Nineteen months after Greg Brooks, Jr. had surgery to treat a brain tumor, he and his father Greg Brooks, Sr. have updated his recovery. In an hourlong interview with Ryan Clark on The Pivot, the pair have gone into detail for the first time about Brooks’s illness, recovery and the public criticism of LSU head coach Brian Kelly.
Editor’s Note: Some of the quotes used contain strong language
Watch the full interview at the bottom of this post.
Greg Brooks Sr. is hurt.
He’s hurt by the fact that his son is permanently compromised by a brain tumor. He’s hurt by the events that lead to those circumstances. He’s hurt by LSU head coach Brian Kelly’s lack of presence after surgery.
“I’ll say this, it took almost a month and a half to be scanned,” Greg Brooks Sr. said. “Vertigo, all these things, a month and a half to be scanned. That’s hurtful to me. That should hurt anybody just to know that that kid was out there playing like that.
“The way it was handled, lied to. To be honest, like a piece of shit, you ain’t nothing. You don’t mean nothing to us.”
Brooks Jr. played two games for LSU in 2023 but fought symptoms like dizziness, vomiting and fatigue.
“It was hard,” Brooks Jr. said. “I couldn’t do stuff that I would normally do like balance on a BOSU ball. Man, I can do that, why am I struggling with that. I would try to make a tackle, and I would get up feeling dizzy. I’d be like, ‘that’s not right.'”
His father maligned the way LSU handled his son’s complaints.
“If proper protocol was followed, we would have caught this earlier,” Brooks Sr. said. “Fluid on the brain stem. Man, he drained fluid for like three weeks off the brain.”
On Thursday, after the Grambling game in the second week, a scan revealed the brain tumor. Brooks had surgery a day later.
Clark asked how the Brooks family handled the situation in real time with updates from Greg Jr. and the LSU medical staff.
“Believing what they’re saying,” Brooks Sr started. “Believing that it’s heat exhaustion. I’m trusting the medical staff. Hell, if I didn’t, we would have gotten a second opinion…We put all faith in the medical staff”
Complications during the surgery left Brooks permanently disabled, he alleges in a lawsuit filed against LSU and Our Lady of the Lake Health. Both LSU and the health system have denied wrongdoing.
“I think Greg had surgery on Friday,” Brooks Sr. said. “They said he had the tumor on Thursday. Friday he had the surgery. Brian Kelly didn’t come until Sunday. Unacceptable. You should have been the first person that called that kid and told him you loved him…So you come Sunday. I don’t see you again until Thursday.
“When I tell you I heard from every coach in college football, except our own head coach. Bullshit. Every coach in college football except our own head coach. I think what hurt me the most, we were in St. Jude, and s somebody sent me a tweet that Brian Kelly sent out, and it was supporting somebody else. His family sponsoring somebody else with cancer. That hurt me so much. He was just with you, like literally, just with you…giving you everything he had.”
Brooks Sr. was vocal in his criticism of Kelly in an interview with Good Morning America earlier this year. Kelly rebuked the allegation that he wasn’t there for Brooks, causing a public retort by Brooks’s attorney.
“Look at the phone records,” Brooks Sr. said. “(Kelly) has never called us as a head coach…his mom don’t know what he sounds like. There’s people on that staff that know he never fucking called. Stand up and do what’s right.”
Clark clarified that he saw Kelly and Frank Wilson in the hospital one day when he was visiting Brooks in Baton Rouge.
“Let’s make this clear,” Brooks said. “When (Brooks Jr.) left Baton Rouge, October of 2023, we never heard from Brian Kelly. Never heard from him. I had to approach Brian Kelly about why he wasn’t coming to see Greg. Frank Wilson (knows) that. Verge Ausberry (knows) that.”
Brooks Sr. said Kelly “maybe came to the hospital four times.”
Brooks, Sr. also challenged Kelly’s comments in March 2024 about his son’s progress. “We’re at St. Jude receiving chemotherapy. Walking? He was nowhere near walking. You (saw) him in the chair. He’s nowhere near walking, and it’s almost a year later. That just goes to show you, you never knew about his progress. That’s hurtful.”:
. @LSUfootball Brian Kelly provides an update on Greg Brooks Jr. #LSU pic.twitter.com/fQESOUa7GT
— Jacques Doucet (@JacquesDoucet) March 23, 2024
Amid all the challenges Brooks Jr faces, he remains upbeat and optimistic.
Clark asked Brooks Jr. if he misses playing football.
“Sometimes I look at the screen and be like, that’s supposed to be me, but I’m just happy to be here.”
Brooks Jr. also credits his girlfriend–who was not named during the interview–for staying by his side through the entire illness. Brooks Sr. said his son went through 37 radiation treatments and four months of chemotherapy.
While the NFL dream he had envision during his childhood and college football career is gone, Brooks Jr. has other motivations as he continues his recovery.
“My goals are to get better every single day,” he said. “Do not lose faith. Have sight on the future. Do not lose hope. Just keep on fighting, no matter how hard it gets.”
He keeps in touch with former teammates, including Jayden Daniels who texts with Brooks regularly.
“Football-wise, I am happy because all of my friends, teammates, everybody, they are living my dream for them. I am completely fine with it.”
Clark, who played prep football in New Orleans with Brooks, Sr. and coached the younger Brooks in 7-on-7, broke down and wept on camera when Brooks was wheeled out of the room before a one-on-one with his father.
“You don’t think that kid is suffering,” Brooks, Sr. said. “You don’t think this shit hurt him, to see all of his friends’ success? To not hear from your head coach in over 17 fucking months? That’s hurtful. We played the game. We know what happens inside those buildings. That kid is suffering. On the outside, he looks good. He’s strong. But he’s suffering.”
Clark asked Brooks Sr. what he needs from LSU.
“Transparency. Transparency. Accountability. When these coaches get up in front of their team, what’s the first thing they say? Be accountable. Don’t hit women. Love your teammates. Brotherhood. Be accountable. Be transparent. Everybody makes mistakes. We’re a forgiving family. But don’t lie to me and try to sweep it under the rug in front of my face. And you don’t think I’m going to say nothing about it…Y’all was like ‘fuck him. so, fuck you.’ That’s the way I feel. I’m sorry.”
