Falcons: Brooking wants more than Pro Bowl

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. - Keith Brooking loves those trips to Hawaii in February.

Unfortunately, four straight Pro Bowl appearances mean very little as the Atlanta Falcons' star linebacker compares his achievements to expectations he has for the coming season.

"I think about those four years and I still have plenty of room for improvement," Brooking said Tuesday night. "I want the respect from around the league for our defense and that I'm a dominating player, but that breakout season hasn't come yet. That great season, it needs to happen now."

Several signs point to a big year for Brooking. The offseason acquisition of Ed Hartwell was a major coup for the Falcons, who now have the thick, quick middle linebacker they lacked in their first season under head coach Jim Mora and defensive coordinator Ed Donatell.

Falcons general manager Rich McKay, who built a defense in Tampa Bay that led the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title in 2002, believes the pairing of Hartwell and Brooking could provide a missing link in Atlanta.

"When we went out and signed Simeon Rice in 2001, we knew that he and Warren Sapp would make matchups extremely difficult for our opponents," McKay said of his Tampa Bay tenure. "We were basically saying, 'You can line your people up however you want, but that side of the line is ours.' It's too early to tell how Ed will affect Keith, but his presence certainly should give us more chances to bring Keith off the edge."

When McKay and owner Arthur Blank hired him in January 2004, Mora ditched the 3-4 scheme Atlanta manned the year before. The defense had collapsed with quarterback Michael Vick injured and the offense was unable to control the clock.

It was bad enough that he and his teammates were gouged for 6,108 yards, the most in franchise history, but Brooking hated the notion that Dan Reeves, who drafted the former Georgia Tech standout 12th overall in 1998, lost his job as head coach.

Even worse, Brooking played the second half of the dismal 5-11 season with three small fractures in his lower back. Vick didn't return from a broken ankle until Week 14. At that point, the Falcons were 3-10, and Brooking was disgusted.

"Michael Vick, he's a great player," Brooking said Friday. "He deserves all the credit that he gets. He gets the majority of credit for this team, but my goal is when people talk about the Atlanta Falcons, the first thing out of their mouth isn't, 'Well, without Mike Vick in there, they're lost. They're not a playoff team. They're not a winning team.' I want respect around the league and from everyone that the Atlanta Falcons have a dominating defense."

Brooking insists Vick, who has a 23-12-1 record and led the Falcons deep into the playoffs during his two full seasons as a starter, is a great teammate. What Brooking seeks is more recognition that the defense, which led the NFL with 48 sacks and improved 16 spots in scoring to No. 14, was no fluke.

"That's what you want to hear as a coordinator," Donatell said. "You want your guys always to believe that they can improve individually and as a defense."

Even with Chris Draft by his side as middle linebacker in base fronts last year, Brooking recorded three interceptions, 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. In the 3-4 the previous year, Brooking had zeros in all three categories.

Hartwell should free Brooking to create more problems against the pass.

"He's a big human being," Brooking said. "That's very evident when you look at him. He's a presence in the middle, that's for sure."

Hartwell, whom the Ravens credited with 141 tackles, emerged from Lewis' shadow in 2003. With the perennial All-Pro selection suffering an injured shoulder that eventually ended his season, Hartwell had 140 tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles, one interception and five passes defensed.

"I see myself as a leader on this defense," Hartwell said. "Keith has a great history here, and I know we can feed off each other and fuel competition to make the other guy get better."

Brooking, who grew up just south of Atlanta in the small town of Senoia, had few chances to show much in the Falcons' preseason win over Indianapolis last week in Japan.

He took only nine snaps.

"The only disappointing thing on Saturday was that they didn't run the ball against our first unit," Mora said. "They ran a few draws, but I wanted to see Ed come downhill and hit somebody. We were all anxious for that, but to have two quality veterans like those two is very much an upgrade for our defense."