Miami Northwestern’s Sam Brooks has been one of the most explosive pass rushers in Dade County since his sophomore season. The 2019 prospect was offered by Miami last summer at camp and the Canes have been right near the top of his list for a long time.
While Brooks was in the midst of another big season last year, he suffered what looked like a gruesome knee injury in the middle of another dominant performance. Brooks’ torn ACL and meniscus happened on October 12th against Carol City, which was being nationally televised.
“The doctor said it was an unusual tear that he hadn’t seen before. Based on my rehab, I’m ahead of schedule – I start running in 3-4 weeks and they have me squatting and everything already. My knee is doing very good right now,” Brooks said.
The injury has changed his perspective on the game. Brooks says he’s looking forward to showing people he’s still Dade County’s real sack master.
“It pushed me and made me hungrier. In my senior year, I’m going to play every game like it’s my last. I never knew that Carol City would be the last game in my junior year, so it’s just making me hungrier,” he said. “A couple people have asked me ‘do you think when you come back are you going to be yourself or are you going to be scared?’ and I tell them ‘nah, it’s just an injury and you rehab it’. My doctor says there’s no worries – I won’t have a knee brace on, it’s just a brand new knee and it will be better than ever.”
Something that made a major impact on him was a conversation he had with Mark Richt after he suffered the injury.
“Coach Richt talked to me personally before the Virginia Tech game and told me that he’s not the type of coach to take scholarships away just because of an injury. He told me he believed that I could overcome this and be great. That shows me UM has a lot of love for me because a lot of coaches wouldn’t do that,” Brooks explained.
Brooks made his way to campus last night for Miami’s basketball game versus Duke.
“As I was watching the game and talking to Coach Diaz and Coach Richt about some things, it was just good to feel like I was at home. Every time I go see UM, it’s cool and a lot of fun for me,” Brooks said.
Brooks says he doesn’t have any spring visits in mind as of now other than some more trips to Coral Gables. He says he will be ready to play for his senior season and added that his primary position will be linebacker.
