Chris Cooley

Christopher Ken Cooley (born July 11, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL).

In 2003, his senior season at Utah State, Cooley led the NCAA in receptions by a tight end.

He played college football for the Utah State Aggies and was drafted by the Redskins in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft.

Cooley attended Logan High School in Logan, Utah, and lettered in football, wrestling, and baseball.

As a senior football tight end, he caught 45 passes for 625 yards (13.34 yards per rec. avg.) and on defense, added eight sacks and numerous tackles.

In wrestling, he posted a 54–0 record his senior season, winning an Utah state championship and earned All-America honors.

Cooley finished his college football career at Utah State University with 95 receptions for 1,255 yards (13.2 yards per reception).

He was part of a talented receiving unit with teammate Kevin Curtis.

In 2004, Cooley was drafted in the third round, with the 81st overall pick, of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins.

After being used sparingly in the first half of the 2004 season, Cooley began to be used more extensively in the last eight games, developing a rapport with Redskins quarterback Patrick Ramsey.

In his first NFL season, Cooley led the team in touchdowns with six, while recording 37 receptions for 314 yards, catching three passes of more than twenty yards, and getting 23 first downs.

He finished the season with an average of 8.5 yards per catch.

He was the Redskins' nominee for the NFL Man of the Year award for his work reading to children and feeding the poor.

He is also lesser known by the nickname "Johnny White Guy," which was given to him by Clinton Portis during one of Portis' colorful press conferences, but the off color nickname did not stick.

During the 2005 season, Cooley had a solid season as a receiver, catching 71 passes for 774 yards and seven touchdowns, including three in a game versus the rival Dallas Cowboys, breaking the Redskins franchise record for receptions as a tight end in a single season.

Those three touchdowns cost Cooley his fantasy football playoff game, because his opponent had Cooley on his fantasy team.

He led all NFC tight ends in fan voting for the annual Pro Bowl with 422,314 votes, but following player and coach voting (each group had 1/3 weight), was not chosen for the position.

He was named first-team All-NFC by Pro Football Weekly.

In 2006, Cooley got off to a slow start under the play-calling of the Washington Redskins' new offensive coordinator, Al Saunders.

With only three receptions in the first two weeks of the season, Cooley appeared to not have a place in the new offensive scheme, but in the weeks following, became a growing part of the Redskins offense.

He ended the season with numbers slightly less than his sophomore outing, but was still one of the top tight ends in the game.

On September 1, 2007, Cooley signed a six-year, $30 million contract extension.

In 2007, he had scored in all but one game as of week six.

In the sixth week, Cooley had nine receptions for a career-high 105 yards and one touchdown in a 17–14 loss against the Green Bay Packers.

On December 18, he was named to the 2007 Pro Bowl team with Redskins tackle Chris Samuels, long-snapper Ethan Albright, and the late safety Sean Taylor.

Cooley, Samuels and Albright wore Taylor's number 21 during the Pro Bowl in honor of him.

Cooley set an NFL record by being the only tight end in league history to have six or more touchdowns in each of his first four seasons.

In 2008, Cooley scored only one touchdown.

In Week 5, he had eight receptions for a career-high 109 yards and one touchdown, on a pass from Antwaan Randle El in a 23–17 win against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Cooley finished the season with 83 catches for 849 yards and one touchdown, with career highs in both catches and yardage.

He was the only player not to get into the stat book in the 2009 Pro Bowl.

Cooley broke his ankle in a matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles on October 26, 2009.

It was initially speculated that Cooley would miss the remainder of the 2009 season.

On October 27, 2009, Cooley commented via Twitter that the break may not have been as bad as originally thought and that he could possibly return in as little as four weeks.

His longest play of the year was a 66-yard touchdown.

On November 30, 2009, Cooley was placed on injured reserve.

Cooley played in all sixteen games of the 2010 season, but had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee after the season on January 3, 2011.

Still recovering from the arthroscopic surgery to his left knee, Cooley did not play in any of the preseason games in 2011.

Cooley played only in the 2011 season's first five games.

In 2017 he was inducted into the Utah State University Athletics Hall of Fame.