FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- It's the stuff nightmares are made off...
Keith Brooking makes a breath-removing hit on the running back to force a key third-and-2 late in the fourth quarter. Brooking is next spotted on his hands and knees pawing the turf, desperately looking for the only tool he has to preserve one of a linebacker's best assets -- his vision. Missing contact lens. Brooking leaves the field to get a back up and misses the next play.
But it's not completely a bad dream. Vision correction is part of the five-time Pro Bowler's game.
Contacts, however, are part of the past.
"It happened frequently," Brooking said. "It wouldn't happen every game but at least six, seven or eight times a year I was searching for my contact out on the field and having to run to the sidelines. They always had a stash on the sidelines ready for me... It was a constant pain in the neck."
So, in July, Brooking decided to have LASIK surgery to repair his vision. No contacts required.
"I had to wear contacts during the game," he said. "I would not have been able to play without them.
"I was doing research and found out Woolfson is obviously the most reputable company in the Atlanta area and the nation. I wanted someone I could trust. They really did a great job. I went from having to wear glasses on a daily basis and contacts during a game to seeing 20-10.
"It was a great move for me. It's been unbelievable. It's been like night and day."
Brooking isn't the only athlete in the news to have a LASIK procedure. Golfer Tiger Woods had some vision correction earlier this year and just last week Cleveland Cavaliers star Lebron James had similar eye work.
LASIK procedures have become common for fans as well, especially as technology becomes broader and more defined. According to the Woolfson Eye Institute's web site, LASIK can be used to correct, near sightedness, far sightedness or astigmatism.
The process involves lasers but Brooking wasn't squeamish, even with the importance of vision in his career.
"I felt very comfortable after doing the research with Woolfson about the job they were going to do," he said. "But, obviously, when you talk about your eyes it's one of the most important sense that you have, especially doing what I do."
Thus far Brooking has shown no ill effects. He started his 97th consecutive game last week at Minnesota and recorded nine tackles. That brings his career total to 1,220 stops -- not counting any he may have missed popping in a reserve contact lens.
When it comes to this week's game Brooking, like everyone, else has used his mind's eye to show a positive outcome. The team heads to Jacksonville Saturday looking to even its record at 1-1 after a season-opening loss to the Vikings.
"I think it's very realistic for guys to start pressing and push the panic button, but I've been around this game long enough to know we have a lot of football to play," he said. "That's the thing you have to impress upon these young guys. You say it verbally, but you do it with your actions more than anything -- treat this week like any other week."
"You put it behind you and you move forward."
In the literal since, it's much easier for Brooking to see what's ahead.
"Seeing... What an unbelievable blessing to have," he said. "At the end of the day I felt completely comfortable my decision, had a piece of mind about it and there were no second thoughts. I was excited to get it done."
