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Eighteen years later and now headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Derrick Brooks laughs at the memory of sitting in a hotel room the morning of a game early in his career. He was turning on a TV and being riled by a national commentator who not only forecast another loss for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but jokingly referred to the struggling team as the ''Yucks.'' The young, undersized linebacker who would go on to become the heartbeat of a Super Bowl champion turned to roommate Warren Sapp, another second-year pro embracing the challenge of transforming one of the worst franchises in pro sports history into a title contender, and the two of them locked angry eyes. Along with hard-hitting safety John Lynch, they formed the cornerstone of a dominant defense that keyed a Super Bowl run in 2002 and ranked among the best in the NFL for more than a decade. He had his quiet way of challenging us,'' the 2002 NFL defensive player of the year added.
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