In Houston, training camp under the sweltering summer sun in late July and early August is daunting for just about anyone.
Especially for someone charged with stopping the world’s best football player.
That was the reality for Brandon Brooks.
Brooks, whom the Eagles signed to a five-year deal worth $40 million last week, was drafted by the Texans in the third round in 2012 out of Miami of Ohio. By the time training camp rolled around a few months later, he was facing off against a second-year player named J.J. Watt, who was about to start his ascension to become the best defensive player in the sport.
Over the next four years, Brooks vs. Watt became a training camp staple.
What percentage of those battles did Brooks win?
“I held my own,” Brooks said with a smile to CSNPhilly.com last week. “I’m not going to give you a percentage, but I held my own. I’ll say that.”
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Brooks, now 26, was really the only player on the Texans strong and big enough to face off one-on-one against Watt, who has been an All-Pro in each of the last four years. In the four years since Brooks came into the league, Watt has been named Defensive Player of the Year three times.
It’s possible the battles helped both players improve.
“Going against him every day, I think it’s made me a tremendously better player,” Brooks said. “Not only do you get a great player, but you get a great player with a motor that is virtually unmatched. There’s no reps that I can take off because I know he’s going 110 percent 110 percent of the time.”
Brooks really did hold his own against Watt during those training camp battles.
And his teammates took notice.
“It was good,” former Texans center Ben Jones said in a phone interview with CSNPhilly.com this week. Jones was a member of Brooks' draft class and played four years in Houston with him before leaving to join the Titans as a free agent this offseason. “You really don’t pay too much attention because you’re tired and banged up, but when you see it in the film room, you always see guys like that. Because he was the one you knew was matched up against [Watt].
“He does it every day. And you kind of expected [Brooks] to block him because he does it so often. Not many guys can do it. But you kind of get used to it seeing it every day. You expect so much from a guy like that, who can do so much.”
At 6-foot-5, 335 pounds, Brooks had the size and power to combat Watt. Even though Brooks held his own, he still got beaten plenty by Watt. Anyone would. And often, after practice, Brooks would meet with his teammate to get some tips.
Since becoming a starter, Brooks has been a very good run blocker, but he has consistently improved as a pass blocker in each of his four seasons in the NFL. There’s no doubt working against Watt helped in that area.
If he can stop Watt, who has 69 sacks since 2012 (18½ more than the next closest player), he can stop anyone. Brooks said he was always confident facing Watt, but admitted his confidence level would get a boost whenever he would beat him.
“You’re going against one of the best D-linemen in the league,” Brooks said. “Every rep you get, you can always learn something. How to sit on the bull rush, if the bull rush turns into him dipping his shoulder, dipping, ripping, things of that nature. You come talk to him even after practice. Like, 'What do I need to do as a player to get better vs. someone as good as you?' Those are the things that I learned going against him every day.”
While Watt, who declined an interview request for this story, has found unparalleled levels of success on the football field, which he has parlayed into countless endorsement contracts, Brooks hasn’t quite put it all together yet.
The Eagles are hoping he does, after they handed out a $40 million contract, which includes $21 million in guarantees.
No, Brooks hasn’t become a Pro Bowler yet, but the one thing not many people question is his athleticism. Jones said his former teammate looks like a bodybuilder and is a “physical specimen.”
“Brandon’s a heckuva player,” Jones said. “I don’t think there’s another guy in the league that’s as physically gifted as Brandon. He’s very talented and he deserves every penny he got, because the guy is something else. His career is just taking off.”
And those battles with Watt certainly helped.