Scott Couper (born January 6, 1970) is a Scottish 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 ...

player. He played at wide receiver, most notably for the

Scottish Claymores The Scottish Claymores were an American football team based in Scotland. The franchise played in the World League of American Football (later renamed NFL Europe) between 1995 and 2004, initially playing all home games at Murrayfield Stadium, E ...

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

Career

Couper's first experience of American football came with the amateur British American Football league, playing eight seasons for the

Glasgow Lions Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population#Localities, most populous City status in the United Kingdom, city in Scotland and the List of cities in the United Kingdom, fourth-most p ...

. Couper also played for

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

's setup in the British Collegiate American Football League in 1991, going all the way to the playoffs.

Scottish Claymores

In 1995 he was signed by the newly founded Claymores to fulfill their contingent of National (non-American) players; NFL Europe rules required a number to be on the roster and at least one to compete in every other series of downs. Couper, wearing uniform number 81, played in nine of the Claymores' ten seasons of existence, initially retiring in 2001 before making a comeback in 2003. Couper amassed over 100 receptions and scored 10 touchdowns in his time with the club, and was voted the league-wide National Offensive Player of the Year in 1997. He played in two

World Bowl The World Bowl was the annual American football championship game of the World League of American Football/NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994). The game was conceived as the final of the NFL-r ...

s with the Claymores, winning a World Bowl ring in

World Bowl IV World Bowl '96 (also referred to as World Bowl IV) was the fourth championship game of the NFL Europe, World League of American Football (WLAF). It took place at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland on Sunday, June 23, 1996. The 7–3 Scotti ...

. Couper was statistically one of the most successful national players in the league. Since the Claymores folded in 2004, he has continued to support American football programs in Scotland. Couper was inducted to the Claymores' Hall of Fame on June 24, 2006 as part of the tenth anniversary of the World Bowl in Scotland celebrations. In 2012, he and his wife Jane won over £130,000 in television gameshow

The Exit List ''The Exit List'' is a British game show that aired on ITV from 10 January to 28 February 2012, hosted by Matt Allwright Matthew Allwright (born 14 April 1970) is an English television presenter, journalist, and musician. He has presented sh ...

Chicago Bears

On July 27, 1997, Couper was included on the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

roster for one of the "

American Bowl The American Bowl was a series of National Football League pre-season exhibition games that were held at sites outside the United States between 1986 and 2005. The league started the ''American Bowl'' series in 1986 primarily to promote American ...

preseason In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

matches against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

.Scott Couper interview
British American Football Almanac, 2004; via Britball Now Couper played one series late in the game, and was thrown to (but the pass was broken up) on third down.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Couper, Scott 1970 births Living people Scottish Claymores players Scottish players of American football Sportspeople from Glasgow Alumni of the University of Strathclyde American football wide receivers