BROOKING IS FINALLY GONE!

[Cwell]

good bye garbage overrated wannabe LB,sucky LB fits in perfectly with the sucky Cowboys

http://www.ajc.com/falcons/content/sports/...h_brooking.html

[frankthetank966]

Finally???

Am I one of the only fans that find it sad that this guy was the only player from the Super Bowl team and now he is gone. He was with the team for 11 yrs. player for GT and is a great person in the community.

[Frenzy]

lol Cwell,only better news than this would be if woodson got fired....hmm what should i do with my brooking jersey

Edited March 1, 2009 by falconfrenzy

[Eddielives]

Brooking was overpaid and past his prime but to say he was/is sucky sounds like a personal dislike to me more than an objective observation.

[Cwell]

Brooking was overpaid and past his prime but to say he was/is sucky sounds like a personal dislike to me more than an objective observation.

if u watched him play without rose colored glasses on you'd see how bad of a player he was.

[mattlanta]

lol Cwell,only better news than this would be if woodson got fired....hmm what should i do with my brooking jersey

Uhh... keep it? Keith Brooking was one of the best Falcons players to ever put a jersey on. For you to be thinking about what you should do about Brooking's jersey is just stupid. And you call yourself a fan...

Brooking does not deserve to be getting paid that much anymore. I would welcome him back only if he agrees to be paid the veteran minimum or as an assistant coach.

Good luck to Brooking and his family for the future. What I would tell Brooking if I saw him today is thanks for the memories... because he gave us some solid years of hard-nose football.

I'll miss seeing 56 on the field, but Dimitroff has the right set of mind. We need to move on.

[mattlanta]

Keith Brooking will be going to Dallas.

"Cowboys signed ILB Keith Brooking to a three-year, undisclosed contract.

The Cowboys were looking for an inside linebacker after cutting ties with Zach Thomas. Brooking, 33, is on the decline, but he does have experience with Wade Phillips' defense from their time together in Atlanta. His struggles in pass coverage at this point remind us a lot of Thomas. Feb. 28 - 5:59 pm et"

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/HeadLines...L&hl=140396

[Eddielives]

if u watched him play without rose colored glasses on you'd see how bad of a player he was.

Look. I'm not saying we should have overpaid to keep the guy. The Falcons were wise to respectfully let him find work elsewhere. I do believe I said he was overpaid and past his prime. I don't know how that is looking through rose colored glasses. I would suggest to you to re-examine the guys career and ask yourself if you can honestly say he was as bad as you think he is. If you still think so then it's obvious you have some personal animosity for the guy because he was without a doubt a solid player even if he was a bit overpaid with his last contract.

[DrReality]

I want to know what we are going to do to fill his position.

[benhillboy]

I like Keith as much as the next fan, but I was tired of his lack of speed, failure to shed blocks, poor open field tackling, and rare occurence of attacking gaps at the line of scrimmage. This started like, 3 or 4 years ago. I wish him the best though. I feel sorry for him that he went to Dallas though. His career will be all but forgotten down there. Milloy and Boley gone too? Dimitroff is making all of the moves I hoped he would. Re-signing Fudge was a great move, I like him. I liked Foxworth, but also think it was a good move to let him go rather than pay starter money, as I think there are injury concerns with him. The young corners Grimes, Jackson, and Houston will only get better. But the most important farewell has yet to be achieved: JAMAL ANDERSON!!!! I never want to see this guy ever again.

[jhay610]

No doubt it was time for him to go - he's anemic in pass coverage and most of his tackles are made down the field now instead of up at the line of scrimmage.

I don't understand all the ire directed at Brooking in the past couple of years from the Falcons fan base - the guy gave us some good, all-pro years and was active in the community, the consummate professional.

That he has declined is just a function of his age, not his effort. Not the most talented linebacker to suit up for the Falcons, but certainly his heart was fully invested in what we were trying to do (even in the awful years).

He is also the last link to the 98 team, which means we are experiencing a sort of 'changing of the guard' from the 90's era of Atlanta sports (Smoltz, the last link to the '91 Braves, is in Boston now - Glavine doesn't count anymore).

I wish him well and thank him for his service.

[Plainview1981]

Brooking was overpaid and past his prime but to say he was/is sucky sounds like a personal dislike to me more than an objective observation.

What's with the avatar?

[TroyMcClure]

Uhh... keep it? Keith Brooking was one of the best Falcons players to ever put a jersey on. For you to be thinking about what you should do about Brooking's jersey is just stupid. And you call yourself a fan...

Brooking does not deserve to be getting paid that much anymore. I would welcome him back only if he agrees to be paid the veteran minimum or as an assistant coach.

Good luck to Brooking and his family for the future. What I would tell Brooking if I saw him today is thanks for the memories... because he gave us some solid years of hard-nose football.

I'll miss seeing 56 on the field, but Dimitroff has the right set of mind. We need to move on.

Keith Brooking may be one of the most overrated players in NFL history. I've been a Falcon fan my whole life. I played football for over a decade. I played defense mainly. I have absolutely no respect for him as a player. I've never seen anyone at the NFL level, as a linebacker, hit so little. A linebacker often has to sacrifice his body to blow a play up. Never seen Brooking do that. Ever. I honestly can't think of a single great defensive play that he's ever made. Beyond that though, he rarely made even the pedestrian play. It was so embarrassing watching him jump on a pile after the play, time and again. He wanted people to think he was "hustling". I think he even thought it himself. A real LB would be a man and hit people. Just a total wuss. Which, is like, the worst thing in the world if you're a linebacker. Truthfully, his ability to stay here this long shows the franchise's lack of commitment to defense up to this point. I've wanted him gone since the minute he got here. This is a move that makes me believe in Dimitroff even more.

Don't question someone for getting rid of a Brooking jersey. Question why they bought it in the first place.

And lastly, what memories? Again, can't think of a memorable play... except bad ones. I'm not joking here. I've seen virtually every game he's ever played as a Falcon. I thought he was a total liability during his entire time here. Thankfully, Dimitroff sees he is a liability as well.

[DrReality]

We need more speed and someone who can bring a pop. Hope to see our rookie in the middle step up another level this year.

[Eddielives]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Brooking continue to play with some sort of broken/fractured/cracked, whatever, bone in his back a few years ago? So I guess all the pro-bowl appearances were just a bunch of idiots who didn't see how obviously untalented he was giving him that accolade. Gimme a break people. The guys has moved on and it is a good thing. But the harsh criticism seems to be coming from those judging him on his being overpaid and his play the last couple of years. Looking at his careear as a whole, he was a pretty darn good linebacker for this organization.

[Frenzy]

im keeping my jersey of course.......but brooking was a little overrated.The jersey was a birthday gift like 4 years ago.........

[TroyMcClure]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Brooking continue to play with some sort of broken/fractured/cracked, whatever, bone in his back a few years ago? So I guess all the pro-bowl appearances were just a bunch of idiots who didn't see how obviously untalented he was giving him that accolade. Gimme a break people. The guys has moved on and it is a good thing. But the harsh criticism seems to be coming from those judging him on his being overpaid and his play the last couple of years. Looking at his careear as a whole, he was a pretty darn good linebacker for this organization.

So I guess all the pro-bowl appearances were just a bunch of idiots who didn't see how obviously untalented he was giving him that accolade. Gimme a break people.

Yeah. Have you ever thought about how little time most of the NFL players would spend picking the Pro Bowl. My guess is very little, if any. For those that don't have their homeboy or personal assistant do it, those guys probably spend as much time as you do when picking the ballot while at a game. Maybe 4 minutes?

Then factor in fans who have never played football, look at tackle numbers, and... Voila! Pro Bowl player. We could never stop people from scoring when it mattered. He was a linebacker. He got the overwhelming majority of his tackles 6 yards downfield. It doesn't say that in the stats, though.

That's 2/3 of the vote. Now coaches. Do you think they have the time to really care about it?

The Pro Bowl is almost like the Gold Glove now. There's not a whole lot of thought put into it anymore. Jessie Tuggle didn't make 5 straight Pro Bowls. He was twice 10x the LB Brooking was. Think about it.

And no, I don't remember Brooking playing through anything broken. But so what if he did. He sucked and that would not be an excuse to me.

Also, I explained why he sucked even if he were paying the Falcons. You've obviously never tried to fill a gap and make a tackle.