Michael Brockers doesn’t have to imagine what it is like to need and not have.
When he was the oldest of five children growing up in a single parent household in southeast Houston, his family often struggled.
For a time, Brockers was in charge of taking care of his younger siblings after school, while his mother Tiffany worked night shifts.
He handled the cooking. The homework. The baths and bedtime.
No matter how far he has come as a professional football player, how much he has given to lift his family to a better situation, Brockers will never forget the hunger pains.
With that in mind, the Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman and his wife Faith issued a $10,000 grant to the HISD Relief Fund, and they are asking others to add to their initial donation through the Brockers Youth Foundation website at michaelbrockers.com/byf
A graduate of Chavez High School, Brockers recalls his family needing assistance and knows that in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic there are thousands in similar situations.
“I grew up in a single parent home where sometimes we needed those free meals,” Brockers said. “Mama would say, ‘Hey, did y’all eat at school?’
“Those free meals … we needed to take advantage of them.”
Brockers, 29, has three kids of his own, which he says adds a special meaning to giving to and promoting this cause. HISD distributed some 10,000 food packages Saturday at NRG Stadium.
“For me, now understanding it as a parent, that if I didn’t have those meals or my kids needed those meals and they couldn’t get him, I know how stressful that would be,” Brockers said. “I love the kids. So, feeding kids means something to me. But at the same time, looking out for the parents, trying to lessen the stress on the parents, is a big key for me as well.”
Houston matters to Brockers.
He went to college in Baton Rouge, and has played in St. Louis and Los Angeles in the NFL, but Houston is where his heart is. Literally.
The 6-5, 305-pounder, who is entering his ninth season, has the city’s skyline tattooed across his chest, with the Astros’ “H-star” logo star right in the middle.
It was amazing enough that despite so much against him, Brockers turned himself into an elite college recruit though he didn’t start playing football until high school.
After only one year as a starter at LSU, following a redshirt season and a solid freshman year, Brockers felt he had to enter the NFL before some thought he was ready.
On a trip home over the holidays, when the team took a break before facing Alabama in the national championship game, Brockers was dismayed at conditions at the apartment complex his mother had moved to while he was away at school.
The NFL had given Brockers an official scouting report that said he would likely be taken late in the first round or perhaps early in the second. Another year of school, and he would be in the top-10 mix, but he couldn’t wait.
“I was like, ‘Oh, no, we gotta get out of here,’” he said.
By the time the draft came around, Brockers had impressed teams enough that he was a sure first-rounder.
Brockers grew up a Cowboys fan — he was 12 when the Texans played their first season — but Dallas traded out of the 14th slot to move up and take Brockers’ LSU teammate Morris Claiborne.
The Rams won that trade. And they’re still winning it.
Brockers has been a starter since the first day he stepped onto the practice field with the Rams. And he has delivered off the field as well.
“The first thing I did was buy my mom a house,” Brockers said. “That was very important to me. To have my family in a house in a better neighborhood, somewhere that they can thrive and be better off.
“My brother posted a picture of himself the other day of when he was in elementary school six years ago, and they were in a home. I was like, man …
“That’s a blessing that he was living at that house. That they’re there with a solid foundation. A home to call home. That just means a lot.”
Brockers didn’t play in the first three games of his rookie year after suffering an ankle sprain in the preseason finale. He has missed only two out of 125 games since.
Surprisingly, a free agent contract with the Baltimore Ravens recently fell through because of a failed physical, due to an ankle injury in the last game of the season.
The Rams jumped at the chance to bring him back for a third contract, and Brockers says he is healthy and ready to go.
From St. Louis to Los Angeles, he is still a Ram. Still under the radar.
A stalwart on a defensive line that for the past six seasons has featured two-time defensive player of the year Aaron Donald, Brockers has an anonymity that doesn’t match his contribution.
It was like that in high school, when he played at Chavez, which is hardly a football power.
And it was like that in college, where he started only one season, and played on units with headline-dominating players like Claiborne, Patrick Peterson, Eric Reid, Barkevious Mingo and Tyrann Mathieu.
“I love that feeling of staying under the radar,” Brockers said.
Under the radar doesn’t mean underappreciated. Brockers has been credited with doing much of the dirty work that helps Donald flourish.
He hopes through his foundation he can help kids who are in situations like he once was to succeed.
“I’m just blessed to have the financial ability to do this,” Brockers said. “For me, that makes it important that I do it.
“Hopefully, we can make it easier on some kids and their parents.”
jerome.solomon@chron.com
twitter.com/jeromesolomon
"much" - Google News
May 03, 2020 at 03:00AM
https://ift.tt/3aY9wML
Solomon: Michael Brockers knows how much a free meal can help - Houston Chronicle
"much" - Google News
https://ift.tt/37eLLij
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Solomon: Michael Brockers knows how much a free meal can help - Houston Chronicle"
Post a Comment