TXHSFB in the Super Bowl: Michael Brockers

Feb 12, 2019

Made Sports

The best players make everybody around them better.

Needless to say, Michael Brockers has an opportunity to be better than his best.

The LA Rams have their best defensive line since the Fearsome Foursome (take your pick between the foursome featuring Deacon Jones versus Jack Youngblood). Brockers is on the end of Ndamukong Suh, Dante Fowler and Aaron Donald. For those scoring at home, Brockers is theoretically the “worst” of the four because he was “only” the 14th overall pick in the 1st round of his respective draft. Donald was 13th, Fowler was 3rd and Suh was 2nd.

Good luck, Mr. Brady.

In spite of seeming to be in the shadows of the rest of the unit, Brockers is a captain for the Rams and has demonstrated himself as a leader. He is vocal - and bolder than this font - but he walks the walk that comes with the talk.

Thus far a career Ram, he was drafted by the Rams while they were in St. Louis and has remained with them for their transplant to LA.

Coming out of Chavez High School in Houston, Texas, it was hard to miss the 6’5” 275-pound Brockers. A four-star recruit, he chose to play at Louisiana State University.

Something that is relatively uncommon is that Brockers only played two years of college football officially. He red-shirted his freshman year, so he was eligible for the NFL after his sophomore season since he was three years removed from high school. Typically you see true juniors forgo their senior season, but it’s less common to a prospect with only two years of collegiate experience. That is a testament to Brockers’ talent, but it also reveals something about his character.

Raised by a single mother on the southeast side of Houston, he was next to Hobby Airport so worked at a restaurant inside the airport. He still managed to make good grades and was a two-sport athlete, throwing shot put and discus for field.

His head coach at Chavez at the time, Mike Jackson, was a mentor to him and attested to his work ethic when interviewed by the Houston Chronicle. “He’s polite, well-spoken, works harder than anyone. And he always believed in himself,” said Jackson. “You don’t say this about many people, but you hope your son grows up to be like him.”

They were so close, Brockers made sure to invite him to the green room for the NFL draft.

They say it’s better to be lucky than good and if you ain’t good you best be lucky.

Luckily for Brockers, he good.