Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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4 NOV. 20, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED W orking for 13 years at Notre Dame as its assistant athletics director of athletics alumni re- lations, Reggie Brooks' primary respon- sibility was organizing events around the country that would bring together hundreds of former university students and athletes to mingle, celebrate and reminisce about the good old days. This interesting and enviable occu- pation kept Brooks — an Irish tailback who was a second-team All-American and a Heisman Trophy finalist in 1992 — busy and on the move for more than a decade, until pandemic precautions put the entire operation on hold in the spring of 2020. With plenty of time to reflect on his years and experiences at Notre Dame, and wanting to keep busy when there wasn't much to do, Brooks decided this was the perfect opportunity to share the moments and memories he enjoyed at the university as a player and an ad- ministrator. So, in a collaborative effort with for- mer longtime Notre Dame senior as- sociate athletics director, John Heisler, and renowned Irish tailback Jerome Bettis, Brooks recently released a 333- page book titled "If These Walls Could Talk: Stories from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Sideline, Locker Room and Press Box." "With the pandemic shutting every- thing down, this became the perfect time to tell some great stories, recon- nect with some people, and have an opportunity to reflect and share those experiences," Brooks said of his moti- vation. Brooks left his position as Notre Da m e 's a l u m n i f ro n t m a n a b o u t a year ago and relocated with his wife and three of their five children in Fort Worth, Texas, where he took a job as the executive director of the Holtz's Heroes Foundation (formerly Lou's Lads). The non-profit organization keeps connected the guys who played un- der iconic Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz through the late 1980s and early 1990s, and at the same time, it provides financial assistance for the educational needs of underprivileged students and the charitable organizations that former Irish players are involved in today. Brooks, 50, admits to the irony of him building a career around and writing a book about Notre Dame, con- sidering how badly he wanted to trans- fer away from the school as a sopho- more there in 1991. Told by the Irish coaches that he was being moved from running back to de- fensive back that season, Brooks be- came lost, disenchanted and homesick. "I was just miserable because defen- sive back wasn't the position I wanted to play and I was struggling," recalled Brooks, a native of Tulsa, Okla., who was considering a move to nearby Okla- homa State University in Stillwater. "I hadn't played DB since my freshman year in high school." But raised in a no-nonsense, old- school household, Brooks said that a transfer wasn't an option. "My father told me that I made a commitment, and I was going to honor it," Brooks shared. "That was a pivotal moment for me because it forced me to really examine myself and realize that I needed to be a man of my word." By his own admittance, Brooks was short on self-confidence at the time, but if he was going to stay and survive at Notre Dame, his course wouldn't include playing defensive back, and a meeting with the big boss to discuss the matter was needed sooner rather than later. "I had to talk to Coach Holtz, and to do that was tough," Brooks explained, emphasizing how intimidating the hall of fame coach could be both on and off the field. "If you had to go talk to Coach Holtz, you were usually in trouble. This wasn't going to be easy." With surety and conviction, Brooks won his appeal with Holtz and returned to running back as a Notre Dame ju- nior, then rushed for 1,372 yards and 13 touchdowns as a senior in 1992 and b e ca m e a se co n d - round draft pick of the Washington Redskins in the 1993 NFL Draft. In hindsight, maybe father knew best all along. "If it wasn't for the support of my teammates, and my dad putting his foot down, I would have left Notre Dame," Brooks said. "Ultimately, it worked out for me because, while it wasn't easy, I learned a lot about being able to stand up for myself. It's a meet- ing with Coach Holtz and a moment in life I'll never forget." Brooks enjoyed a four-year NFL ca- reer that included a 1,000-yard rush- ing season with three touchdowns as a rookie in 1993. And about a decade after his football career ended, he returned to work at the same school he once so desperately wanted to leave. "Notre Dame is not going to change for you," Brooks said in reflection. "It will, instead, enhance and expound on the values and principles that you have. It also taught me the importance of value in self, which I will carry forever." ✦ Brooks recently added "author" to his list of accomplishments following his All-American playing days at Notre Dame. PHOTOS COURTESY REGGIE BROOKS Another Defining Moment For Reggie Brooks UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com