Cooper Winston Helfet (born June 2, 1989) is a former American football tight end. He was signed by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Duke.

Early years

Helfet attende
Mark Day School
for elementary and middle school and Redwood High School, where he played football, basketball, and lacrosse. As a senior, he recorded 42 receptions for 811 yards and earned first-team all-conference honors. He was lightly recruited by college football scouts, only receiving attention from FCS football programs including the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Schoo ...

and various Ivy League programs. However, he committed to Johns Hopkins University on a full lacrosse scholarship.

College career

Johns Hopkins University

Helfet accepted a full lacrosse scholarship to Johns Hopkins University, where he played lacrosse for the Blue Jays in the fall of 2007. After one semester at Johns Hopkins, Helfet transferred to Santa Rosa Junior College with hopes of pursuing a football career.

Santa Rosa Junior College

Helfet started his collegiate career at Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa, California. He was one of the very few junior college players ever to transfer to Duke University.

Duke University

In his junior year, which was his first season at Duke, he was named as an honorable mention All-ACC. In his senior season, he was among the players named to the 33-member watch list for the John Mackey Award. He was selected to the pre-season All-ACC by both Lindy's Sports second-team and Athlon Sports third-team also prior to his senior season.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

On May 16, 2012, he signed with the

as an undrafted free agent. On August 31, he was released. On January 17, 2013, he re-signed with the Seahawks to a futures contract. On August 31, 2013, he was released. On September 2, 2013, he was signed to the practice squad. On February 5, 2014, he was signed to a reserve/future contract. He would remain on the Seahawks for the 2015 season and part of the 2016 season.

Oakland Raiders

On October 11, 2016, Helfet was signed to the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

' practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Raiders on January 9, 2017. On July 25, 2017, the Raiders placed Helfet on the Non-Football Injury List. He was released on September 2, 2017.

References

External links

Seattle Seahawks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helfet, Cooper 1989 births Living people American football tight ends Duke Blue Devils football players Oakland Raiders players People from Kentfield, California Players of American football from Marin County, California Seattle Seahawks players Redwood High School (Larkspur, California) alumni