Brock Sterling Berlin (born July 4, 1981) is an American former college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Florida and the University of Miami. Berlin was signed by the Miami Dolphins of the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2005, and has also been a member of the Dallas Cowboys, St. Louis Rams, and Detroit Lions.
Early years
Berlin was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and attended Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport, where he played quarterback for the football team. He helped lead Evangel Christian to three consecutive Louisiana state high school football championships. He was recognized as a Parade All-American. He won numerous personal honors, including being named Gatorade National Player of the Year and USA Today National Offensive Player of the Year.
College career
University of Florida
After a long recruiting battle for his services, Berlin chose to accept an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida, where he played for coach Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators football team during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. His career as a Florida Gator never panned out, though, as he found himself stuck behind Rex Grossman on the team's depth chart. Given the chance to start the 2002 Orange Bowl against Maryland because Grossman was benched for violating curfew, Berlin performed adequately. He engineered two scoring drives out of six opportunities in the first 24 minutes, including one touchdown pass and two interceptions. Grossman came in late in the first half and played a brilliant game, solidifying his status as the Gators' starting quarterback for the following season. Berlin played in twelve games for the Gators over two seasons, throwing for 849 yards, 12 touchdowns, and four interceptions while completing 64-of-106 passes (60.4%).
University of Miami
After the 2001 season, Berlin transferred to the University of Miami, where he would have the opportunity to play for the defending national champion Miami Hurricanes. As required by NCAA transfer regulations, Berlin sat out the 2002 season, which he spent running Miami's scout team.
2003 season
After incumbent quarterback Ken Dorsey's graduation, Berlin took over the starting job for the 2003 season. Berlin's first season was marked by inconsistency. In his first home game as a Miami Hurricane, Berlin squared off against his old team, the Florida Gators. The Hurricanes fell behind 33–10 in the third quarter and Berlin began to hear boos from the crowd as it appeared Miami's then-33 game regular season winning streak was about to end. Berlin, though, caught fire as the team switched to a shotgun offense and rallied Miami to 28 unanswered points. The 38–33 victory was the greatest comeback in Miami history. He also stoked the fires of the Florida–Miami rivalry by mocking his former team and fans during and after the game. Several weeks later, Berlin again showed his mettle in leading Miami to a 22–14 rain soaked victory at rival Florida State. However, Berlin struggled in a 31–7 November 1 loss to the Virginia Tech Hokies, as Miami's regular season winning streak was snapped at 39 games. Berlin and the Miami offense again struggled the next week as a hungover Hurricane squad lost 10–6 to Tennessee at home. Berlin, under intense criticism by the media and fans, was benched by head coach Larry Coker for Miami's next game against Syracuse. After Miami's offense, now quarterbacked by Derrick Crudup, again struggled in the 17–10 homecoming win against Syracuse, Coker switched back to Berlin. Miami would win the Big East Conference, defeat Florida State (for the second time that season) in the FedEx Orange Bowl, and finish the season at 11–2 and ranked #5 in both polls. Despite showing poise and strong leadership skills, Berlin's numbers for the 2003 season (2,419 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions) were unimpressive, and Coker opened up competition for the quarterback job in the spring.
2004 season
Despite some fans clamoring for highly touted redshirt freshman Kyle Wright to be given the job, Berlin, now a senior, showed considerable progress during spring practice and won the starting job decisively.