Kristofer "Kris" Cooke (born January 19, 1988) 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

who played in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

High school

Cooke played defensive tackle, offensive tackle, linebacker and fullback at

Homewood-Flossmoor High School Homewood-Flossmoor High School (H-F) is a comprehensive public high school in Flossmoor, Illinois. The district encompasses nearly 11.5 square miles drawing students from Homewood, Flossmoor, Chicago Heights, Glenwood, Hazel Crest, and Olympia ...

. He was named all-area as senior after recording 80 tackles, including 13 sacks, with five pass breakups and three fumble recoveries. He recorded 62 tackles, including seven sacks, during his junior year en route to earning all-conference honors. Cooke moved up to varsity in his sophomore year to play for coach Tom Bailey. As a sophomore, he racked up 35 tackles, including five sacks. Cooke was team captain in his junior and senior seasons. He also participated in weight-lifting competitions and track and field.

College

Cooke appeared in one game in 2006 for

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by th ...

versus Ohio on September 9 and recorded one tackle. After one season at Northern Illinois, Cooke transferred to

Joliet Junior College Joliet Junior College (JJC) is a public community college in Joliet, Illinois. Founded in 1901, it was the first public community college founded in the United States. In Spring 2014, the college enrolled 16,375 students. Every year, 48,000 stu ...

, where he was a second team All-American and first team all-conference, and conference defensive MVP in 2007 after recording 30 tackles, including four sacks, with two pass breakups and one forced fumble. Cooke appeared in eight games as reserve and on special teams during 2008 season for

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

Boilermakers during

Joe Tiller Joseph Henry Tiller (December 7, 1942 – September 30, 2017) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of Wyoming from 1991 to 1996 and Purdue University from 1997 to 2008, with a career record of know ...

's final year as Purdue head coach. Cooke recorded seven tackles (2 solo, 5 assists) including season-high three tackles at Northwestern on October 18 (1 solo, 2 assists) and at

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

on November 8 (all assists).

Professional career

Georgia Force

Debuted for the

Georgia Force The Georgia Force was an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States (part of suburban Atlanta) that played in the South Division of the American Conference. The team was owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn Je ...

, of the

, during 2012 season as starting nose tackle. Cooke attended an open tryout for the Force in August 2011 and drew the attention of head coach

Dean Cokinos Dean Cokinos is an American football coach. College career Cokinos attended University of Massachusetts Boston, where he was a running back for the Beacons. He was a college teammate of Pat Sperduto, whom he later served under in Nashville. C ...

. He was invited to the February 2012 training camp on a 2-day waiver. Cooke proved himself to the Force coaching staff and signed with the team. He earned a starting position at nose tackle by week six of the 2012 season and helped the team achieve a victory against the previously unbeaten,

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Located immediately northwest of Chicago, as of the 2010 census it had a population of 4,20 ...

, one week after the Force's devastating and record-breaking 92-42 loss to the

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often feat ...

Cleveland Gladiators

Cooke signed with the

Cleveland Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cava ...

, of the

for the 2013 season. Cooke was placed on retirement on January 21, 2014.

References

External links

Georgia Force profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Kris 1988 births Living people People from Blue Island, Illinois Players of American football from Cook County, Illinois American football defensive tackles Northern Illinois Huskies football players Purdue Boilermakers football players Georgia Force players Cleveland Gladiators players Homewood-Flossmoor High School alumni