Mark Cooney (born Mark Joseph Cooney) (June 2, 1951 – June 2, 2011) was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Cooney was selected by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in the sixteenth round of the

1974 NFL Draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers to have h ...

and played that season with the team. Cooney, then a linebacker at

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

was named an MVP of the

1972 Gator Bowl The 1972 Gator Bowl was held on December 30, 1972, at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. The sixth-ranked Auburn Tigers defeated the 13th-ranked Colorado Buffaloes by a score of 24–3. Game summary The scoring was opened in the second qua ...

, which Colorado lost 3–24 to

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

. Cooney was a long-time

real estate broker A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

Arvada, Colorado Arvada () is a home rule municipality located in Jefferson and Adams counties, Colorado, United States. The city population was 124,402 at the 2020 United States Census, with 121,510 residing in Jefferson County and 2,892 residing in Adams Coun ...

. He was also a member of the Board of Elders of Faith Bible Chapel. He died in Arvada, Colorado on June 2, 2011.

References

People from Arvada, Colorado Green Bay Packers players American football linebackers Colorado Buffaloes football players Players of American football from Denver 1951 births 2011 deaths {{linebacker-1950s-stub