Geno Hayes welcomes comparisons to Brooks Track a legend long enough, and there will be times when his footprints seem too deep to match. Follow him far enough, and there will be days when it seems his shadow is too wide to allow anyone else to shine. And so it is with Geno Hayes, the linebacker who has been chasing after Derrick Brooks since he learned how to run. Yes, it can be an unfair game, this comparison of a kid to a captain, of an apprentice to a master, of potential to production. After all, Brooks has stardom behind him, and who knows if Hayes has it in front? At this point, mentioning the two of them in the same breath is premature, presumptuous and preposterous. Also, it is inevitable. Resist if you will, but when it comes to Hayes, you cannot help yourself. At FSU, Hayes was part copy, part clone of Brooks, and it was impossible not to hold him up against the original. Hayes was 10 years old when he first learned about Brooks, and he was 17 when he asked him for permission to wear his jersey. He is roughly the same size as the 6-foot, 235-pound Brooks, and he plays the same position with the same knack for making big plays. He went to the same school, and he wore the same number, and he played for the same coach. Now, he has become part of the same NFL team. There are worse paths to follow. Perhaps that explains why Hayes' career with the Bucs was all of six hours and six questions old Friday when the familiar questions resumed. A quick hello, a fast how-do-you-do and a sudden are-you-the-next Derrick Brooks. And just like always, Hayes grinned. He will tell you that being compared to Brooks isn't a problem. If he were being compared to bad linebackers, it would be a problem. "Yeah, there is a whole lot of pressure that comes with it," Hayes said. "But you have to live up to your expectations, not the world's expectations. If you try to live up to the world's expectations, you probably won't make it." As for Brooks, he worries. Whenever he hears Hayes being compared to him, he winces. "I just don't want it painted that Geno has to be anything besides himself," Brooks said. "He isn't Derrick Brooks. He's Geno. His 40 times weren't as fast as mine, and suddenly, you heard, 'Oh, he's not Derrick Brooks.' It became a negative. That's unfair, and it's wrong. I'm going to do my part. I'm going to try and help him make the team. I'm going to be there for him. But I'm going to tell him not to worry about being Derrick Brooks. He has to be himself." Hayes says he is confident that will be good enough. The NFL isn't convinced. There were 174 players taken ahead of Hayes in last weekend's draft, and 20 were linebackers. Hayes, who figured he would go in the second round, lasted until the Bucs picked him in the sixth. Perhaps it was his age that discouraged teams (he is only 20, and he doesn't look an hour older). Perhaps it was his size (at 6-2 he weighs 228 pounds, but about 15 of those are well-hidden. Maybe he has heavy tattoos). Regardless, there are a lot of bodies between Hayes and Brooks on the depth chart. If you are going to compare Hayes with anyone, start with Adam Hayward and Leon Joe and Teddy Lehman and Antoine Cash. Hayes is going to have to beat out a couple of those guys to make the team. And still, Brooks is omnipresent. The practice field is his yard, and the meeting room is his den, and the standards at linebacker have been his for a very long time. In other words, under Brooks' wing is an excellent place for Hayes to reside. So who is Hayes? Those who remember his arrest last year outside a Tallahassee nightclub have one impression. Those who remember him calling out Florida's Tim Tebow have another. Oh, let's be honest. As bulletin board fodder goes, "Tebow's going down" isn't going to make anyone forget about Joe Namath. And the bar incident? Even Brooks compares Hayes to Brooks on that one. "It was no more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Brooks said. "I remember that when I was at FSU, I made a bad decision (in the Foot Locker scandal) and got suspended for a couple of games. I put it in my past and didn't repeat it. Some kids don't let the mistakes stop at one. Since that incident, Geno hasn't had any problems." Said Hayes: "Everyone who knows me knows I'm a good guy." For now, he is a young guy. There are a lot of kickoff coverages in his future. A few wedges to bust, too. Eventually, perhaps he will have a few shoes to fill. Gary Shelton, The St.Petersburg Times 4 May 2008