NFL Hall of Fame LB Derrick Brooks' son announces his verbal commitment

Did he decide to follow in his father's footsteps?

NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks' son is following in his father's footsteps. On Thursday evening, three-star linebacker DeCalon Brooks (5-foot-11, 197 pounds, Tampa, Fla.), the son of former Florida State linebacker Derrick Brooks, announced that he would be verbally committing to Florida State.

"They talked to me about playing strong safety and outside linebacker," Brooks told 247 Sports. "That hybrid, third down backer that they can keep in the game instead of taking a linebacker out. They like me there and strong safety."

This sounds very similar to his father's career — he originally stepped on Florida State's campus as a safety, but the coaching staff moved him to linebacker where he would end up being a two-time Consensus All-America linebacker for the 'Noles in 1993 and 1994.  He was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year as a senior in 1994, and was a top scholar-athlete who won an NCAA post-graduate scholarship as well as a spot on the Academic All-America team.

He was selected in the first round of the 1995 NFL Draft by Tampa Bay and played his entire 14-year career for the Buccaneers.  He was a nine-time All-Pro and was selected to 11 Pro Bowls.

If his son can have a career even remotely close to what he did, it should be quite the successful one. Check out DeCalon's highlight tape below.