British Brooks has plenty of people to thank up to this point in his journey.
AJ Blue, Brooks’ cousin and strength and conditioning coach, is one.
Denver Broncos running back and former North Carolina teammate Javontae Williams is another.
So are fellow Tar Heels Micheal Carter and Antonio Williams
Athena, Brooks’ 130-pound XL bulldog, deserves her flowers after helping him recover from a knee injury in 2022. She needed to go to the bathroom, meaning Brooks would have to run up and down three flights of stairs three times a day to let her out.
But Brooks, the Houston Texans’ newest running back and perhaps biggest surprise player of training camp, made sure in his first public appearance after making the active roster to thank Tar Heels coach Mack Brown for giving him a chance to fall in love with the game again.
“[Brown] really feels like a family member, like, I can call him my second grandpa,” Brooks said Wednesday. “Me and him are literally like clones. … Mack’s my dog, for real. We tell each other I love you, I called him yesterday, it was his birthday. That’s one coach that I feel really believed in me and that’s another reason I didn’t want to leave and I didn’t want to transfer.”
Brooks, who the Texans will work at multiple positions, including fullback and tight end, wasn’t heavily recruited out of Ashbrook High School in Gastonia, North Carolina. He felt he should have had more prominent offers and wanted to show he could hang at the Division I level.
So Brooks walked on at Chapel Hill in 2018. Brown, perhaps best known for his time at the University of Texas, arrived a year after Brooks following a five-year hiatus from coaching.
Asked British Brooks about making Texans and impact @UNCFootball HC @CoachMackBrown has had on the journey. #texans #UNC pic.twitter.com/ehHMdTbPJo
— Landry Locker (@LandryLocker) August 28, 2024
Brown and Brooks built a relationship closer to family than coach and player. When Brooks suffered his season-ending knee injury, Brown gifted him a golf cart to move around at practice.
People around the program used to joke that Brooks became more than a player, but Brown’s favorite person in Chapel Hill.
“He always tried to baby me, take me everywhere he went like PJs [Private Jets] and stuff,” Brooks laughed.
🩵“We tell each other “I love you.””🩵
🐏🐏🐏
British Brooks thought about quitting football after his knee injury in 2022.
He credits @CoachMackBrown for not giving up and their deep relationship.
“He really feels like a family member. I can call him my 2nd grandpa.”… pic.twitter.com/hInQJ8wWKE
— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelFOX) August 28, 2024
But Brown also gave Brooks a chance to show what other coaches missed. After missing over 600 days of football, Brooks bounced back with a career-best 103-yard-outing against South Carolina in the season opener.
He finished his senior season with 318 rushing yards and two touchdowns, which was enough to put him on the radar of NFL teams leading up to the draft. Although he wasn’t drafted, walking on and meeting the right staff at North Carolina prepared him for another journey of walking onto another roster without any guarantees of making the practice squad, let alone the active roster.
British Brooks as a blocker. Lorenzo Neal-esque pic.twitter.com/F1psEJyikF
— Seth Payne (@SethCPayne) August 27, 2024
“I knew I was going to go hard, but once I saw people in the running back room and I seen how Jalen Pitre works and I seen how a lot of these dudes work, I just needed to up my game a little bit so I knew I really had to give my all every day,” Brooks said.
Brooks didn’t see much preseason action, but he made the most of his reps. In the win over the New York Giants, he scored two touchdowns late while finishing with 28 yards.
Against the Los Angeles Rams in the preseason, he bulldozed defensive lineman Jason Taylor while serving as a lead blocker for J.J. Taylor.
“One thing about British, the kid is tough, he’s reliable, he’s smart and that goes a long way in this League,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “That plays anywhere and he’s shown that.”
Brooks’ role for now remains undetermined. He’s a running back on the depth chart, but Houston plans to use him in multiple positions to begin his career. He’s willing to play anywhere so long as he plays.
“I don’t care if I have to play center, O-line, you know wherever they need me at, they won’t hear a no from me,” Brooks said.
The Tar Heel stuck around through camp. He’s sticking here past Week 1 and could be a long-term piece to Houston’s success beyond 2024.
Brooks is an easy player to root for when looking at his path from high school to college to an active NFL roster. Back home in North Carolina, his biggest will be watching.
He’s already let the internet know how proud he is of Brooks.
Congratulations to British Brooks on making the Texans roster. From walk-on to scholarship to the NFL. Couldn’t happen to a better person. We’re so proud of you British 🙏🩵🙏 https://t.co/hZMhgaTgao
— Mack Brown (@CoachMackBrown) August 27, 2024
“Mack Brown has been really special,” Brooks said.
