Getty Michael Brockers gives the thumbs up as he leaves the field.
Michael Brockers isn’t exactly old at age 31, but that number qualifies him to be the oldest member of what is one of the youngest teams in the NFL in the Detroit Lions.
As a result, Brockers has no choice but to accept the fact that he’s the old guy in a room of youngsters and rookies even though he’s not that old himself. It’s a role that the defensive lineman seems to love and accept ahead of his 11th season in the league.
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Speaking to the media on Thursday, June 2, Brockers discussed his reaction to being he’s told he is old by one of the younger position groups on defense in the defensive line.
“It’s crazy because I don’t consider myself being an old guy, but you know, I am. I told a guy I was 31. He was like ‘damn.’ I was like ‘damn, that’s not that old,’ but it’s cool. I mean you know, it’s a lot of young guys (along the defensive line) but I feel like I’m young too so I fit in right along with them,” Brockers told the media.
As is typical in the NFL, Brockers uses his age and experience as a way to get what he wants from the youngsters. It isn’t past him to pull out the old man card in order to get a better seat in a meeting room or find some other perks.
“I’ll pull my ‘OG’ card out a little bit and you know maybe make somebody move a seat or something but other than that nothing. They bring me juice boxes,” Brockers joked.
Even though it’s a little strange for him to be a veteran player and still be young himself, Brockers believes that this experience is beneficial and helps keep him young due to some of the cultural aspects.
“They put me on new music all the time and I just don’t know some of the guys that they listen to, but I’m always willing to give it a listen so they do keep me young in a way, right?,” he said. “I don’t even know their name, I’m just like ‘that’s that’s a nice little beat,'” he said. “I don’t really know what type of questions they ask me. ‘What does it feel like to be old?’ ‘What does it feel like to be 11 years in?’ In my position, it feels good. I’m a guy who never had really a serious injury, never had a really serious surgery so I’m fortunate to not have gone through that, but you ask a lot of guys in my position, you hear a lot of different stories on different games.”
The experience of being an older player on a younger team in 2021 helped Brockers to feel comfortable as well.
“I came in last year as kind of the older guy, leader type guy so it’s kind of just flowing into that obviously,” he said.
Leadership is a role that Brockers is already comfortable with, so it’s not a surprise to see him embracing being the veteran in a room of youngsters, even though it’s pretty funny to imagine.
Brockers Appreciates Changes to Lions Defense
This season, the Detroit defensive front is going to employ more of an attacking scheme in order to free up some lanes up front to rush the passer. As Brockers admitted, that’s a change he likes no matter his age or the age of his teammates, as it’s something that he has seen before on the field.
“It kind of reminds me of what we did in Los Angeles. You got a 3-4 kind of feel to you, but it’s more attack than reading and freeing up the linebackers. It’s more about everybody has a gap, hit your gap, win your gap and let’s go play some ball.”
According to Brockers, that change up is a good one for him, because it will allow him to be comfortable on the field within Detroit’s defense.
“It’s good, it’s good. I’m playing more the strong side in 4-3, stuff like that so I think it plays well into what I do,” Brockers admitted.
With this in mind, the old young guy might be on his way to a confident season on the field within Detroit’s new-look defense.
Brockers’ Career Stats & Highlights
The impact Brockers has made early in his career after he was a first-round pick of the Rams out of LSU back in 2012 cannot be debated. He has been an anchor in the middle of the team’s line and a player that is capable of packing a punch in the pocket. Brockers has put up 387 total tackles, 28 sacks, 9 passes defended and 2 forced fumbles in his career in Los Angeles. Moreover, he’s been to the Super Bowl and is a veteran leader the team has been able to count on when he has played in the league.
Here’s a look at some highlights:
When playing for the Lions, the team saw Brockers bring some of his patented pocket pressure as well as his leadership to the team. During the 2021-22 season, he put up 52 tackles and 1 sack for the team. His leadership, though, always seemed like the most important variable for a Lions team trying to change their entire culture. That continues to shine through for Brockers.
At this point, he is a fantastic mentor for all the young talent along Detroit’s defensive front. Age is serving Brockers very, very well in this particular case.