Derrick Brooks, Eddie DeBartolo Jr. build a legacy
beyond the field
ANDREW ASTLEFORD
FOX SPORTS
JAN 17, 2014 12:01p ET
Bill Serne / Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School
Former Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks and former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr.
were selected as finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame on January 9.
TAMPA, Fla. -- One day, shortly after he found inspiration for his next
goal,Derrick Brooks sat with Eddie DeBartolo Jr. and sold him on a vision.
Their conversation happened after Brooks' trip to South Africa in 2005, one in
which the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker bonded with Tampa
Bay-area youth, and he looked for his foundation's next challenge.
Brooks wanted to start a charter high school, and he knew DeBartolo, a Tampa
resident and former owner of the San Francisco 49ers, was the right man to ask
about forming a partnership. In 1996, the DeBartolo family established the San
Francisco 49ers Academy in East Palo Alto, Calif., a public school founded with a
goal of keeping kids safe and focused on graduation. Brooks read about the
academy's influence and wanted to achieve something similar.
Brooks' pitch to DeBartolo lasted all of about five minutes. The former owner was
hooked, a bond in education born between two men known for their NFL
backgrounds.
"Yes, let's do it," Brooks recalls DeBartolo saying at the time. "I see your heart.
You know me -- I'm all about making a difference."
This is an interesting time for Brooks and DeBartolo. On Jan. 9, both men were
named finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Brooks for the first time and
DeBartolo for the third consecutive year. On Feb. 1, they will learn if they're
awarded the NFL's greatest honor for their impacts on a game in which they
became among the modern era's best: Brooks appeared in 11 Pro Bowls and was a
Super Bowl XXXVII champion, never missing a game in his 14-year career;
DeBartolo built the 49ers into a powerhouse, guiding them to five Super Bowl
titles in 23 years.
Courtesy of Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School
Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School opened its 11-acre campus in
2012.
Long after they saw their last snap, though, Brooks and DeBartolo began work on
a new legacy. In August 2007, Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School opened
its doors. Its first site was located in a former Circuit City building in North
Tampa with 183 students grades 9-11, after the Hillsborough County School
Board approved its charter application.
Today, 430 kids grades 9-12 attend the school at an 11-acre campus in North
Tampa, after a $15 million renovation of a former church site was completed in
2012. Students are chosen by random lottery and attend for free.
The school is positioned as an environment for kids, regardless of socioeconomic
status, to excel in a smaller educational setting. There are no plans to expand the
enrollment beyond 600 students -- 150 per class -- once it reaches the threshold.
But school officials estimate they have received about 700 applications total the
past two years.
"Sports really is being part of the community and helping the community,"
DeBartolo said. "It ties people together. ... You're helping the community stay
together and become one because it's just a goal, and I think that goal
transcended when Derrick and I became close, became friends. It transcended
into our love of helping kids."
Many former athletes and owners find purpose outside of sports, of course. The
best use their platforms to enhance the world, the most self-aware becoming
more whole in the process. A career on the field and in the most powerful offices
should be a beginning, not an end.
Courtesy of Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School
(left to right) Nikki DeBartolo, Chad Chronister, Kristine Bennett and
Derrick Brooks take part in a ribbon cutting ceremony at the new Brooks
DeBartolo Collegiate High School on Aug. 16, 2012 in Tampa, Fla.
That's why this connection is unique. Two men, who happen to be considered for
Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement at the same time, have combined their
resources for a greater good. Football is one legacy. Life is opportunity for
another.
Brooks, past chair of the school's board of directors, views his partnership with
DeBartolo as working toward a greater mission. In earlier years, he had heard
about the former owner through friends with Florida State ties who had played in
San Francisco, like Deion Sanders and William Floyd.
But Brooks discovered DeBartolo's football persona -- the towel-carrying, highdemand, high-reward personality who made the 49ers the NFL's elite under his
leadership -- was only the start. There was much more. A football identity was
only a start.
There was a deeper passion present, one that extended beyond what was revealed
on those memorable Sundays at Candlestick Park. It's found when DeBartolo
makes surprise visits to the school and chats with principal Kristine Bennett
about issues of the moment. It's found when he takes time to enjoy the looks on
kids' faces, their futures influenced by his past. It's found when he sends flowers
to the office, after the school received its fourth consecutive "A" grade from the
Florida Department of Education and a 15-year charter extension.
"When you have a giving heart, you can bring two powerful foundations together
jointly and do bigger things," Brooks said. "I think that's our bigger message we
give to the world: You can bring good people together who have the right attitude
and the right heart to make a difference in this world."
"Every time a kid graduates from that school, every time a child is able to go to
college," DeBartolo said, "you can sit back and feel really good about what has
been done."
The vision is still growing. The school has recovered from early hard days. It
received a "C" grade from the FDOE in 2007-08 and a "D" grade in 2008-09. But
the past two years, 128 students have graduated and received post-secondary
acceptances. Now, leadership is looking for ways to expand.
"We have high expectations," Bennett said.
There are renovation plans to add 10 classrooms and build an amphitheater. The
school's athletics program started in the 2008-09 academic year, and now it
offers volleyball and baseball, softball and tennis, bowling, boys/girls soccer and
boys/girls basketball. There are hopes football can be added someday.
"They both know how to do it right," said David Mallitz, president of Brooks
DeBartolo Charities and chairman of the school's board of directors. "They do the
right thing. A lot of owners, whether it's pro sports or businesses where money's
needed, they won't make what's perceived to be the right decision. Derrick and
Mr. D tend to do that all the time. Whatever the consequences are, they want to
do what's right."
Brooks and DeBartolo, no matter the outcome of the Hall of Fame
announcement, will be forever remembered for their fame in football. One is the
smart, hard-charging linebacker who helped lift his moribund franchise beyond a
losing history. The other is the smart, savvy owner who made his West Coast
jewel one of the game's most decorated dynasties.
Now, both are part of something more. Their fingerprints are on the future.
"That goes well beyond that 100-yard football field," Brooks said. "He approaches
it the same way he did when he was an owner in this league."
"We wanted to make sure in some small way we could help kids achieve the
ability to go to school and get to college and make something of themselves,"
DeBartolo said. "Derrick is a great influence on not only kids but grown-ups. He's
a Hall of Famer. It has been a pleasure for our family to be associated with him."
That's a legacy to keep.