rumblings coming out of
here that we didn’t agree with coach (Bobby) Petrino from the beginning, as players, and
things like that. Guys didn’t agree with what was going on here and the way he ran
things but the one thing I’m proud of more than anything is there hasn’t been hissing
fussing and pointing fingers from player to player. That’s when you’ve really lost it and
we haven’t done that. We’ve stuck together from a player’s standpoint in this locker
room. We played hard every week. We just kept coming up on the short end of the stick
so that’s kind of the way it’s been.”
(On how he feels about Bobby Petrino…) “For me, speaking from a personal
standpoint, I was one of the guys that guys on this team joke with me all the time. They
say, kind of jokingly laughing, that I’m a company guy. That’s not the case at all but I
feel like my responsibility at a professional level and what I’m paid to do is to buy in to
what my head coach wants to do. That doesn’t mean I agreed with everything that he did
or he wanted us to do and I talked to Coach (Bobby Petrino) about some of those things
and he did a pretty good job of trying to change a few things. He kind of catered to us.
That’s part of my role as a leader on this football team and I felt like the quicker that
everyone bought in to him, if you have everybody pulling on the same end of the rope the
more chances you have at being successful at winning ball games. I know football
enough to know that. You have to have everyone buy in. You can’t have a few guys not
believing in it. My goal, my responsibility was to try my best to try to get everybody to
do that and that’s what I did. I believed in him. I didn’t agree with some of it and I
talked to him about that but as a leader I had to go out here and work everyday and show
everyone, hey, if we do it this way we’re going to get this thing right. Then we have that
mentality and to do everything in my power to do that as a player, as a leader of this
football team and then to have him back out on me like that and quit and go against
everything that he talked about, shoot man, it floored me. It hurt me bad. Betrayal came
to my mind; coward, quitter, so many things. It was tough. I’ve never had that happen. I
can’t explain it. I can not put it into words what would make him do something like that.
In saying that, it’s probably not right for me to say that because as a man I shouldn’t
judge anyone. I don’t know what was going on with him and his family. Who knows? I
don’t know but at the same time I still think about all that and I try to create scenarios and
I still can’t believe that he would do something like that with three weeks to go. If you
do do it come in and look us in the eye and tell us. There’s so many things that run
through my mind. It absolutely shocked me. I was pissed off.”
(On if Bobby Petrino left without talking to the team…) “Oh, yes man. Now as far as
what went on with Arthur, Mr. Blank, and Rich McKay and those guys, we kind of heard
things; that they had meetings, that Mr. Petrino didn’t like the way some of the things
were being done here. From what I’ve heard Arthur agreed to do everything in his power
to get him to where it wanted to be. We, as players, you heard rumors. We’d always
Keith Brooking
Atlanta
December 26, 2007
hear stuff like that. Man, as a player I’m trained. You hear stuff all the time in the media
and people talk. You don’t worry about that. Shoot, we have enough to worry about so
it’s not even like I thought twice about him leaving. I’ll be honest with you. I thought at
the end of the year it’s possible. Coach (Bobby) Petrino with his past and everything, he
might jet on us. Not with three games to go. I didn’t ever hear anything to make me
believe he was going to leave with three games to go in the season.”
(On if this has been a test of character…) “I don’t think tough times build character. I
think they reveal it. You’re in high school or whatever, you’re trying to become a man. I
think tough times can build character and make you a man and tough and fight through
adversity and things like that but we’re at the point we’re at. I don’t know. I believe you
really find out what you’re about when you’ve been in this league and you’ve made it to
this point and I think we’ve seen a lot this year with the things that we’ve been faced
with. My only approach is to just grind it out and know tough times don’t last, tough
people do. That old cliché, man, I believe that with all my heart and you get what you
earn. No matter what situation you’re in, winning or losing, you still have to go out there
and lay it out on the line because we’re playing for a lot. Guys are motivated for
different reasons in our locker room and throughout the NFL. Some guys are motivated
by money. Some are motivated by family. Some are motivated by pride. You should be
motivated because your resume is put out there every Sunday. We’re playing for a lot
still, to this day. I don’t care what anybody says. You definitely find out what guys are
about when you’re faced with the season we’ve been faced with.”
(On the decision makers who hire Bobby Petrino…) “It’s like I just told you guys, for
me, yeah, I kind of gave you my opinion on Coach (Bobby) Petrino and how I felt and all
that but I can’t sit here and judge these decision makers for what they’ve done. I don’t
know. I don’t know what inclines them to make that decision. Who knows what the
interview process was like. It’s hard for me to have an opinion on that one.”
(On if he saw Bobby Petrino do a ‘pig-suey’ on television…) “Yeah, I saw that. To be
dead honest with you I heard the information like everyone else, through the news flash.
I was sitting on my couch in the living room with my son and it came across the TV. My
initial thought was, hey. I was frustrated. I was mad but I was like, if you don’t want to
be here, screw him. I don’t want him here if his heart’s not in it. When I saw him on TV
later that night in the press conference after the day before we were out there sacrificing
everything, our bodies for him and trying to lay it on the line for the Atlanta Falcons and
him as our head coach and 24 hours later he was talking about how excited he was being
there. It made my skin crawl. I wanted to jump through the TV. I was very mad.”
(On if he feels a sense of relief in this last week…) “That’s the great thing about the
NFL. If you have your health there’s always next year. There’s 32 teams that have that
mentality no matter if you win the Super Bowl or you finish last and you pick the number
one overall. For me to say I can’t wait for this season to be over, no, I don’t look at it
that way and I mean that with all of my heart because the way I’ve been trained and the
way my mind works is you never take this game for granted and it’s been a tough year.
There is no doubt about that but every time I get a chance to step on that football field
Keith Brooking
Atlanta
December 26, 2007
and play it’s a blessing for me and I’m excited to do it regardless. I can’t ever take that
for granted. I can never give up one of those opportunities. I have to look forward to this
game, this week, and then once this is over I have a lot to think about this offseason and
next year’s a new year. It’s a new start for everyone regardless of how you finish. If
you’ve been in this long enough you realize that.”
(On if he is past Michael Vick’s situation…) “It’s very disappointing what happened
with him. To have your franchise quarterback, arguable probably the best guy who’s
ever played for this organization and meant more to this organization than anyone who’s
ever put on a Falcons uniform, that happening to you, to him and to us, that was a shock.
I couldn’t believe it either. We’ve always had the mentality, from the very beginning
here, since the season started, we were dealt that, ‘hey, in this league you have to have a
move-on mentality.’ No matter what you’re faced with. We pull through these gates
every morning, we get paid to be at our very best, regardless of what happened. So that
was tough. It was unbelievable. It has been an unprecedented year, that’s for sure. I don’t
think anyone has gone through what we have gone through this year.”
(On the Seahawks offense…) “We watched film this morning. I’ve played against
Coach Holmgren and his offense a few times. They’re doing the same things as they’ve
always done. It’s quick-tempo, fast-paced, offense. The one thing that we’ve jumped on
is, I think overall, they throw the ball about 64 or 65 percent of the time. They can run the
ball, there is no doubt about that. They do a great job of trying their best to get their
defense on your heels, switching up personnel. A lot of different formations, quicktempo, and trying their best do dictate to you what you’re going to do. It prevents you
from changing your personnel when they do theirs. So I think they’re doing a very good
job. Their a team, of late- the past six or seven weeks, that are very hot. I’ve been
impressed with them.”
(On the Atlanta fans reaction to seeing Jim Mora…) “That’s going to be surreal,
there’s no doubt. The three years coach was here, the things that we did, accomplished,
and obviously him being way across the country like that, coming into our stadium. Just
another twist in the Falcons 2007 season.”
(On Patrick Kerney…) “That guy, when you draw up an NFL football player, Patrick
Kerney exemplifies that to a “t”. He is a true pro in every sense of the word. The workout
regimen in the offseason, his habits of taking notes, on the practice field, taking care of
his body, putting the right things in his body. He does everything in his power to
maximize the ability that has been given to him. He is an asset to an organization, not just
his ability to get after the passer, play the run, but his leadership abilities. Just him, the
example that he gives to everybody in the organization. You couldn’t have a better
football player. And he’s a great guy too. I knew when we got rid of him last year that
we’re going to be missing a great football player and a great person. I can’t say enough
about him. There is no doubt about it, that arguably, you could definitely argue this fact,
that he is the best all-around defensive end in the NFL. Playing the run, you watch that
guy playing the run, and his ability to get after the passer. He is relentless, he just does
Keith Brooking
Atlanta
December 26, 2007
not give up. Like I said, he’s the total package. You could definitely sit down and argue
with the best of them, that he is the best defensive in the game of football.”
(On if Patrick Kerney is worthy of defensive player of the year…) “I texted him that
last week. Congrats on the Pro Bowl, finish strong, and get the MVP, because he’s right
there. Obviously, I want him to finish strong this past Sunday. Hopefully with him not
playing for anything this week, and the playoffs, there not really playing for anything.
Hopefully he won’t be out there too much.”
(On Coach Mora’s early success then what happened…) “I think it complicated. The
one thing was injuries. We had a lot of injuries towards the latter part of both of those
seasons. That would probably be the one thing that I would say more than anything. I
think his ability to motivate and to do a great job of coming in, and it was very evident
form the beginning what he wanted our football team to be about. He presented that to us
and it was very simple. Guys just kind of, like is said before, the quicker you can get guys
to buy into that from the beginning, the more the chance you have of being successful. So
I remember during the OTA’s and the mini-camps that first season he came in. That
feeling in practice, and the energy there, that we were going to be very good that year,
and it showed. I think he did a great job that first year. All of his coaches were on the
same page, all of the players bought into it immediately.”
(On the feelings in the organization when Mora left…) “As a player it’s evident. I’ve
been through three changes now. I’m about to go through my fourth. As a player I’ve
known that for ten years, but a player doesn’t ever want change. Because you never know
what you’re going to get. And you never know what their view is. You know, as an NFL
player, that you’re being evaluated in every move that you make, every day, in
everything that you do. That’s definitely for sure, when you turn on that film on Sunday,
that’s your resume. But also how you carry yourself inside of the building, and all of the
little things that you do. When someone else comes in that’s new, they don’t know that
about you. So they’re evaluating you from hearsay and other things, and obviously
they’re evaluating from the film that you had out there. But you don’t know what their
thing is. You can go talk to different personnel people across this whole league and
everybody’s opinion is probably different on me, and every other player. No one has the
same opinion on a player. That’s the thing that you think about as a player when there is
change, and you don’t want to see that. So we were all kind of like that when it
happened.”
(On Coach Mora’s future…) “I think he has the ability to be a head coach. There is no
doubt about that. Was he perfect when he was here with the Atlanta Falcons? No. But I
think he’s been around this game long enough, he’s all-football. With his dad, coming up
and coaching, I think he has the ability to be a head coach and a great leader.”
(On the comments Mora made about the University of Washington…) “That’s a nonfactor to me. That didn’t affect me at all. No one is perfect. I’m sure he made mistakes,
and he probably learned from those. It’s going to make him a better coach when he gets
another opportunity. I believe that he should, and will, get that opportunity.”
Keith Brooking
Atlanta
December 26, 2007