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Decisive year for Brooks by Houma Courier

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; CHRIS SINGLETON Decisive year for Brooks With the start of training camp today, no Saints player is burdened with more pressure to perform well this season than quarterback Aaron Brooks. Entering his fifth year as the full-time starter of the ...

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Old 07-29-2005, 08:41 AM   #1
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Decisive year for Brooks by Houma Courier

CHRIS SINGLETON
Decisive year for Brooks






With the start of training camp today, no Saints player is burdened with more pressure to perform well this season than quarterback Aaron Brooks.

Entering his fifth year as the full-time starter of the black and gold, 2005 is certain to be a make or break year for Brooks.

Throughout his career, Brooks has faced major pressure from fans and teammates to perform well and to get his team over the hump. He can expect to face more pressure this year alone than in all of his first four years under center.

The Saints have missed the playoffs each of the past four seasons, and a portion of the blame falls on Brooks performance. During that time, Saints fans have not forgotten the costly mistakes made by Brooks that hurt the team. There are the interceptions, fumbles and the infamous backward pass during the San Diego Chargers game last year.

As a matter of fact, it’s the norm to hear a few boo birds in the Superdome whenever Brooks takes the field. Saints fans have grown tired of Brooks’ mistakes and have loudly voiced their opinion.
Last week, I mentioned in my column that the Saints defense must play well if the team hopes to make the playoffs. This week, I will add to that: If the Saints don’t receive consistent play from Brooks, this season will be a disaster from the start.

So what’s the problem with Brooks? Why isn’t he one of the respected quarterbacks in the NFL today? Why does he get most of the blame for the Saints failures? Why does he hear boos in his own stadium when he takes the field?

The answer to all these questions is simple: Brooks has failed to play consistent football and has underachieved when the team needed him. The careless turnovers and lack of leadership has overshadowed Brooks’ impressive statistics.
This season must be different for Brooks. He must take control of the offense and lead the team by his play on the field.

Brooks has all the talent in the world to be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He has the potential to be a yearly All-Pro quarterback. He has a strong arm that rivals the likes of Brett Favre or Michael Vick and the agility to rival Daunte Culpepper or Donovan McNabb.
He also has the stats to compete with all the top quarterbacks. He passed for 21 touchdowns and 3,810 passing yards in 2005. On the downside, he had 16 interceptions and a 79.5 passer rating.Although Brooks has received his share of blame for the Saints’ offensive woes, it isn’t fair to blame him for everything. There were dropped passes by receivers, missed blocks by the offensive line and bad calls in crucial situations by the coaches.
As we have been hearing from Saints players and coaches this offseason, the 2005 season should be different. Brooks has a new offensive coordinator in Mike Sheppard and much-needed additions to the offensive line with the drafting of Jammal Brown and signing of Jermane Mayberry. Saints players Deuce McAllister, Joe Horn and Daunté Stallworth return to give Brooks explosive targets and much-needed help.

He also gets new offensive targets at wide-reciever and running back with the signings of Az-Zahir Hakim and Antowain Smith. The talent is there for Brooks to have a good season in 2005 and its up to him to make sure he use it for all its worth.

I remember talking to Saints coach Jim Haslett during the Saints Caravan trip to Houma at the Southland Mall in June, and one of the many questions I asked him was focused on Brooks.

Haslett went on to say that Brooks had the best offseason of his career with the Saints. Brooks has reportedly worked out all summer long with team trainers and is in the best shape of his life.

Before last season, Haslett was saying the same thing about Brooks. Maybe this year, Brooks will be a better and changed quarterback.

He is going to need every bit of his offseason preparation in his quest to become a better quarterback for the Saints this season, and maybe even woo some of those boo-birds away.
http://www.houmatoday.com/apps/pbcs..../1166/SPORTS02

Does anyone else think these guys just scower the message boards and then right an article? Pretty much a lot of the stuff said on both sides is just being put to print here. But just to be clear, I am not trying to start an argument, but this is an article about our QB that has some of both sides in it so I posted it and outlined the parts we say over and over and over and over.
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Old 07-29-2005, 09:27 AM   #2
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RE: Decisive year for Brooks by Houma Courier

What's funny to me is all the hype you hear in the offseason, and how repetitive it has been for this team. For example, from last offseason (2004):

"I have no worries about this season," Horn said. "When I look around this locker room there's too much talent not to be successful."
"We've got the right attitude this year," Grant said. "We're all concentrating on the business at hand and nothing else."
Deuce McAllister remains the backbone of the offense, with Joe Horn and Donte' Stallworth adding speed at wide receiver.
http://www.wwltv.com/sports/saints/s....f4726d12.html


Or how about from 2003??

It’s a make-or-break year for Haslett, Brooks, McAllister, Horn and defensive coordinator Rick Venturi. If Haslett doesn’t get to the playoffs this year, he’s likely going to be looking for work in February. Brooks is locked in, but he has to make his stand as a leader and make the jump from occasional star to being a truly special quarterback.
http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW...koff052103.htm


And yet, somehow, things never change. It's the same what ifs every August.
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Old 07-29-2005, 11:18 AM   #3
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And yet, somehow, things never change. It's the same what ifs every August.
He has to actually take a few snaps before the excuses begin.
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Old 07-29-2005, 12:21 PM   #4
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Brooks is in the best shape ever best offseason ever blah blah blah.... I wanna see him on the field...
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Old 07-29-2005, 12:36 PM   #5
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I hear the same thing every year -- remember the year we hired a special coach to teach Brooks leadership qualities -- his offseason that year was supposed to be spectacular also.

I will believe everything when I see it. Until then -- Ya Gotta Have Faith
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Old 07-29-2005, 03:31 PM   #6
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You know...I'm glad you posted some of those old hopeful forecasts cuz I was thinking I had heard this poop before. Brooks is on about his 3rd make or break season as is Haz.

I will say that last year I wasn't very excited about losing the lead blocker. That was one of the dumbest decisions EVER. We hardly had one starting TE, let alone 2.

I don't want to hear anything about how these guys have been in the system, have their heads on straight, whatever. It's all talk. Show me a team ready to execute a gameplan on Sunday and I'll be happy. It's not even so much losing a game as it is losing a game where you're beaten vs. losing on blown assigments and mental mistakes.

It is very hard to think of a game where this team has lost after a good effort. It's either a total meltdown or 1 costly mental mistake that costs us.

SOOOO....to the reporters. Pay attention, it's all been said before. There's no time for halcyonic BS about why this year will be good.

Here it is:
The O line should be better. Always a good thing. Riley was hot/cold and had no idea what the snap count was.

The playbook was inexplicably enormous. McCarthy is gone (good). His underling took over (unknown, but scary). We have a more simple system which should help our ADD players. The fact that our head coach never stepped up and questioned our encyclopedic volume of predictability....less encouraging. But hey, good decisions aren't always made for the right reasons.

Other than that, the O looks about the same. Brooks will hopefully be better because of the pared down scheme, but who knows. After all, this is his QB coach calling the plays

On D, we made some good moves. It all hinges on youth at LB stepping up. That is quite the unknown for a unit that has sucked ever since a former LB took over. I like Courtney, Colby, Fincher, but I know that youth breeds unpredictable results. I think the secondary will be better and the DEs will continue to be good. Run stuffing DT and an impact LB would have been nice.

All in all, I'm hoping for a 9-7 team that makes the playoffs and a QB with accountability and leadership. I feel about 50/50 on both of those points.
It just may be our year.

The crazy thing is we can beat it to death and there will still be a 10-6 team that is literally just 4 plays better than a 6-10 team. That's the beauty of the NFL. It can come down to a dropped ball, a false start, a missed FG, and a pick.....you're season is done.
I'm just waiting for 1PM EST 9/11/2005.

Till then I'll rely on my "FAITH". Funny that our team has asked for devine intervention in their new slogan. I think it will take that for these knuckleheads to go all the way. But, my dumb a$$ is ready to watch every snap.
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Old 07-29-2005, 03:39 PM   #7
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i'll have to agree with papz on this em..........
time to sell tickets........................
when is the 1st preseason game with the saints?
I NEED FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SMITTY
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Old 07-29-2005, 06:52 PM   #8
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I sure am glad Aaron Brooks haven't did me nothing!!!!

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Old 07-29-2005, 07:17 PM   #9
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I sure am glad Aaron Brooks haven't did me nothing!!!!
Pour me a glass too .......
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Old 07-29-2005, 07:39 PM   #10
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The answer to all these questions is simple: Brooks has failed to play consistent football and has underachieved when the team needed him. The careless turnovers and lack of leadership has overshadowed Brooks’ impressive statistics.
Gotta wonder why Saintfan always chimes in when a poster says the same thing , but when a news reporter says it ......Quiet as a Monday morning church .
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