Tight end poised to build on Pro Bowl season
There’s the blogging, the outlandish fashion, the unique musical tastes, the marriage to a former cheerleader and the selfless charity work. There’s also, of course, the team-leading receptions and touchdown receptions and a little thing called the Pro Bowl.
What’s left for Chris Cooley in 2008? How about another helping of everything. The fifth-year tight end is more than comfortable bearing the burden on and off the field as one of the faces of the Redskins.
“I feel like I’m the guy that people turn to, that players turn to when we need a play,” said Cooley, whose eight touchdown receptions last season marked the first time a tight end had led a team in that statistic since 1970. “They expect something out of me, and that’s what I like. I can provide that, and I want to stay in that spot on the team.”
Cooley also caught the ball 66 times overall to earn a trip to Hawaii, an experience that served both as individual motivation and as notice to opponents.
“Once you make that Pro Bowl, now when you line up, everybody focuses,” said Redskins tight end coach Rennie Simmons. “I think the defensive coaches, when they develop their schemes and stuff, they’re going to be careful who they put on him. It’s probably going to be a little tougher this year.”
Cooley has responded by getting in better shape and running crisper routes. The Redskins’ adoption of a West Coast Offense also allows him to use his playmaking ability in new ways to find open holes and seams.
“I feel like we’re going to have an opportunity to catch more balls, just run around, get open,” said Cooley. “Whereas last year, even if you run a great route, depending on the coverage, you may or may not get the ball.”
“He sort of hates to be taken off the field,” said head coach Jim Zorn, “and he’s voiced that opinion, in a good way. I have my work cut out for me.”
To be fair, all of the Redskins pass catchers may be tempted to believe that more balls are coming their way. Simmons compared it to 1989, when Art Monk, Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders each had more than 1,100 yards receiving.
“When they would come in and look at a game plan,” said Simmons, “a couple of them might be excited. At least one out of the three would look at it and go, ‘Oh man, I’m not going to get any balls.’ But come Sunday, it was just the opposite. The guys that thought they were going to get all the balls didn’t get hardly any, and the guy that didn’t think he was going to get any got a ton of balls. You just never know.”
Chris Cooley
#47 • Tight end
Age » 26; Ht. » 6-3; Wt. » 258
College » Utah State; Experience » 5th season
Last season » Caught 66 passes for 786 yards and eight touchdowns. The yards and TDs were both career highs.
Nickname » Captain Chaos
On the Web » chriscooley47.com
