Former Ole Miss Lineman Brooks Glad to Be Back South As a Stallion
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - February 16, 2026
By Steve Irvine
Mason Brooks, a newcomer to the Birmingham Stallions roster this season, showed up for the team’s fan day last weekend wearing a white cowboy hat.
The question had to be asked. Was he doing that to make a good first impression on the Stallions fans or does wearing a cowboy hat come naturally to the 6-foot-5, 318-pound offensive tackle?
Brooks laughed before answering the question.
“It's a Texas thing,” said the Cedar Park, Texas native, who played collegiately at Western Kentucky and Ole Miss and played for the UFL champion DC Defenders last season. “You know, being back in the South, I wore one in college on game days. I missed that, so I’m keeping the tradition going. But yeah, it's a Texas thing and a Stallions thing. I pull for both.”
Brooks fell in love with football long before he grew into a prototypical offensive lineman. That’s another Texas thing.
“I think (football is) in everyone's blood from birth,” Brooks said of his Texas roots. “My dad played at the University of Arkansas. My mom was an all-state volleyball player and so we were just an athletic family. But yeah, pretty much from when you can walk or you can use your hands, you've got a football in your hands, you got a helmet on. You’re on some field in 110-degree heat on a Saturday and running around. Pretty much as long as I can remember, I've played football.”
He was part of a state championship team at Cedar Park High and played his first four college seasons at Western Kentucky, where he started in 23 games over his final two seasons. He transferred to Ole Miss in 2022 and was a reserve offensive lineman and special teams player for the Rebels. Brooks spent the 2023 season on the Washington Commanders practice roster and also has been either on the practice squad or camp with the Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins.
Last spring, was a starter at offensive guard for the DC Defenders, who won the championship with a 58-34 victory over the Michigan Panthers. The Defenders opened the 2025 season with a win over the Birmingham Stallions in a game where words were exchanged between the players and coaches afterward.
“Actually, crazy story, the first game of the year last year, I got sick,” Brooks said. “I got a really bad stomach flu and I actually couldn't travel that week. I was slotted to start and I actually didn't even travel. So, I didn't get to play in the game. I never got to play against the Stallions. But I remember the drama that went on with the coaches. We were fired up to play them. And there was this big chip on everyone's shoulders of like, well, that's the Stallions, (winners of) multiple championships. There was kind of an aura around them. I think we played with an edge last year against the Stallions.”
Now, Brooks in on the other side and the experience of last year will be helpful.
“I think that the league is a league of opportunity, but it is a different walk from the NFL,” Brooks said. “I think it's cool to have that perspective now as a player and to be able to kind of show some of the guys coming in this season, hey, this is what this league looks like, this is how you execute in this league, this is how you win games in this league. Kind of transition other guys to be able to experience that. But also having experienced it last season, I'm not blindsided every week by flying to this city or that city.”
For a league where every organization is based out of Arlington, Texas, it is a different feel on game day, where essentially every week is a road game. What makes it more unique, though, is the opposing teams share the same plane.
“There's always going to be tensions that are high in football games,” Brooks said. “I just think it's funny, like, you have a beef with somebody in the game, you get into it and then they're passing you to go to their aisle row seat. Then they're also passing you on the elevator in the facility. My coach last year said, you better think long and hard when you start beef with somebody because you're going to see them every single day. You're going to fly on the plane with them, if something happens you're going to end up on the no-fly list. It was definitely an adjustment, but I think it's cool because there are rivalries in the league, but the majority of the guys are there to go back to the league, the NFL, or to go for the first time. Everybody wants to win and everyone's competitive, but there's a like-minded goal of everyone wanting to achieve this.”