Tae Brooks has been playing football since he was only a little boy in his front yard. Over the years, the sport of football has stuck with him, and by moving on from La Salle to play collegiate football, he will now be on the path to living his dream of eventually playing in the NFL.

He is in a small group of La Salle students who are committed to play college sports, who we are profiling as part of our series, Next Level Seniors.

In the fall, Brooks will be attending Wayne State College in Nebraska, where he is undecided about what he will be studying, but one possibility that he is considering is something in the field of sports marketing.

Brooks was raised playing football, leading into the first time he officially played a game being in third grade, with the experience of first putting the uniform a feeling he never wanted to let go of.

He knew that he wanted to play at the college level when he was only a first grader. Brooks was watching the NFL Pro Bowl with his dad when he asked him what he had to do to play in the NFL. His dad told him that he had to make it into college football first, and “from that day on, it has been all work [to achieve that goal], and I’m still working.”

“I have big dreams and I am not letting anyone say that I can’t do it. Football has been a part of my life since I was a baby and I don’t plan on stopping now. I want football to be a part of my life until the end.”

After transferring to La Salle from Putnam at the start of his junior year, Brooks has played two varsity football seasons for the Falcons. He reflects that his biggest accomplishment over his many years in the sport is overcoming the odds. “I had a lot going against me in my journey to play college ball from being a smaller kid to people doubting my chances and abilities to make it.” However, he proved the doubters wrong, and is now on his way to become a collegiate student athlete.

Like most seniors, his first goal is to graduate, and then “I need to stay healthy throughout the summer while getting stronger and faster.” His last, and more personal goal, is to make sure to spend as much time as he can with his friends before he leaves for college because “I won’t get to see them for a long time.”

For Brooks, his recruiting process became very stressful because “everyone else in the state seemed to be signing to big time schools and had everything figured out”, while he was still undecided with what he was going to do. “I was worried for a while if I was even going to get the chance to play college football”, he said.

From the end of his junior year all the way to February of his senior year, he had many smaller schools contact him, while also getting some interest from a few bigger schools. “Both big and small [schools] would come and go, saying they loved my film and thought I was a great athlete, but wouldn’t fit their program.”

His decision eventually came down to three schools: Bethel University, Montana Tech, and Ottawa University, making for a tough choice because the tuition was around the same price for all three. However, “literally hours before I made my decision, Wayne State College called me in school and [made an offer].” In addition to Wayne State’s tuition being more affordable, as a Division II college they are in a higher division of football than the other schools he had offers from, “which made me happy because I want to play at the highest level possible for my options”, he said.

Brooks committed to Wayne State College in late February, and then signed his National Letter of Intent on March 30 at home with his family.

The small community the campus is enclosed in is his favorite aspect of the school. Brooks was impressed with the “family vibe” of the school, as “everyone knows each other, and the teachers treat their students like they are their own children.”

Brooks is not at all concerned with the time commitment that being a student athlete brings, and believes he is ready as he will have fewer classes to focus on. Also, “my coaches will have me set up with mandatory study hall in order to make sure I get work done”, he said.

Getting closer to playing as a Wildcat this fall, Brooks is most looking forward to just being able to have the experience as a collegiate athlete. “Even if I have to red shirt, only a small percentage of kids can say they played college football”, he said. He is also looking forward to living on his own for the first time, and despite the rural area Wayne is located in, “one way or another I know I will have fun in the Midwest.”

Already setting high expectations for himself, Brooks has set the goal to “be one of the best players to come out of Wayne State when I graduate.”

A piece of advice that Brooks can give to anyone interested in playing college level sports is to perfect your craft. “Keep on working and working, and then work some more. No matter how many people say you can’t do something, use it as fuel to get better and prove them wrong.”

***
Congratulations to Tae for committing to Wayne State, and good luck to him as he begins his first football season as a Wildcat in the fall!