Brooks also played Little League baseball and high school basketball. Here he is pictured with his stepfather, A.J. Mitchell.

Walter Benjamin, a close friend of Brooks from childhood, hasn’t forgotten about the Hall of Famer’s Jheri curl days.

Expectations were high in the Brooks house, where Derrick’s mother expected A’s on the report card.

Even as a child, Brooks was a ferocious competitor and supreme athlete.

Brooks graduated 10th in his class of 435 students at Washington High with a 4.22 GPA.

Brooks is not the only superstar athlete to come from Pensacola. The NFL’s all-time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith (left), and former world boxing champion Roy Jones Jr. (right) also hail from the city.

Brooks said he felt the need to succeed because his mother, Geraldine Brooks-Mitchell, who died in 2007, had to put aside her dreams.

Brooks left his mark at Washington High School, where students today can see his jersey and autographed photo among other items.

Monte Kiffin, then the Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator, talks with Brooks during a December 2002 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. To conclude a successful 2002 season, the Bucs won Super Bowl XXXVII. Brooks was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year.