The Interview: Eagles cornerback Ron Brooks

SO FAR, the biggest impression cornerback Ron Brooks has made as an Eagle came on the sidelines, when he joined a few teammates before the Birds' second game of the season and raised his fist in solidarity with 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protests.

Flying under the radar during a game is not necessarily a bad thing for the secondary. Usually, when you hear a cornerback's name, you hear it in conjunction with him getting beat or hauling in a pick.

Since Brooks has not yet intercepted a pass in his five NFL seasons, the less you hear about him, the better.

He only had three picks at Louisiana State - but as a Tiger, he played with six future NFL defensive backs.

Besides, the secondary is a secondary position for Brooks. He was a dynamic option quarterback his senior season at MacArthur High outside of Dallas. As a slim speedster who had 13 touchdown catches as a junior, though, he projected better as a receiver in college.

(It's worth noting that his father, Anthony Brooks, made the Chicago Bears roster in 1993 as a receiver.)

But when Brooks went to LSU, they switched him to defensive back, and that's where he has stayed.

Pro teams were impressed with his 4.3-second 40-yard dash and his play in nickel packages, so the Bills took him in the fourth found in 2012. Injuries shortened his first two seasons and his 2015 campaign, but in his four years in Buffalo he proved to be an outstanding special-teams player.

Off field, Brooks served as the Bills' ambassador to the NFL's (under-publicized) October campaign on behalf of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

When Bills defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was hired as the Eagles' coordinator this year, he lobbied the team to sign Brooks as the nickel corner. And so they did.

Brooks is a key part of a rebuilt secondary that for the past five seasons had been the Eagles' worst unit. The Birds' defense now ranks second in average points allowed and average yards allowed, and sixth in average passing yards allowed.

Marcus Hayes chatted with Brooks this week about his football career, his advocacy on behalf of women, and his guilty-pleasure TV show, Swamp People.

What drew you to advocate for victims of domestic abuse in Buffalo, and will you continue to do that here?

I had a friend at the time who got killed by her boyfriend. Shot her in the face. I had four or five other homegirls who told me, after, that they'd been in abusive relationships. That's when the Ray Rice situation was happening.

I got the opportunity to work in a battered women's and children's shelter. I got to liking it - liked the people I was working with. I think a lot of guys should advocate for it more and speak up.

Your dad was a receiver, and you played offense in high school. But you found a home on defense. Was that your plan?

No. I thought I was going to be an NFL wide receiver, too. Then they switched my position in college. I didn't know defensive terminology. I'd never played a defensive snap in my life. I just thought they'd leave me on the offensive side.

There's more longevity on the defensive side. I'm still in the NFL, where I wanted to be, so I'm happy at the end of the day. I was a quarterback, so you learn a quarterback's progressions, what he's thinking. I thought that helped me out.

You're in your fifth NFL season, but still no interceptions. Do you fret about that? Do your teammates tease you?

No, nobody says anything. They know I didn't get this sort of opportunity Buffalo.

You were part of a defensive backfield at LSU that included six future NFL players, including five drafted in the third round or higher. What was that like?

We always thought we were similar to the University of Miami in the era they had all those DBs.

Where did you begin to indulge in the guilty pleasure that is Troy Landry and those gator-rasslin' Swamp People on the History Channel?

Shoot, I went to school in Louisiana. . . .

In Buffalo, [running back] C.J. Spiller was my swamp buddy, because we both liked watching Swamp People.

The show is about the same group of people who have different adventures on their boats. I want to go out there and try it one day, with Troy and all those guys.