Terrence Brooks: “I wanted to come out here and prove I’m the best safety in this class.”
By Patrik Nohe
Feb 25, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Florida State Seminoles defensive back Terrence Brooks runs the 40 yard dash during the 2014 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Terrence Brooks has never been short on belief in himself. From the time he arrived on Florida State’s campus bearing a three-star tattoo on his right shoulder (an everyday reminder of what he considered to be an insulting recruiting rating) — the talented DB from Dunnellon, Florida has had something to prove.
That isn’t about to change in the NFL either. ChopChat was on-site Tuesday for Florida State’s Pro Day and caught up with Brooks — who made no effort to hide his intentions for the day.
“I wanted to come out here and prove I’m the best safety in this class,” said Brooks. “Definitely coming out here was another opportunity to show what I can do.”
So far Brooks says he’s gotten good feedback from NFL teams, stating that they’ve told him they like what they see. But he’s remaining cautious, guarding his expectations, “you never know until that day actually comes.”
Here’s the rest of what number 31 had to say:
FSU had a big draft class last year and looks poised to do it again this year, what does that say about the program?
"“I love it, man. This 2010 class I came in with, we wanted to pretty much be the standard this year, we wanted to get it back to how it’s supposed to be at Florida State and I feel like we did that. We stepped into the roles we were given and I feel like everybody did good. I can’t wait to see what [this team] does next year.”"
What is this experience like?
"“Actually to me I don’t think it was that bad. It definitely was a process I’ll tell you that, but coach Fisher did a great job of just getting us prepared for the chaos. He makes practice chaotic, meetings, all that stuff, it’s crazy. [So] when we get in those environments you feel right at home. I felt great, I definitely didn’t get a lot of sleep. But you only get one opportunity to do that, so [why worry about that].”"
What’s next for you?
"“I don’t know you tell me. Just staying in shape, doing some cardio and stuff, pretty much just getting better every single day — whatever that is. Whether it’s videogames or stuff on the field, whatever it is.“I was training in Texas, at API, I just wanted to get away from Florida and all my friends and everything and really just buy into the process, just go work out and come right back home, that’s what I wanted to do and it worked out really well.“[Now that Pro Day is done] I’ll be here for a while I’ve got meetings with teams and stuff like that and little workouts and stuff.”"
How was it seeing Greg Reid work out today at Pro Day?
"“Oh definitely [good]. Greg’s a good guy. He’s a person I looked up to when I first came here, I kind of wanted to model my game after him and everything he did. He’s great and he still has it too. I was so happy to see him out there doing the drills with him, he looks great. I hope somebody takes a chance on him, because they’re going to get a good guy.”"
How does it feel being back at FSU with his teammates again for the first time since the end of the season?
"“It’s really good, those guys have been gone for a while from me so it was really good to see them all walking through the stadium and just hang and laugh with them, it’s good to see those guys.”"
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