Ethan Brooks

Ethan Barbier Brooks (born April 27, 1972) is a former American football offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons, St. Louis Rams, Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys.

He played college football at Williams College.

Brooks grew up in Simsbury, Connecticut.

He attended Westminster School, a small prep school with a poor football record while he was there.

He was not recruited by Division I-A schools, but had opportunities to play with a scholarship at Division I-AA schools.

His father Alan had gone to Wesleyan University and was good enough to be invited to the Baltimore Colts training camp.

When Brooks graduated, Williams College had a better football program than Wesleyan and the other school of the "Little Three", Amherst College, good enough to be a Division III "football power".

Brooks had NFL aspirations and thought that the Division III level of play would not be the best route to the NFL.

He intended to go to Bucknell University which had a superior football program as a Division I-AA program and was still a good academic institution.

However, he did not think he would be accepted at Division III Williams College, because although his academics were good for a football player, they were low for the school.

Nevertheless, Williams admitted him with financial aid and he chose to attend, because of both their stellar academic reputation and rich football tradition.

He became a starter at defensive tackle and stood out in the division for his size (270 pounds) and skill.

He was also used on the offensive line to block in specific goal-line situations.

As a sophomore, he took a year off to recover from a broken foot.

He became a two-time All-conference player and the NESCAC defensive player of the year as a senior.

On his last throw of the 35 lb. weight at the 1996 NCAA Indoor Championships, Brooks broke the NCAA Division III record with a heave of 63’ 8 ¾” and later that spring he won the NCAA hammer throw (194’ 2”).

His major was psychology.

Brooks was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the seventh round (229th overall) of the 1996 NFL Draft, with the intention of being converted into an offensive tackle.

He was moved back to the defensive line due to team injuries in training camp.

As a rookie, he dressed for the final two games of the season.

In 1997, Dan Reeves replaced June Jones as the new Falcons head coach and Brooks was allocated to the World League of American Football.

He made the All-WLAF first-team as a right tackle with the Rhein Fire, playing in World Bowl V.

However, the league schedule forced him to miss the Falcons minicamps and was not able to appropriately learn the new offense being implemented.

He was again moved back to defense and eventually waived on August 27.

On November 20, 1997, he was signed as a free agent by the St. Louis Rams.

In 1998, he played as the backup swing offensive tackle and on special teams in 15 games.

In 1999, he was expected to compete for the starting right tackle position, but his wife Jackie was diagnosed with cancer, which impacted the time he could devote to training.

He was released on July 19, because the team considered that he wasn't progressing as they'd hoped and he was also experiencing chronic back problems.

On February 3, 2000, he signed as a free agent with the Arizona Cardinals, after spending the 1999 season out of football.

He appeared in 14 games with 3 starts.

He was not re-signed after the season.

On March 15, 2001, he was signed as a "camp body" for the Denver Broncos.

On August 28, he was cut after the third exhibition game, having had almost no playing time.

He would return to Atlanta and eventually home to Connecticut.

A year after Jackie's death he was ready to start training again.

His trainer, Charles Poliquin was headed to Arizona and Brooks followed him to get himself in football shape.

On August 2, 2002, the Baltimore Ravens signed him as a free agent to play on the offensive line as a swing tackle backup, behind All-Pro left tackle Jonathan Ogden.

He ended up playing in 15 games, starting 13 at right tackle.

He also contributed to his team having a 17-0-1 record in his final two seasons

He was an All-American in track and field in the hammer throw.