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{{Short description|American football player (1947–2002)}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
|name=Leo Brooks
|number=73, 70
|position=[[Defensive tackle]], [[Offensive lineman]]
|birth_date={{Birth date|1947|12|7|mf=y}}
|birth_place=[[Shidler, Oklahoma]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|2002|04|4|1947|12|07}}
|death_place=[[Houston, Texas]], U.S.
|height_ft=6
|weight_lb=261
|height_in=5
|high_school=[[Kermit High School|Kermit (TX)]]
|college=[[Texas Longhorns football|Texas]]
|draftyear=1970
|draftround=2
|draftpick=31
|pastteams=* [[Houston Oilers]] ({{NFL Year|1970|1972}})
* [[New Orleans Saints]]*({{NFL Year|1973}})
* [[St. Louis Cardinals]] ({{NFL Year|1973|1976}})
|highlights=* [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|National champion]] ([[1969 Texas Longhorns football team|1969]])
* Second-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1969 College Football All-America Team|1969]])
* 2× First-team All-[[Southwest Conference|SWC]] ([[1968 All-Southwest Conference football team|1968]], [[1969 All-Southwest Conference football team|1969]])
* Southwest Conference Champion - (1968, 1969)
* Cotton Bowl Champion ([[1969 Cotton Bowl Classic|1969]], [[1970 Cotton Bowl Classic|1970]])
|statlabel1=[[Quarterback sack|Sacks]]
|statvalue1=10.5
|statlabel2=[[Fumble|Fumble recoveries]]
|statvalue2=3
|statlabel3=[[Interception]]s
|statvalue3=1
|pfr=BrooLe00
}}
'''Leonard Leo Brooks Jr.''' (December 7, 1947 – April 4, 2002) was an American professional [[American football|football]] player who was a [[defensive lineman]] for [[Houston Oilers]] and the [[St. Louis Cardinals (NFL)|St. Louis Cardinals]] of the [[National Football League]] (NFL). He was an All-American [[college football]] player for the [[Texas Longhorns football|Texas Longhorns]] where he won a National Championship.

==Early life==
Brooks was born in Shindler, Oklahoma, and later moved to Kermit, Texas, where he played football at Kermit High School.

==College career==
Brooks played college football at Texas from 1967-69. He was an all-conference selection in 1968 and 1969 and a 2nd team UPI All-American in 1969.

In [[1968 Texas Longhorns football team|1968]] he moved from offense to defense during the year and helped lead the Longhorns to a share of the 1968 Southwest Conference (SWC) Championship and a berth in the Cotton Bowl where they defeated #8 Tennessee to finish ranked #5/#3. That season they started a [[Longest NCAA Division I football winning streaks|30-game winning streak]], still the 7th longest in college football history and the longest in school history as of 2025.

The [[1969 Texas Longhorns football team|next year]], he helped Texas win an undisputed National Championship as well as the Southwest Conference Championship and the [[1970 Cotton Bowl Classic]], though he suffered a knee injury half way through the season and had to have ligament surgery on his right knee in November.<ref>{{cite news |title=Texas Star Has Surgery |work=Baltimore Sun |date=5 November 1969}}</ref>

In 2002, Brooks was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor.<ref name="Honors">{{cite web |title=Texas Football History and Honors |url=https://texaslonghorns.com/documents/2024/8/8/Football_History___Honors.pdf |access-date=20 February 2025}}</ref>

==Pro career==
Brooks was drafted by the Houston Oilers in the 2nd Round of the [[1970 NFL Draft]]. He played for the Oilers for 3 seasons and missed part of the 1971 season with the Oilers with a broken collar bone suffered in December against the Steelers.<ref>{{cite news |title=Oilers Rip Steelers |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=6 December 1971}}</ref> At the start of the 1973 season he was traded to the New Orleans Saints for running back [[Bob Gresham]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Pro Football Transactions |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=21 August 1973}}</ref>

Brooks was cut by the Saints, but in late September 1973 he was signed by the [[St. Louis Cardinals]] following an injury to [[Bonnie Sloan]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Halloway Named Back of the Week |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HV0sAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA13&dq=%22Leo+Brooks%22+cardinals&article_id=7318,3718045&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjM-L2fr_uMAxUNiO4BHTjyIr0Q6AF6BAgFEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Leo%20Brooks%22%20cardinals&f=false |access-date=28 April 2025 |work=The Spartanburg Herald |date=20 September 1973}}</ref> He played in 13 games that season, the most of his career up to that point and racked up a career high 5.5 sacks. In 1974 he played in a career high 14 games and started a career high 13 while helping the Cardinals make the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. He took on a back-up roll in 1975 and in 1976 he was cut at the end of training camp, but was resigned a month later when [[Marvin Upshaw]] didn't work out.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Frank |title=Big Names Among Victims in NFL Roster Cuts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nIpAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4&dq=%22Leo+Brooks%22+Cardinals&article_id=3865,647561&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwir2pW_zf2MAxUZ78kDHdDBJ8wQ6AF6BAgGEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Leo%20Brooks%22%20Cardinals&f=false |access-date=29 April 2025 |work=The Southeast Missourian |date=7 September 1976}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Cards Waive Vet Upshaw |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=asRiAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA19&dq=%22Leo+Brooks%22+Cardinals&article_id=6082,3414649&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwji2q-6zv2MAxWFADQIHa8kFmc4ChDoAXoECAYQAw#v=onepage&q=%22Leo%20Brooks%22%20Cardinals&f=false |access-date=29 April 2025 |work=St. Joseph Gazette |date=7 October 1976}}</ref> Following the death of his father-in-law that spring, he decided not to show up for camp and gave up his football playing career.<ref>{{cite news |title=Injured Knee Sidelines Bean; Fan Day Set Today |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hmQsAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA8&dq=%22Leo+Brooks%22+Cardinals&article_id=6921,3975624&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwir2pW_zf2MAxUZ78kDHdDBJ8wQ6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Leo%20Brooks%22%20Cardinals&f=false |access-date=29 April 2025 |work=Spartanburg Herald-Journal |date=24 July 1977}}</ref> He returned to [[Austin, Texas|Austin]] to run the family business.

==Later life==

Brooks was the president and CEO of the Leo Brooks Company, which was involved in ranching, commercial real estate appraising and hunting leases.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

His son, Corby Brooks played offensive line at Texas from 1994-95.<ref name="Honors">{{cite web |title=Texas Football History and Honors |url=https://texaslonghorns.com/documents/2024/8/8/Football_History___Honors.pdf |access-date=20 February 2025}}</ref>

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BrooLe00.htm Lee Brooks Pro-Football-Reference.com]. Retrieved 2019-03-18.

{{Houston Oilers 1970 draft navbox}}
{{1969 Texas Longhorns football navbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Leo}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Shidler, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Osage County, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:American football defensive linemen]]
[[Category:Texas Longhorns football players]]
[[Category:Houston Oilers players]]
[[Category:St. Louis Cardinals (football) players]]
[[Category:Deaths from esophageal cancer in Texas]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]

Leo Brooks (American football) - Revision history

imported>Nikkimaria: cleanup