Jalen Brooks' Unconventional Path To Stardom

South Carolina wide receiver Jalen Brooks went from looking like he was potentially done with football to being an important contributor to start the 2022 football season.

There's an abundance of clichés used by coaches daily, to the point where it can be nauseating due to the frequent amount of times these phrases are uttered over time. There's one cliché saying, however, that rings true all the time, not just for football players but for people in any walk of life, "We gotta be able to face and overcome adversity." 

For one player on the Gamecocks' football team, wide receiver Jalen Brooks, this phrase became a reality for him not too long ago. In early October of the 2021 season, it was announced the following week that Brooks had stepped away from the team due to personal reasons.

What Gamecock fans didn't realize, however, was that this absence would continue throughout the rest of the 2021 season. This culminated when Brooks was left off the team's roster at the start of Spring practice in mid-March of this year, a move that typically signals the end of a player's time with an athletic program.

Then, at the beginning of June, with the summer strength and conditioning program about to begin, it was reported that Brooks had officially rejoined the program. In an interview with TheBigSpur's Hale McGranahan, Jalen talked about his time away from the team and how there was a silver lining to it.

“The last year for me was obviously challenging, adversity hits, but at the end of the day, football is not everything,” Brooks said. “I’ve been able to prepare myself extremely well, for whenever that day comes. With my time off, I was able to come back faster and stronger. I was training. I also graduated. I’m starting my masters right now, so it’s been a blessing. It’s been a struggle, yes. But it’s been a blessing in disguise."

Fans questioned how Brooks would fare after losing practice time and valuable reps. So far this season, those questions have been put to rest, as Brooks has racked up eleven receptions for 170 receiving yards, the 2nd best mark on the team in both of these categories.

For Jalen Brooks to be not only able to acknowledge an off-field conflict but also be able to address it and come back for his team unequivocally shows true resiliency, especially regarding his current pressure-packed position as a college student-athlete.

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