Blessed with superior arm strength and a fearless attitude, Aaron Brooks lived for the University of Virginia football practices when he got to challenge the Cavaliers’ best defensive players.
In the mid-1990s, this meant Brooks, a quarterback, would try to complete passes to a receiver who was covered by Ronde Barber, an All-American cornerback.
“Every time we’d go one-on-one and Ronde was up,” Brooks said, “I just wanted to really go at him.”
While the desire was admirable, the results were often predictable. Barber, Brooks said, “proved time and time again that he was nothing to be messed with.”