Brooks Seizes the Moment He Was Waiting For

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Phillip Brooks looks like a guy who just won the lottery but is too tired to spend it. He is exhausted. You see, so much energy went into this game. And this was a special kind of energy. This was that cold-hearted passion to prove somebody wrong kind of energy. It was that I'm-getting-revenge energy. Because this was personal. And Brooks had one chance, one opportunity to do everything he ever wanted — would he capture it, or let it slip? And he accomplished his mission in a 40-12 win over Missouri on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

"A lot was going through my mind," he says.

Brooks, a native of Lee's Summit, Missouri, grew up a huge Mizzou fan. It was his dream school. He says that the Tigers recruited him — and then it didn't work out. He likely went into greater detail when he addressed the entire K-State football team earlier in the week, told them why it was personally so important to him that they spank the Tigers.

Here's what Brooks did: The K-State senior wide receiver and the greatest active punt returner in the Football Bowl Subdivision took his first punt return of the 2022 season and raced 76 yards into the end zone against his hometown team. It was magic. It was phenomenal. It was…

"I feel like I showed them that I could've gone there," he says.

Brooks fielded the punt at the 24-yard line in front of the Missouri sideline. Missouri safety Jaylon Charlies was two steps away. Charlies never had a chance. Charlies fell and rolled on the turf. Brooks darted to his left. Cornerback Tyler Jones swept in and tried to grab Brooks' shoulder pad. Didn't work. One after another, Missouri players tried to touch him. Each time, a K-State player appeared and knocked them to the turf. By the time Brooks reached midfield, he was cruising in front of the K-State sideline, and the crowd was losing its mind, and the Wildcats on the sideline were going crazy, and he was all alone and glided down the field, yes, glided — he's one of the fastest players on the team — and three teammates escorted him into the end zone. Then his teammates mobbed him in the end zone.

"I had to keep it together when I scored," he says, "because it was a moment for me."

Brooks is 5-foot-7 and 169 pounds and sometimes looks bigger than life when he returns punts. We used to say the same thing about former Consensus All-American David Allen. Allen just seemed to glide and make people miss and — boom — he was in the end zone. At the top of your craft, what might be difficult appears easy, and man, Brooks has that trait about him. It's special.

Against Kansas in 2020, Brooks averaged 47.25 yards per punt return, the highest by any player in the nation with at least four attempts since 1996. His season average of 23.7 yards would've led the nation and set a K-State record if he had one more return to meet the required minimum. Brooks earned Third Team All-America honors in 2020. However, he only returned 10 punts last season. Everybody did their homework. Everybody knew he was the best in the land. They refused to punt to him.

Apparently, Mizzou didn't get the memo.

And he made Mizzou miss. And he was gone to the house.

"I'm so excited for Phillip because that was a big-time play," K-State head coach Chris Klieman says, "and it's big-time players making plays."

Currently, Brooks ranks No. 1 among all active FBS players in averaging 17.7 yards per punt return and he is tied for No. 1 with four punt-return touchdowns in his career. Only Allen scored more punt-return touchdowns during his time at K-State. Allen scored seven. Brooks has four. And it's hard for Brooks to conceal a grin when he's informed of his feat.

"It's a great honor," he says.

His feat against Missouri means so much more.

"He's my fraternity brother at Kappa Alpha Psi," Preseason All-American Deuce Vaughn says. "Man, I love him. He's literally my brother. We've been through so much together. To see him get a touchdown today, especially against Missouri, with everything he's been through, and the way he talked about this game, man, I was so ecstatic, and I'll always be ecstatic for him."

Vaughn entered this season regarded as the best running back in college football. Brooks is the best punt returner in the game. They're a great duo. And they bring the crowd to its feet.

"When Deuce scores or anybody else makes a play, the crowd is going crazy, and I hear them," Brooks says. "They were loud today. But during the punt return, everything seemed to go silent."

No, Brooks didn't hear the cheers inside the stadium. He was in the zone. But it was loud. Very loud.

But most of all, most importantly, on the big stage, he made the most of his opportunity, and he made Mizzou go silent.

It must've been a quiet ride back to Columbia.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Phillip Brooks

Deuce Vaughn

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