JOESAM2002

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LEADING HIS OWN WAY

Saints starting quarterback Aaron Brooks is nearly finished rehabilitating his injured shoulder after the disappointing finale to a season in which analysts questioned his drive and booed his playing. He\'s looking forward to commanding a new team en route to the Super Bowl


Thursday June 19, 2003


By Jeff Duncan
Staff writer

The most challenging offseason of Aaron Brooks\' NFL career ended as he strolled off the Superdome turf Wednesday afternoon.

The boos that accompanied the Saints\' ugly finish, in which the team lost its final three games, have subsided. A five-month rehabilitation from shoulder surgery is nearly complete.


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Perhaps more than any player on the Saints\' 89-man roster, Brooks will cherish every minute of the next six weeks.

He will conduct a football camp for local youths today at the soccer field at Zephyr Field, then begin final preparations for his June 28 wedding to longtime girlfriend, Tisa.

A couple weeks after the honeymoon, Brooks will report to training camp for his third season as the Saints\' starting quarterback.

\"I\'m looking forward to getting away,\" Brooks said. \"I haven\'t had a break. It\'s been a long offseason.\"

Brooks looked sharp during the final workout of the Saints\' offseason conditioning program. He has regained about 90 percent of the strength in his right shoulder, which was surgically repaired to re-connect a torn tendon in his rotator cuff in January.

\"I\'ve got some little kinks to work out, but I\'m throwing the ball a lot harder,\" Brooks said. \"It\'s not affecting me at all in my throwing motion. I\'m not worried about it at all.\"

In addition to strengthening and rehabilitating his shoulder, Brooks has addressed several other points of emphasis this offseason.

Coaches want him to improve his completion percentage from his career 55.3 percentage to 60 percent. They also want to see him continue to make strides in reading defenses, eliminating turnovers and making the correct pre-snap audible and protection checks.

Saints coach Jim Haslett wants to see Brooks, entering his third season as a full-time starter, become more vocal and demonstrative with teammates on and off the field.

As a daily reminder, coaches placed notes in Brooks\' locker to emphasize their points:

-- \"Win each sprint drill.\"

-- \"Always be on time.\"

-- \"Be the first one to film study and the last one to leave.\"

\"The next step for Aaron is take over this team and make it his,\" Haslett said. \"Leadership is not a sporadic thing. He needs to do it every single day. In the role Aaron is in, you need to show it in the way you communicate, the way you carry yourself and your body language.\"

Brooks, along with a handful of coaches and teammates, attended a two-day leadership seminar conducted by John C. Maxwell at the team\'s complex last week.

The staff plans to bring Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana to training camp for a few days to visit with Brooks, in the same way that Steve Young mentored Brooks\' cousin, Falcons quarterback Mike Vick, last offseason.

So far, Brooks has been a willing participant, although he thinks the issue has been overblown by members of the media.

\"It\'s not a theme for me, it\'s a theme for others,\" Brooks said. \"I know who I am and what I\'ve got to offer. People in this locker room, people upstairs, the team, the coaches -- they know what\'s up. They know it\'s my team, and it\'s going to be like that as long as I\'m here. I\'ve always been a leader in my own way.\"

Brooks\' leadership has been called into question by some fans and analysts during recent years. His nonchalant attitude and penchant for smiling on the sidelines led some to question his intensity, drive and motivation last season.

\"Just because he\'s not a real vocal guy doesn\'t mean that he\'s not a leader,\" running back Deuce McAllister said. \"Someone sees a smile on his face during a game and they perceive that to mean he doesn\'t care. That couldn\'t be further from the truth. Everyone on this team knows that A.B. wants to win as much as anyone.\"

Offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy pulls out a five-inch wide binder that lists the minute-by-minute daily regimen Brooks has undergone this offseason. For the third consecutive season, Brooks has been one of the most diligent participants in the offseason conditioning program and quarterback school.

\"Compare that to any other quarterback in the NFL,\" McCarthy said. \"It\'s not even close. Aaron has done everything we\'ve asked of him. He\'s always trying to improve, always trying to get better. I believe in Aaron Brooks, both personally and professionally. I think he\'s ready to have a breakout year.\"

McCarthy points to Brooks\' production the past two seasons, arguably the best back-to-back years by a Saints quarterback in club history.

He has amassed 8,018 yards of total offense combined during the past two seasons, the most ever during a two-year period for a Saints quarterback.

His 27 touchdown passes last season eclipsed the club record of 26 he set the previous season and were more than any quarterback in the NFL except New England\'s Tom Brady (28).

He has shown a penchant for late-game heroics, seven times leading the Saints to come-from-behind wins with fourth-quarter drives.

\"Aaron is one of the most unselfish players I have ever coached,\" quarterbacks coach Mike Sheppard said. \"There\'s not a selfish bone in his body. He could care less about how many yards or touchdown passes he\'s thrown. All he cares about is winning.\"

Indeed, Brooks said he isn\'t concerned with individual statistics or honors.

\"I\'m just trying to take this team to a place they\'ve never been before,\" Brooks said. \"That\'s my main and only objective right now. I\'m trying to win the Super Bowl. In looking at the past at this place, some people might think that\'s a far shot. But it\'s very attainable. The sky\'s the limit.\"

Sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought an idiot, than to open it and remove all doubt!!!!!

"Every time you think, you weaken the nation!" Moe Howard...The Three Stooges.