[givemethemic]

The Bengals jumped in front of the 49ers and other teams to select Ahmad Brooks in the third round of the supplemental draft.

Brooks was considered a first-round pick before having troubles at the University of Virginia. He suffered a knee injury last season and some off-field problems led him to being kicked off the football team.

He was the only player taken among seven available in the supplemental draft. The other six became free agents when they were not chosen and may sign with any team.

Brooks' weight ballooned to around 290 pounds before he started going on a diet and then started working out with trainer Chip Smith in Atlanta. For his workout for NFL teams in June, he was 260 pounds, and he had decent but not great times in the 40.

In the past couple of weeks, Brooks started training with his former coach at Hargrave Military Academy. He lifted for two hours and did hard running drills for two hours.

Brooks told his agent, Greg Williams, he was in the best shape of his life.

It was interesting the Bengals would take him ahead of other teams such as the 49ers or Miami Dolphins. Character was an issue with Brooks, but it's a big theme of the Bengals' offseason. Bengals draft choices Frostee Rucker and A.J. Nicholson have had off-the-field incidents. Wide receiver Chris Henry, a third-round choice last year, has been arrested four times in the past year.

To acquire Brooks, the Bengals gave up a third-round choice in the 2007 draft.

The other six players in the draft, now free agents, are former North Carolina State running back/wide receiver Richard Washington; Texas defensive tackle Marco Martin; Connecticut offensive lineman Craig Berry; Texas fullback Ahmard Hall; and linebackers Jason Berryman of Iowa State and David Dixon of Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College.

[LUconn]

Switch to a 3-4 and you've got a LB corp of David Pollack, Odell Thurman, Ahmad Brooks and Brian Simmons. We won't even need a DL. You're not running on that.

[Sly Fox]

I just hope Brooks shows up in shape and doesn't let having some cash in his pocket make it even more tempting to get into trouble.

[Rocketfan]

How much initial cash is he really making since he came from the supplemental draft? Something tells me his contract may have pages of clauses to prevent the Bengals from losing $$$ if he shows up fat and unmotivated.

[bigsmooth]

though is is going to a rival team in the division, congrats to ahmad brooks. the last paragraph will tell you about his compensation.

Brooks top choice this round
Months after being dismissed by Virginia, the linebacker is chosen by the Bengals.
Doug Doughty

Former All-ACC linebacker Ahmad Brooks can always say that the National Football League held a draft and he was the first player selected.

He was also the only player selected Thursday in the NFL's supplemental draft, going to the Cincinnati Bengals, who surrendered their third pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.

Brooks was one of seven players available in the supplemental draft, for which he applied after being dismissed by Virginia coach Al Groh in March.

"He would have liked to go in the first or second round," said Brooks' agent, Greg Williams, via car phone, "but it's been a lifetime dream of his to play in the NFL. He's fine with this. He just wants a second opportunity to show he's truly turned his life around."

Brooks was one of seven players available in the supplemental draft. Teams were required to submit sealed bids and when 21 teams with worse 2006 records than Cincinnati passed on Brooks in the third round, the Bengals got him.

Cincinnati went 11-5 in the regular season last year, only to lose to eventual Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh 31-17 in a first-round AFC playoff game.

"I think it turned out pretty well," Williams said. "He's going to a good team, a contender, with a very good coaching staff. It's a win-win situation, I'd say."

Williams said that San Francisco, Miami, Dallas and the New York Giants had emerged as possible destinations, but that Cincinnati had showed "considerable interest."

Bengals linebacker coach Ricky Hunley presided over a Charlottesville workout in which 31 of 32 NFL teams took a look at Brooks.

"I've known Ahmad since he was in high school and there's no denying that he has behaved through much of his career as a very immature individual," Hunley said in a statement released by the Bengals.

"I believe he is a young man who can learn to do things the right way and he has exceptional talent as a player. What he does with it is up to him in the end."

Brooks, a Butkus Award finalist following the 2004 season, had offseason surgery for a rare knee condition and played in only six games in 2005. After announcing he would return for a fourth season, he was dropped from UVa's spring roster.

Brooks was one of four players dismissed by Groh for what the coach described as a lack of commitment, dedication and focus.

The Bengals and Williams said Brooks will not be doing interviews at this time. Training camp starts in two weeks and Williams hopes to get the contract wrapped up by that point.

"I think it's significant that he was the only player selected," Williams said. "It didn't totally surprise me. Teams don't like to give up a draft pick for next year when they don't know yet what their needs will be.

"He'll be paid as a third-round pick. That's the only [downside]. But, once he gets in there and plays, he'll have the opportunity to make more money in his second contract. Years four through seven is when you make the most money."

[bigsmooth]

he is a good read on ahmad brooks's turn around. hopefully he has turned the corner and will be a success in the NFL.

Hungry to come back
Ex-UVa football star Ahmad Brooks says he's healthy, put his mistakes behind him and ready to play up to his potential.
Doug Doughty

CHATHAM -- In the days leading up to his NFL draft, Ahmad Brooks isn't making travel plans to New York or picking out his wardrobe or smiling for the ESPN cameras.

On Monday, Brooks was working out under a hot sun at Hargrave Military Academy in the company of a former coach, an agent and one of the agent's friends.

"It's been a while since I've been in the spotlight," said Brooks, a former All-ACC linebacker at Virginia and the top recruit under coach Al Groh.

Brooks didn't crave the spotlight then, and he doesn't crave it now, not that he wouldn't like to attain a level of success that commands it.

"I just want to find out where I'm going next," said Brooks, who will get an answer Thursday when the NFL holds its supplemental draft.

The supplemental draft is held for players who have lost their college eligibility since the January deadline when underclassmen are required to apply for the NFL Draft.

After declaring in January that he would return to Virginia for a fourth season in 2006, Brooks was dismissed from the Cavaliers' team in late March, a decision he has little to say about.

From the moment he was dropped from UVa's spring roster, Brooks has devoted his full energy to rebuilding his NFL stock to where it was following the 2004 season, when some analysts said he could have ranked among the top five picks in the draft had he left college.

The supplemental draft is much different than the NFL Draft, which is held in late April amid a massive media buildup. In the supplemental draft, teams are asked to submit sealed bids to the NFL office, where they will be opened.

In order to get the rights to a player in the supplemental draft, a team must forfeit a corresponding pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. If multiple teams select a player in the same round, he will go to the team with the worst record in 2005.

"I think we're going to have a big surprise for you," said Greg Williams, Brooks' agent. "I think he'll go in the first round. But it's like one NFL executive told me, 'Don't be surprised if 10 teams pick him in the first round. Don't be surprised if he lasts till the fifth round.' "

Every NFL team but Minnesota was in Charlottesville two weeks ago when Brooks measured a shade over 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds. According to Williams, he had weighed 292 only 10 weeks earlier.

"Aw, I never hit 290," said Brooks, who said he played at 278 during the 2005 season, "but I did get to be 285."

If Brooks hadn't dropped any weight, he no doubt would have been ticketed for the defensive line, the position his father, Perry, played in the NFL.

"I never played defensive end in my life, so I didn't want to stay at that weight," said Brooks, who is now at 255. "I knew that was coming if I didn't do something about it."

Brooks' weight started ballooning after the 2004 season when what appeared to be a routine knee operation turned into a complicated procedure to remove a cyst that had cut off blood flow behind his kneecap. Rehab from that injury kept Brooks out of action until the fourth game last season, whereupon he sprained an ankle.

He later suffered a pulled hamstring and a pulled back muscle and was limited to six games in what he described as "a lost season."

Still, some were surprised when Brooks announced he was returning.

"I wanted to come back and get all the accolades that everybody had predicted for me," said Brooks, a preseason All-America pick. "But, it wasn't all about accolades. I just wanted to get back to where I was as a player my sophomore year and help my team win an ACC championship. It wasn't all about me.

"I knew it was going to come through a lot of hard work and preparation, but then I got in trouble and got dismissed from the team."

Williams acknowledged rumors of failed drug tests, but neither he nor Brooks would confirm their authenticity.

"He made some poor choices," Williams said. "All that's been well-documented. He missed some practices. Early in his career, he missed some classes. He's not an evil kid. He's not disruptive. He just made some poor choices.

"Personally, I think the best thing that's happened for Ahmad is being dismissed from the football team at the University of Virginia because that accelerated the healing process. He took his hits in college and learned from them. He goes into the NFL with eyes fully open."

Williams didn't know Brooks until he read about the suspension on the Internet. Williams has represented many N.C. State players from his Raleigh, N.C., office and sold the Brooks family on his work with Torry Holt.

Not long after securing the account, Williams sent Brooks to Atlanta-based personal trainer Chip Smith, whose work Williams had admired with another linebacker, Brian Urlacher.

Brooks also went to Birmingham, Ala., to have his knee inspected by renowned orthopedist Dr. James Andrews and also passed five independent drug tests in a 10-week span, Williams reported.

"It wasn't required at all," Williams said, "but going into this process, we wanted to be proactive. The first issue was, he had to lose weight; the second issue was, he had to get back in football shape. Then, we had to prove that his knee was in shape.

"Additionally, there were rumors that he had failed drug tests in the past and we wanted to show the NFL that that wasn't going to be a problem. If you stop and analyze his so-called character issues, certainly he's made some mistakes, but he's not done anything that's unforgivable for that class."

During a 30-minute interview in the office of his former Hargrave coach, Robert Prunty, Brooks appeared contrite and humble.

"I never felt I did anything to be in the spotlight," said Brooks, who has been staying at Prunty's home, "but, when I watched the draft this spring, I thought to myself, 'That could be me.' [The dismissal] was definitely a wake-up call. I didn't want to be one of those 'woulda, coulda, shoulda' guys. It was time for me to look myself in the mirror."

Brooks said he knows he let some people down, most notably his family.

"I broke their heart," he said. "I know that. Of course, my father was always like, 'Why did you do this? Why did you do that?' My mother would be crying and yelling at me some, too, but they've always supported me."

When he learned of his dismissal, Brooks said he shook hands with Groh and expressed disappointment at not having fulfilled his potential. He said he took a call this week from ex-UVa defensive coordinator Al Golden, now the head coach at Temple, and keeps in touch with Groh and other UVa coaches.

"I'm still happy I went there," Brooks said. "Now, I'm just trying to take what went wrong and make it right. I wasn't really focused in college."

He doesn't know where Thursday's draft will send him, but San Francisco and Cleveland flew him to team headquarters for interviews with head coaches Mike Nolan and Romeo Crennel. Psychological tests indicate that Brooks has the kind of make-up that will enable him to learn from his past, his agent said.

"I've been doing this 13 years and never seen a kid turn it around like this," Williams said. "I would say that Ahmad Brooks, going into the supplemental draft, is probably more mature, more focused and more determined than 90 percent of the kids selected in the first round of the regular draft. He's got a chip on his shoulder and he's ready to play."

[LUconn]

Hopefully he will starting from game 1. Odell Thurman suspended for 4 games for drug stuff.

[givemethemic]

I have talked to Ahmad on several occasions, and he was humble everytime we talked, espically after the FSU game... I hope he does well, he definitely has to watch himself or the NFL career that he is capable of will never happen!!!

[Rocketfan]

I will say his "humble" demeanor could be caused by a few months of Jenny Craig and the realization that he's not a kid anymore. The next time he screws up all the $$$ will drop quicker than his weight and in addition he may get to spend a few nights with Bubba at the Grey Bar Motel. That can bring any man back to reality.