Skip to content

USA Football

Roles

Press Releases


USA Football Family Member Recalls the 1996 AFC Championship Game

Author: Craig Thomas, USA Football Staff

Published: January 18, 2008


This year's New York Giants are not the first Tom Coughlin-coached team to knock off several favorites in a march to a NFL Championship Game. In 1996, Coughlin coached the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars, a team that made a Cinderella run to the AFC Championship in their second year of existence. .

 

A key special team contributor that season for the Jaguars was USA Football's own Bucky Brooks.  Being a part of that memorable team is Brooks' most treasured moment within a lifetime of football.

 

"My favorite football memory is being a part of the 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars that went from 3-7 to AFC runner-ups," he said. "Along the way we upset two higher seeds (Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos) in the playoffs before succumbing to the New England Patriots (20-6) in the AFC Championship Game. The thrill of playing for a chance to participate in the Super Bowl XXXI is a memory that I still cherish today."

 

Football remains a way of life for Brooks. He is one of six USA Football regional managers. USA Football regional managers are current and former coaches, players and administrators working to further strengthen America's favorite sport on the grassroots level. Each year USA Football's regional managers help organize hundreds of youth football events, including USA Football Coaching Schools, State Leadership Forums, officiating clinics and player academies.   

 

Click here to find your local USA Football regional manager.

 

Brooks understands his involvement in USA Football will make this great game stronger for the more than three million youth currently learning teamwork and sportsmanship while helmets ride on their handlebars.

 

"I'm passionate about being a regional manager for USA Football because I am impacting the game at the grassroots level. As a former player, I fully understand the influence that youth coaches have on the lives of young people and I work to ensure that every youngster participating in the game has a wonderful experience playing the sport that I truly love."