Mehcad Brooks Interview On 'Necessary Roughness,' Gays In The NFL, Being A Calvin Klein Underwear Model

Mehcad Brooks plays a football player with anger issues in the popular USA network series Necessary Roughness. Brooks knows a bit about the game — his father was once an NFL player. “I don’t remember a lot of the NFL stuff, but I do remember how it affected the lifestyle that sort of athlete mentality of being invincible," he told Uinterview exclusively. "It affected my family, so I was able to get a lot of stories.”

Born and raised in Austin, Tex., Brooks played football while in junior high school and high school. He played basketball for a while before quitting but turning down several basketball scholarships choosing instead to follow a career in acting. Brooks appeared in season two of the popular HBO series True Blood. He's also earned a devoted following or his stint as a Calvin Klein underwear model.

In the season finale airing on Wednesday, Necessary Roughness tackles the issue of homophobia in the NFL. Brooks, for one, thinks it's about time an NFL star came out. “You’re going to have critics, you’re going to have people who are immature,” he told Uinterview, “but screw them, because that’s your truth, that’s your life and you have to live it fully.”

Necessary Roughness season finale airs on Feb. 20 at 10/9c on USA Network.