Long-time Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks will make official what we've known for some time: He's going to retire.
Brooks hasn't played since the 2008 season but hoped he would have the opportunity to join a team in 2009. He never got that opportunity and will make his retirement official on DerrickBrooks.TV along with a followup press conference at the Bucs facility.
Brooks' career is among the best we've ever seen. A few of his accomplishments:
- 11-time Pro Bowl selection
- Six-time first team All-Pro selection
- Three-time second team All-Pro selection
- "Whizzer" White NFL Man of the Year
- NFL defensive player of the year
- Super Bowl champion
SB Nation's Bucs Nation has a few more tidbits on his accomplishments.
He started 221 games and played in 224 games, every single game that he was on the Bucs roster, which is a franchise record. He recorded 2,198 tackles, most in franchise history, along with eight defensive touchdowns, second most in Bucs history. He was taken with the 28th pick in the '95 NFL draft out of Florida State and would be a key cog in the Bucs turn from laughing stock to perennial contender.
Check out Bucs Nation for more on Derrick Brooks retirement.