Hail! Magazine: The curious case of Captain Chaos

[themurf]

[As you can see, the new issue of Hail! magazine, our free digital publication dedicated to the burgundy and gold is now out. Here is a sneak peak of my feature story in this week's issue on Redskins tight end Chris Cooley, D.C.'s favorite athlete.]

As a 4-year-old, Chris Cooley used to dress up in his John Elway jersey – complete with helmet and pads – and play imaginary football games in the backyard.

Although he was young, Cooley was as passionate about the Denver Broncos as any season-ticket holder.

“I’d bawl if the Broncos lost,” Cooley admitted. “Football is something that’s meant a lot to me from a pretty young age.”

You can imagine how Cooley handled it when Elway and the 1987 Broncos won eight of their last nine games to make it to the Super Bowl – only to get blown out by the Washington Redskins 42-10 on football’s biggest stage.

But even watching the Broncos’ most heartbreaking losses only reinforced what Cooley already knew – he absolutely wanted to be a football player when he grew up.

“As a kid you always aspire to be a professional athlete,” he said. “At least I did. If it’s not sports, then there’s something else you want to be when you grow up. But, as a kid, I was very good at all sports. I excelled at everything I played and it’s what I wanted to do.”

While Cooley knew he could play, he didn’t get a chance to play with the varsity team until he was a senior in high school and Utah State was the only college to offer him a scholarship. Not exactly the kind of start most athletes dream of.

“I always loved football and I always knew I was good at football; I just wasn’t getting the opportunity to play,” Cooley said. “I ended up starting the last four or five games my junior year and we had a pro scout come out and watch our film. He grabbed me and said, ‘Hey, I put a fifth-round draft grade on you. I just thought I’d let you know because you’re probably going to start receiving some attention.’”

Although playing in the NFL was always the dream, until that point it appeared as though Cooley would have to do something else with his life after college.

“I was going to be an art teacher,” he said. “That was the plan. I think it would be fun to do, still. It’s something that I still have in mind. It’s something that means a lot to me. That’s what I was going to do with my life.”

In the days leading up to the 2004 NFL draft, Cooley had his first interaction with the Redskins. The Powell, Wyoming, native visited Redskins Park, and then went out to dinner with Hall of Fame head coach Joe Gibbs and a host of others.

“I was intimidated,” Cooley said. “They said we were going out to dinner, so bring nice clothes. I had a $12 white button-up shirt, some Dockers and Doc Martin shoes. I’m sure I looked like a poor kid from Utah.”

His fashion sense aside, Cooley made enough of an impression on the organization that he was drafted in the third round with the 81st overall pick. And he’s been one of the organization’s most prominent players ever since.

“He came in and had some unbelievable games against Dallas early on, plus the whole Captain Chaos thing and he really took off with the fans,” Redskins safety Reed Doughty said.

Even though his numbers speak for themselves, Cooley’s lighthearted side – whether he’s wearing booty shorts during training camp or introducing himself to the opposition as a fictional super hero – is what has helped him become a fan favorite.

“I’ve always felt really fortunate that so many people here have liked me,” Cooley said. “I’m fortunate to have been given opportunities to excel from Day One. I was starting by the end of training camp as a rookie, which isn’t common. And I think I made the most of it.

“I play hard and I think people recognize that,” he continued. “They see that I play hard all the time and honestly, for the most part, unless you drop a ball, no one really knows when the tight end messes up. For the most part people think I’m doing exactly what I should be doing out there.”

While Cooley might downplay it, his teammates have no issue putting into words what the 28-year-old means to the burgundy and gold.

“All he does is make plays for us,” Redskins center Casey Rabach said. “When we need a clutch catch out of someone, it seems like Chris is always that guy. He’s definitely someone you can build a team around.”

It’s one thing to play football at a Pro Bowl level. It’s another to welcome the world into your life as Cooley has done.

To read the rest of this feature click here and subscribe to Hail! magazine.

[NewCliche21]

Kind of bad timing for this article. So it goes in the print world!

Very good article nonetheless. I love this subscription.

[themurf]

Kind of bad timing for this article. So it goes in the print world!

Very good article nonetheless. I love this subscription.

I'm not too worried about it. I'll gladly take seven good years over one bad half of football. This feature story isn't about his performance in Jacksonville - it's about Cooley as a person and what he's meant to the nation's capital since he got here. I particularly enjoyed him sharing the story of going to dinner with Joe Gibbs and friends before the draft and his thoughts on playing for another team.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

It still beggars belief that we have an OC who's totally incapable of getting two of his best playmakers, two of the very few talents he actually has at his disposal; seriously involved with his O this year.

To have Cooley more often than not blocking rather than a receiving threat, and to virtually ignore the immense potential, particularly in the red zone, that FreddyD brings to the table, has been nothing short of criminal this year; and a serious indictment of Kyle Shanahan's first year, which has left FAR more questions than answers.

Hail.

[LD0506]

I dunno, I don't see it as bad timing in the least. It doesn't hurt to be reminded just how valuable a player CC actually is when people are crying about one game. He's a small town kid and a small school kid that hasn't forgotten what it really means to be a starter in the league, an attitude that is refreshing when you hear some of the entitlement BS elsewhere. He is more nuanced, has more depth than simply wanting to be a star in the limelight.

[NewCliche21]

I'm not too worried about it. I'll gladly take seven good years over one bad half of football. This feature story isn't about his performance in Jacksonville - it's about Cooley as a person and what he's meant to the nation's capital since he got here. I particularly enjoyed him sharing the story of going to dinner with Joe Gibbs and friends before the draft and his thoughts on playing for another team.

Yeah, as you put in the article, I love that he gives such access into his world. I'm wondering how true that he'll be to his word if we do try to trade him.

On Davis's touchdown, weren't both Davis and Cooley open? It was Davis who got the ball. I don't know if that's telling or if I'm reading too much into it, but I can't shake a feeling of trading Cooley to get something good out of this draft.

[Dan T.]

On Davis's touchdown, weren't both Davis and Cooley open? It was Davis who got the ball. I don't know if that's telling or if I'm reading too much into it, but I can't shake a feeling of trading Cooley to get something good out of this draft.

I'm beyond fan worship of individual players, especially in the free agent era where players bounce from team to team, but Chris Cooley is one guy who I hope has a long career with the Redskins. It would make no sense to trade him for a hit-or-miss mid-round draft pick.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

I'm beyond fan worship of individual players, especially in the free agent era where players bounce from team to team, but Chris Cooley is one guy who I hope has a long career with the Redskins. It would make no sense to trade him for a hit-or-miss mid-round draft pick.

See, as much as he's still my current favorite 'Skin, when you have as many holes as we have, with him being one of the very few real talents who have value we could trade to garner more picks to help fill those holes, I can't agree with that.

Even less so when we have arguably a better pass catching TE in waiting in Fred Davis. Certainly a quicker, more athletic younger version who's numbers to date have been fantastic the few times we can actually be bothered to get him on the darn field. Throw in Logan Paulsen who's a young, promising blocking TE; and as much as it would pain me, my head say's it would be to our detriment to not at least look at what's on offer for Cooley.

The bigger picture for the organization's future > personal favorite player.

Hail.

[authentic]

See, as much as he's still my current favorite 'Skin, when you have as many holes as we have, with him being one of the very few real talents who have value we could trade to garner more picks to help fill those holes, I can't agree with that.

Even less so when we have arguably a better pass catching TE in waiting in Fred Davis. Certainly a quicker, more athletic younger version who's numbers to date have been fantastic the few times we can actually be bothered to get him on the darn field. Throw in Logan Paulsen who's a young, promising blocking TE; and as much as it would pain me, my head say's it would be to our detriment to not at least look at what's on offer for Cooley.

The bigger picture for the organization's future > personal favorite player.

Hail.

^^Absolutely...This is how the winning organizations around the league conduct business.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

^^Absolutely...This is how the winning organizations around the league conduct business.

Yup. You can't have sentiment in football.

The minute you start doing that is when you start on that slippery downward slope. A key component to the many that make up being a top HC, is knowing just when the time is to cut ties with vet. guys, however productive and vital they may of been for you.

Hail.

[themurf]

Yup. You can't have sentiment in football.

The minute you start doing that is when you start on that slippery downward slope. A key component to the many that make up being a top HC, is knowing just when the time is to cut ties with vet. guys, however productive and vital they may of been for you.

Hail.

But if I were to make the devil's advocate argument, I'd say that Chris Cooley has earned the right to finish his career in Washington. He's now 5th on the Redskins' all-time receiving list and will be in 4th place in six more catches. He's been the face of the franchise and a model citizen while losses have piled up around him. Far too often this season the offense has stalled and for whatever reason he doesn't even get a ball thrown his way until the second half and he doesn't complain. He just goes out and tries to help his team win. And he wants to be here so badly that he's contemplated walking away from football rather than having to play for another franchise.

Add in the fact that he's only 28 and I would argue that he's one of the guys you should try to build the offense around. Sure, Davis is younger, but aren't you just hoping he develops into what you've already got in Cooley? Why give away a player and hope his backup eventually becomes as good as him when you can just hold onto the guy and know what you're getting?

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

It comes down to a simple "needs must" scenario for me Murph.

As much as I agree with everything you said above on Cooley and more, do we need, or more pertinently, when one of the two is one of the very few players of worth we actually have to bargain with; can we afford to keep two top end caliber receiving TE's? (And I'm classing Davis as well on the way to that status. It's not his fault we have a bonehead of an OC that can't see the weapon's he has at his disposal. Which goes for the piss poor way Cooley's been under utilized this year too.).

To keep them both, when we have Paulsen as a young, big, blocking TE to make up the numbers, is a luxury we can't afford given the job at hand IMHO. If Davis is the player I believe he is, one who'll be as good as, if not better than Cooley; then it seems simple to me, as much as I'd hate to see Chris anywhere else, you see what's on the table. Our overall situation dictates.

In an ideal World, I'd never even entertain the possibility of Chris playing anywhere but here. But thanks to years of mismanagement, and his back-up proving to be a pretty darn good prospect himself, this is far from an ideal period for this franchise.

Hail.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

Afternoon bump, on a fantastic player and person, from a fantastic writer, from a fantastic publication.

Hail.

[WorshiptheMonk81]

Since I often see people talking about trading Cooley, figured I'd share my thought on the "Trade Cooley" hype. I'm not so sure that would be a good idea because say we trade cooley for a third round pick in theory. Then 2 games in to the 2011 season , (god forbid) Freddy D tear up a knee or breaks a bone and suffers a seaon ending injury. Then what do you do?? Your star TE is now traded and his replacement is out. Just a thought. An ugly , terrible thought.

Hail

[WorshiptheMonk81]

Since I hear a lot of talk about trading Cooley, figured I'd share my thought on the "Trade Cooley" hype. I'm not so sure that would be a good idea. Say we trade Cooley for a third round pick in theory. Then 2 games in to the 2011 season, (god forbid) Freddy D tear up a knee or break a bone and suffer a season ending injury. Then what do you do?? Your star TE has been traded and his replacement is out. Just a thought. A horrible, terrible thought.

Hail

sorry for the duplicate post, trying to multi task at work!

[megared]

But if I were to make the devil's advocate argument, I'd say that Chris Cooley has earned the right to finish his career in Washington. He's now 5th on the Redskins' all-time receiving list and will be in 4th place in six more catches. He's been the face of the franchise and a model citizen while losses have piled up around him. Far too often this season the offense has stalled and for whatever reason he doesn't even get a ball thrown his way until the second half and he doesn't complain. He just goes out and tries to help his team win. And he wants to be here so badly that he's contemplated walking away from football rather than having to play for another franchise.

Add in the fact that he's only 28 and I would argue that he's one of the guys you should try to build the offense around. Sure, Davis is younger, but aren't you just hoping he develops into what you've already got in Cooley? Why give away a player and hope his backup eventually becomes as good as him when you can just hold onto the guy and know what you're getting?

If Portis hasn't earned the right to retire a Redskin, I don't think there's a single person that should have that luxury extended at the expense of improving our roster. We saw Davis for half a year to know he's capable of at least the production Cooley gives us, possibly even more.

I feel like Cooley is so overvalued because he's one of our own...don't forget he is the #1 targeted TE in the NFL. How much more should he be featured in the offense?

[NewCliche21]

Since I often see people talking about trading Cooley, figured I'd share my thought on the "Trade Cooley" hype. I'm not so sure that would be a good idea because say we trade cooley for a third round pick in theory. Then 2 games in to the 2011 season , (god forbid) Freddy D tear up a knee or breaks a bone and suffers a seaon ending injury. Then what do you do?? Your star TE is now traded and his replacement is out. Just a thought. An ugly , terrible thought.

Hail

You don't keep someone to be an A+ back up.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

^^Absolutely...This is how the winning organizations around the league conduct business.

Out of curiosity, which teams have traded 28-29 year old Pro Bowl-level players? Only team I can think of that falls into that category is the Chargers when they traded Drew Brees.

[gbear]

And the Chargers had a pretty good back up so it made sense. If you think Davis is good, you trade the one with more value (Cooley). This isn't the 80's. Teams can't afford to keep good back up talent forever stashed away as injury insurance. As to the what if Davis goes down in game 2 question, that's the same question we have with every starter. Do we say better him than Williams or Landry or Hall or...

Infinite depth isn't available any more. Welcome to the rules of parity...even if we seem a little less even than some over the past few decades.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

And the Chargers had a pretty good back up so it made sense. If you think Davis is good, you trade the one with more value (Cooley). This isn't the 80's. Teams can't afford to keep good back up talent forever stashed away as injury insurance. As to the what if Davis goes down in game 2 question, that's the same question we have with every starter. Do we say better him than Williams or Landry or Hall or...

Infinite depth isn't available any more. Welcome to the rules of parity...even if we seem a little less even than some over the past few decades.

That's not my question or my point, though...it was mentioned that "successful" teams trade proven Pro-Bowl level players who are under 30 all the time. My question was asking "When"? lol...Brees was the only one I could think of. Team cancers like Moss and T.O. do get traded, yes. But name all the under-30, Pro Bowl-level players the Pats, Colts, Steelers, Ravens and Giants have traded. You MIGHT find 3 or 4...which tends to point to the fact that these teams do NOT regularly trade good under-30 players for draft picks. Consistency in a player is an undervalued aspect by fans...a new guy has 8 really good games and that's all they need to know. Coaches tend to prefer the guy who has strung together 5, 6, 7 seasons of great games and still have at least 3-4 more years of productivity in them.

The Brees example doesn't work, because you don't have situations regularly during games where you need to use both the #1 and #2 QBs like you do with pretty much every other position on the team. You can put both TEs on the field for the same play...can't really do that with QBs lol. Not to mention most teams don't enjoy sitting a top-5 draft pick, as where 2nd round draft picks being on the bench isn't nearly as troubling.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

I think he was responding to my general point Cali man about an important part of being a good HC is knowing just when to cut ties with players, and not keep them around longer than they should for sentiments sake because they may of been a reliable guy for you.

Cooley, from an age stand-point, obviously doesn't fall into that category, and would eb a bad example. But then as regards our overall situation, there's elements of that, that are relative.

Hail.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

I think he was responding to my general point Cali man about an important part of being a good HC is knowing just when to cut ties with players, and not keep them around longer than they should for sentiments sake because they may of been a reliable guy for you.

Cooley, from an age stand-point, obviously doesn't fall into that category, and would eb a bad example. But then as regards our overall situation, there's elements of that, that are relative.

Hail.

I get that...but the reality is still that most successful teams and successful head coaches tend to hang onto players like Cooley, not trade them away. Doesn't mean there aren't some rare exceptions, but overall they don't part with the Cooleys of the NFL until they're in their early 30s unless someone offers just an incredible trade deal.

Players of Cooley's age and production are usually only traded if they fall into one of several categories:

- Team cancers (Moss, T.O.)

- Coming off serious injury (Brown)

- Disgruntled (Bailey, Shockey)

- Team invested extremely high draft pick in their replacement (Brees)

Cooley doesn't fit into any of those categories. He's a GREAT team player, is nowhere near being disgruntled, and the team didn't invest a high draft pick into his replacement. You might be able to argue that the concussion falls under the "serious injury" umbrella, but that's a stretch imo...

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't disagree with any of that Cali.

But these aren't normal circumstances. We have a **** load of holes to fill, right across the board; with limited picks and even less "talent" of any note to garner some more. So when one of the very few players of any worth can potentially get you maybe another first day pick, whilst all the while you have a player chomping at the bit with the potential to be just as good if not better than said player; well, I then think circumstances dictate you move on that star TE earlier than you normally would.

I just don't see the Redskins as having the luxury to pick and chose given the massive job at hand.

Hail.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't disagree with any of that Cali.

But these aren't normal circumstances. We have a **** load of holes to fill, right across the board; with limited picks and even less "talent" of any note to garner some more. So when one of the very few players of any worth can potentially get you maybe another first day pick, whilst all the while you have a player chomping at the bit with the potential to be just as good if not better than said player; well, I then think circumstances dictate you move on that star TE earlier than you normally would.

I just don't see the Redskins as having the luxury to pick and chose given the massive job at hand.

Hail.

But the opposite can be said as well...that the Redskins have so many holes to fill that it wouldn't make sense to create a possible new hole (or at the very least weaken a position and make it a possible hole in the near future). I would love to believe that between the draft, free agency and an above average scouting department the Redskins could make serious strides to filling most of those wholes next offseason even if they keep Cooley.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

Hey, if Cooley's on the roster next year, I'll be happy as Larry man.

I love the dude, for everything you've mentioned and Murph brought up in the interview. Dudes a fantastic guy, aside from being a top class TE. I personally think it would be to our detriment if we don't at least cover all bases and see just what would be on offer, but if he's still wearing the B&G next year, we're real strong at the position.

Or we would be, if we had an OC that had a ******* clue how to utilize the talent at his disposal.

Hail.