Graig Cooper (born July 12, 1987) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. After playing

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 ...

for

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, he was signed by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2011. He spent the 2011 and 2012 offseasons with the Eagles.

Early years

Cooper played for Melrose High School he was also Named Mr. Football in Tennessee in 2005, Cooper was selected to first-team All-State in 2005, when he led his team to the state championship and rushed for 2,123 yards and 30 touchdowns, also gaining 291 yards on receptions, with two touchdowns. At Milford Prep, Cooper led the team in rushing with 1,327 yards and 15 touchdowns in eight games, averaging 12.5 yards per carry (missed two games with neck and hamstring injuries). In 2006, he was ranked the No. 4 overall player in the state of Tennessee by Rivals.com, rated the No. 10 running back by Scout.com, and ranked the No. 28 running back by ESPN. In 2007, he was ranked as the No. 6 running back by Scout.com. This PrepStar All-American chose

over

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, and

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

College career

Cooper began his college career at the University of Miami in 2007. In his first game as a Miami Hurricane, Cooper rushed for 116 yards on 12 carries against

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: L ...

. Graig Cooper finished his Freshman season with 125 carries for 682 yards and 4 touchdowns, and he caught 13 passes for 129 yards and 1 touchdown.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Cooper was signed by the

as an

following the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

on July 25, 2011. He was waived during final cuts on September 2. He was re-signed following the 2011 season on January 4, 2012. Cooper was waived by the Eagles once again on May 30, 2012.

References

External links

*
Philadelphia Eagles bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Graig 1987 births Living people Players of American football from Memphis, Tennessee American football running backs Miami Hurricanes football players Philadelphia Eagles players