Sixers national anthem singer Ron Brooks continues to make the most of his one-of-a-kind life -

When you first hear Ron Brooks speak, after hearing him sing a number of times, it can be a bit jarring.

In about an hour on this late November evening, Brooks’ booming voice will echo throughout the Wells Fargo Center. When he sings the national anthem before a 76ers game, there is a concerted force — the same force that caused him to develop a hernia when he first started out as a child without a microphone. In conversation, that voice turns whimsical.

The Indiana Pacers are in town, and Brooks is in his dressing room at the South Philadelphia arena. When he began singing the national anthem at sporting events in the 1980s, Brooks performed at men’s and women’s basketball games at Villanova, his alma mater. He attributes his pregame routine to Rollie Massimino, who told him to do the same thing as the players.

“You don’t need to be standing around on the court before you do the anthem,” Brooks recalled the legendary Wildcats head coach telling him. “Go into a quiet place and focus on what you’re about to do. And then bring it all, and leave it there on the court.”

Brooks doesn’t normally talk much right before singing the anthem, an approach the 54-year-old describes as “all business.” There are visible signs of Brooks’ intense patriotism, such as the lapels of his jacket that are lined with pins from all of the military installations where he has sung.

Ron Brooks’ adoptive father was a member of the U.S. Army. (Courtesy of the Philadelphia 76ers)

In the moments before he sings at center court, Brooks said that his mind might go to a few different places. Sept. 11th, and the people he personally knew who died that day in 2001, typically come first. It’s what helped him make it through the song the first time he sang the national anthem at a Sixers game here, 14 years ago.

“Very nerve-wracking,” Brooks said of that night. “Because the game was on TV, because they told me how many people were in the stadium. It was a matter of just looking above me and focusing on the flag, focusing on everything that happened at the World Trade Center. It worked out.”

Given up for adoption at birth, Brooks spent his childhood at St. Edmond’s Home For Children in Rosemont, Pa. The staff provides a “holistic outcome-oriented plan of care for children with intellectual and physical disabilities,” according to the St. Edmond’s website. It’s where Brooks, before he turned 7, was first introduced to music therapy, and where he took part in shows such as “The Wizard of Oz” and “Annie.”

“Our mantra was, ‘Look at what we can do despite our physical challenges,’” Brooks said. “And to see a child that has cerebral palsy that could not pick their head up off their lap, to see a child be able to put their head up and shake a tambourine to music, it’s absolutely amazing.”

Asked to note the physical challenges from his life, Brooks rattles off a long list. He was born with congenital birth defects. “My feet were where my knees should’ve been,” he said. “My hips were severely deformed.” At age 9, both of Brooks’ legs were amputated.

By the time he was in junior high, Brooks’ hips were deteriorating. He fell down a lot. He was eventually put in a wheelchair full-time, only rising on his prosthetic legs to sing. Fast-forward to five years ago, and Brooks was diagnosed with osteoporosis and severe spinal stenosis. Brooks — whose back, hips, shoulders and neck are all severely damaged — no longer walks on prosthetics. He belts out the national anthem from his wheelchair.

In high school, though, Brooks still participated in a fair share of extra-curricular activities. When 76ers PA announcer Matt Cord introduces the singer to the crowd, it’s as “the world’s first double amputee to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.” While attending New Jersey’s Brick Township High School, Brooks was on the wrestling team. In 2017, he received the Medal of Courage from the New Jersey Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

“I used to take the artificial legs off and crawl out onto the mat,” Brooks said. “And kids would look down and say, ‘How do I wrestle? He’s got no legs.’ And that’s when I looked up and smiled because you know you won the match psychologically.”

Before the Pacers game, there is another person with Brooks in his waiting room: Dru Kegreiss, a friend since the ’80s, whom he met through membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Most times when Brooks sings, the Sixers provide him with transportation to the game from his home in Brick Township, but Kegreiss, a basketball fan, was available on this Saturday night.

At one point, Kegreiss tells a story about Brooks that he heard a few years ago at Brooks’ birthday party. It involved him showing up at The Stone Pony, the Asbury Park, N.J., rock venue made famous by Bruce Springsteen.

“He went in and they had an Elvis impersonator contest,” Kegreiss said. “(Ron) didn’t know that they were having that. So he’s like, ‘I’ll go.’ So all these guys are dressed up like Elvis and stuff, he went up there and sang like Elvis and he won the 1,000 bucks. That’s just one thing. I mean, anywhere you go, everybody knows him.”

Despite spending much of his childhood in the Philadelphia suburbs, New Jersey is central to Brooks’ story. When he was in high school, Brooks was formally adopted by a New Jersey family that got to know him during his formative years. St. Edmond’s had a summer residence in Brick Township, and two sisters, Renee and Geraldine Froumy, were volunteers. When Brooks was in high school, he moved in permanently with them and their parents, Richard and Marie Froumy. That his adoptive father, who passed away in 2011, served in the U.S. Army has played a significant part in forming Brooks’ patriotism.

Nowadays, Brooks wakes up early and takes paratransit to his day job at Walmart. He works on projects with the Elks and the American Legion. On the weekends, he performs with the party band, Shorty Long and the Jersey Horns, first singing the national anthem before putting his hat back on and performing covers like Tom Waits’ “Jersey Girl.” Although he’s best known for singing the anthem, Brooks likes to dial back the intensity in such settings.

“With the band, I do the anthem there and (then) it’s, ‘Let’s have fun,’” Brooks said. “Throw whatever you want at me, let’s have fun and see if it sticks at the wall.”

And if Brooks does have some free time during the week, he’ll practice some new songs. At times, though, his voice gets him in trouble.

“Doesn’t always work out because the neighbor next to me complains that I’m singing too loud,” Brooks said. “But I try to do it.”

Derrick Hayes is the director of game presentation for the Sixers. When you attend a home game, everything you see in between timeouts and at halftime falls under his purview. “I can’t control what happens on the court, but I can control the experience,” he said recently. Hayes started as an intern in 2001 during Allen Iverson’s peak and worked his way up.

Hayes books the national anthem singers. Throughout the years, he has approached the task in different ways. He used to hold auditions every August at the team’s old practice facility at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. There were times when people emailed him MP3 files of their auditions.

Hayes has also tried to find local talent by scouring newspapers and the internet. And in 2005, he came across a story about Brooks, who had recently sung the anthem at a minor-league baseball game. After some more research, liking what he heard, Hayes tracked down Brooks, who was working at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City.

“I’m like, ‘Listen, I would love for him to sing the national anthem,’” Hayes said. “And they end up having a whole suite for him, brought his family, a lot of employees came up from Borgata that night. It was like 2005, against the New York Knicks. And he just tore the house down. And from there, we just built our relationship.”

Brooks said his parents, scoutmaster and other extended family attended that night. Brooks has sung periodically for the Sixers ever since, though there were seasons in which they had one official anthem singer (not Brooks) for all home games.

Ron Brooks sings the national anthem at a Philadelphia Union game in 2016. (Bill Streicher / USA Today)

Brooks also had another more recent health scare. About nine years ago, he said, he was diagnosed with achalasia — which occurs when nerves in the esophagus become damaged, making food difficult to swallow — and lost a significant amount of weight. After corrective surgery, Brooks spent about six months in the hospital and a nursing home.

Even though he briefly lost his singing voice during that time, Brooks said he refused to get discouraged.

“You just do the best you can every day,” Brooks said, “and not worry about it because there are people in worse shape than you are in or I am in.”

In the past five or so seasons, Brooks’ rise has coincided with the Sixers’ ascension. He started to gain more popularity singing the anthem when the team was losing 60-plus games per season. These days, he sings at a number of games throughout the regular season, usually on Saturdays — though Brooks also performed at the season opener against the Celtics. And if you’ve gone to a playoff game over the past few years, Brooks is almost always the one who sings the national anthem. This is not by accident.

“What I try to do is the best talent, the best entertainment components that I have, I’m going to bring that into the playoffs,” Hayes said. “And for me, I just wanted to build a tradition that, you know what, he tears the house down every night, he’s going to sing the anthem.

“You have the NBA, you have different record companies that’ll say, ‘We have this artist that can come and sing the national anthem for you.’ I’m like, ‘No, I’m OK, I have somebody that can tear down the house.’”

And whether it’s the postseason or a game in November, Hayes sees someone now very much in his element. Their friendship has developed to the point where Hayes now receives a daily check-in from Brooks on his cell phone.

“Most people, obviously, you come in this type of arena and there’s 20,000 people here, they are nervous,” Hayes said. “And he’s just like, ‘No problem.’ I’m like, ‘Ron, do you need your time? Do you need to get another soundcheck?’ He’ll sing for a couple seconds like, ‘Nope, I’m good.’ He’s like, ‘I just want to sit here and watch the guys.’ Like he’s that type of guy. Speaks to every usher, every employee here and fan.”

Brooks is very much a Sixers fan himself, one whose face lights up when he recounts past interactions with Iverson and Julius Erving.

“I do the best I can every day,” Brooks said. “And I go, ‘Please let these guys win so they have me back.’”

The Sixers plan on playing deep into May and June. How far they actually advance is anyone’s guess. But one thing is for sure: If there is a big basketball game to be played this spring in Philadelphia, we know who’s going to sing before tipoff.

“I dream that we’re going to be in the championship game and we’re going to win,” Brooks said. “And I want a championship ring after that!”

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(Top photo: Courtesy of the Philadelphia 76ers)

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