Brian Westbrook was born on September 2, 1979 in Fort Washington, Maryland. Although Westbrook isn’t the most skilled, biggest or athletic player, he has always used his drive and determination to rise to the top of any level he has competed at. For this reason, he is known as one of the most complete and versatile players in the world of football. This says a lot when you take all the great players into consideration.
Westbrook played high school football at DeMatha Catholic High School in Maryland. Year after year, DeMatha is a powerhouse in high school football and this carried through Westbrook’s time at the school. Although he didn’t get much attention from college recruiters, he did enough to get some next-level looks.
After high school, Westbrook took his game to Villanova University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although he had to battle various injuries while in college, he managed to become one of the best players this level has ever seen. He still holds the NCAA record for all-purpose yards with 9,512. In addition to all those yards, Westbrook also had 84 touchdowns during his time at Villanova. He finished his college career by winning the Walton Payton Award, which is given annually to the best player in NCAA Division I-AA.
Although Westbrook had a great college career, NFL teams were hesitant to pick him in the 2002 NFL Draft due to his small size (5’8″), injuries, and little college experience. But the Philadelphia Eagles decided to take a chance on the third round, and this ended up being a very good decision. In 2004, he finally got a chance to start a few games, and he did a great job rushing for 800+ yards. He followed this up with back-to-back seasons of 1,000 or more total yards in 2005 and 2006.
