Houston Texans running back British Brooks goes from UNC Tar Heels walk-on, to undrafted free agent, to NFL final-cut survivor

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Houston Texans made room for a running back few fans would recognize on a roster stacked with talent and star power.

Only the diehards knew his name before he scored two touchdowns in the preseason game against the New York Giants. British Brooks worked hard to achieve his NFL dream, but the realization that he made it, for now, is difficult to comprehend.

“It was very emotional just because of my past,” Brooks said. “Not even dating back to college, but even before that, since I was a little kid.”

Brooks told ABC13 that injuries he suffered in high school caused college recruiters to back off after he was a standout in Gastonia, North Carolina. He resigned himself to playing at a small college without a scholarship before his trainer convinced him to attend North Carolina as a walk-on.

When he arrived in Chapel Hill, Brooks didn’t even get to start on the scout team.

“Just even to start on scout team, to get shown on tape, that was the hard part,” he said.

Once Brooks showed coaches that he could run against the first-team defense, his role slowly expanded.

Before that could happen, Brooks was often left hungry. The rules at UNC didn’t allow players without a scholarship to eat in the team dining hall. Brooks was left to find meals on his own.

“Dinner wasn’t available for walk-ons, or lunch wasn’t available to us. Just kind of walking around hungry,” he remembered. “And we kind of felt like… kind of felt a certain way because (of) all the food they had to throw away.”

Brooks found a way to get enough food and was ready for a breakout senior season when he was injured again. That’s what led to teams ignoring him in the NFL Draft.

Brooks got his chance with the Texans as an undrafted free agent, and he grabbed everyone’s attention with one productive day after another in training camp. Now comes the next obstacle: keeping his spot on one of the best rosters in the NFL.

“I don’t care if I have to play center, (offensive line). You know, wherever they need me at, they won’t hear a ‘no’ from me,” Brooks said.

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