Wilson held her own in football

EASLEY — She’s been in the trenches with the players, battling alongside them on the offensive and defensive lines.

Now, Brooke Wilson is simply the No. 1 fan of the football team at Easley High School.

“It’s already hit me that I won’t be able to be out there on the football field with them,” said Brooke, a senior at EHS, “because all these boys have been like my brothers since we were little. I just wish them the best of luck this season and I’ll be at every game.”

Jaxson, her younger brother, is a standout lineman on the Green Wave football team. Her two older brothers, Dawson and Jason, also starred on the gridiron in the kelly green uniforms.

Brooke got tired of just watching her brothers play football from the bleachers. She just wanted to play. And she took advantage when she got her chance, becoming the team captain for several seasons.

“I just loved pancaking boys,” she said, with a laugh. “It felt great. Our best year was probably our freshman year and we were region champs. That was probably the best season I’ve had.”

Brooke played football growing up with the rec league and all the way through her junior year of high school.

Because of her older brothers, she was always around the game. She learned footwork from EHS grad Jay Hagood who played offensive tackle in the National Football League for the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. Hagood worked with both Brooke and her younger brother Jaxson.

Christman Short, of the Easley Parks and Recreation Department, played a big part in getting Brooke off to a good start in football.

“The concept of female players playing tackle football isn’t foreign,” Short said. “We had a couple when Brooke was playing that played, but I would say the one thing that is different with Brooke was her consistency. I saw a lot of myself in Brooke because when I was younger, (playing football) is something that I wanted to do. But at that time, it wasn’t something you really heard about and my parents never really let me. I lived a little vicariously through Brooke when I saw it.”

Short, who did the fittings for Brooke’s shoulder pads and helmet, added, “Brooke has a certain type of determination that you can’t teach. She just has it. She breaks every type of stereotype that you could possibly have. There are kids who stick with you and Brooke is one of those kids. It was really fun to not only see Brooke start football, but to also find her love and passion in softball. She’s a multi-sport athlete. She’s just an athlete.”

Brooke’s parents, Marti and Roger, enjoyed watching her play.

“She was known as the ponytail girl,” said Marti. “They weren’t sure if she was a girl or a boy. So, it was always interesting for them to try and figure that out. She would always get interesting comments about that.”

Her dad, Roger, said she enjoyed the physical part of the game.

“They would videotape the hits and share it with everybody,” he said, “and those boys got dogged. I’m telling you, it was bad. She would take them down in a minute.”

With a 4.2 grade-point average, Brooke plans to attend Anderson University and study kinesiology to become a physical therapist.