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Brian Westbrook was born on September 2, 1979 in Fort Washington, Maryland. Although Westbrook is not the most skilled, biggest, or athletic player he has always used his drive and determination to make his way to the top of any level that he has ever competed at. For this reason, he is known as one of the most complete and versatile players in the entire football world. This is saying a lot when you take all of the great players into consideration.

Westbrook played high school football at DeMatha Catholic High School in Maryland. Year in and year out DeMatha is a powerhouse in high school football and this held true during Westbrook's time at the school. Although he did not get a lot of attention from college recruiters, he did do enough to get a few looks from the next level.

After high school Westbrook took his game to Villanova University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although he had to fight through several injuries while in college, he still managed to become one of the best players that this level has ever seen. He still holds the NCAA record for all purpose yards with 9,512. On top of all those yards Westbrook also scored 84 touchdowns during his time at Villanova. He finished off 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 small college experience. But the Philadelphia Eagles decided to take a chance in 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 by rushing for more than 800 yards. He followed this up with back to back seasons of 1,000 total yards or more in 2005 and 2006.