Greg Brooks Jr & the Whale

It’s hard for me to write this, but not as hard as it is for me to read about Greg Brooks Jr, much less watch him talk about his life.

For context, Greg Brooks Jr (GB5) was a captain and NFL-bound safety for the LSU Tigers until the start of the 2023 football season, when he underwent emergency surgery to remove a brain tumor, leaving him paralyzed. Today, he is recovering, but remains partially paralyzed and suffers a major speech impediment as a result.

Watch this interview between Ryan Clark and Greg Brooks Jr (I haven’t finished it as of this writing, but I think Greg Brooks Sr also makes an appearance).

While you watch it, I want you to think about the Biblical story of Jonah. Usually when we talk about that story, it’s romanticized, as if being swallowed by the Whale had no real cost other than to instill some humility. Yet look at this young man - still not even 30 years old - and look at what has been taken from him: his once very-real dream of playing in the NFL, his influence as a star athlete (none of the social accounts I found - here and here - have been updated since surgery), his mobility, his speech, in almost every way his entire life. Gone.

But then listen to his words. His relentless, unconquerable spirit. This kid was swallowed whole and spit back up, and while battered, is far from broken. In fact, in some ways, Greg may be more perfect than he was before this whole nightmarish ordeal.

I found this interview at a time - right now - in my life that I needed it. GB5 and I don’t share a lot in common, but we’ve both been swallowed by the Whale, and while he’s been spit back up and on the path to recovery, I am still fighting my way out, a process for which the English language fails to provide a vocabulary capable of describing the necessary physical, emotional, and spiritual taxes if you're to succeed.

When I watch this interview, I see a man who made it out, and while badly damaged, is still intact in the most important way: he is still able to find gratitude, love, and appreciation for himself, his experience, and others.

When you can do that, you truly are invincible to whatever God, the Devil, life, the universe - whatever you want to use to describe this whole fucked up mess that is the human experience - can throw at you.

So I just wanted to take a moment and appreciate GB5 and what he means to me, and probably so many other people out there. Thank you, man. I went ahead and picked up a shirt to show my support. Much love as you continue to recover.

And thank you to Ryan Clark for being a real one and making sure Greg’s story gets told the right way. Appreciate you both.