Riley Cooper (born September 9, 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 wi ...

wide receiver who played six seasons 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 majo ...

(NFL). 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, where he was a member of two

BCS National Championship The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college foot ...

teams. He was drafted 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 play ...

in the fifth round of the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the fir ...

where he played his whole career.

Early years

Cooper was born in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

, the son of Larry and Monica Cooper.GatorZone.com, Football, Roster
Riley Cooper
Retrieved August 23, 2010. He grew up in

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a popu ...

, where he attended

Clearwater Central Catholic High School Clearwater Central Catholic High School is a private college preparatory school for grades 9 through 12 and located in Clearwater, Florida, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1962, the school enrolls approximately 500 st ...

and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

for the Central Catholic Marauders. Cooper was a three-time all-county selection, received all-state honors as Looka wide receiver and

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their du ...

after his junior and senior seasons, and was his football team's captain as a senior. Rivals.com ranked him as the tenth-best athlete in the 2006 college football signing class. Cooper was drafted by the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

in the 15th round (457 overall pick) of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft. He did not sign with the Phillies because he chose to attend the University of Florida to play football. Cooper's younger sister, Lindsey, also attended the University of Florida, where she played for the

Florida Gators women's soccer The Florida Gators women's soccer team represents the University of Florida in the sport of college soccer. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They a ...

team. Lindsey is married to former University of Florida linebacker and current Detroit Lions linebacker

Alex Anzalone Alex Anzalone (born September 22, 1994) is an American football middle linebacker for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the third round of t ...

College career

Cooper accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons fro ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division o ...

team from

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

. During his freshman season in 2006, Cooper served as the " gunner" on special teams and played in 13 of the 14 games for the Gators. He established a then-career-high with three

reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another ...

s (all touchdowns) in the romp over Western Carolina. Cooper was nominated SEC Freshman of the Week following his performance. He was the first Gator freshman wide receiver to have three touchdown catches in a game since

Jabar Gaffney Derrick Jabar Gaffney (born December 1, 1980) is an American former football wide receiver. He played college football for the University of Florida, and was recognized as a consensus All-American. He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the ...

accomplished the feat in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. Cooper saw action in Florida's triumphs over Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky, mostly on special teams. He made collegiate debut with one reception for 10 yards against

Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the ...

. Cooper gained 92 yards on four receptions, three of which went for touchdowns, on the season. As a sophomore, Cooper appeared in 10 games during the year with two starts in home contests against Tennessee and Auburn. He missed games against Georgia and Vanderbilt as a result of a broken finger suffered in the first quarter at Kentucky. He dressed but did not compete in the Capital One Bowl against Michigan, which the Gators lost. Cooper hauled in a career-high and team-best four catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns, including a career-long 59-yard grab in his 2007 debut against Western Kentucky. Cooper caught eight passes, gaining 182 yards and scoring two total touchdowns in 2007. Riley Cooper UF baseball

Cooper appeared in fourteen games for the Gators in his junior season, starting all but two (against Hawaii and Florida State). He hauled in a key touchdown, along with a season-high 51-yard reception, that put Florida in scoring position during the SEC Championship Game against Alabama. He totaled 28 yards on two receptions in the BCS National Championship Game, including a crucial 17-yard catch from Tim Tebow on 3rd-and-12. Cooper amassed 261 total yards on 18 receptions, three of which were touchdowns. In his senior season, Cooper totaled 961 yards on 51 receptions, with nine touchdowns and an average of 18.8 yards per catch.

Baseball

Cooper was drafted by the

out of high school in the 15th round of the 2006 MLB Draft. Cooper passed on the contract and played college baseball for the

Florida Gators baseball The Florida Gators baseball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of baseball. Florida competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

team as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. He was drafted again in 2009 - in the twenty-fifth round, the seven-hundred and fifty-fourth player chosen that year - after which he signed a deal to play baseball for the Texas Rangers of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

but decided to delay his MLB career and returned to play football for the Gators football team in 2009. He was scheduled to get a physical and receive half of his $250,000 signing bonus on January 17, but declined and told the Rangers that his focus was football, thus voiding his baseball contract.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Cooper was selected by the

in the fifth round (159th overall) of the

. He was signed to a four-year contract on July 13, 2010.

2010 season

Cooper caught his first NFL touchdown in a game against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

. He ended his first season with 7 receptions for 116 yards and 1 touchdown. Rcoop13

2011 season

He scored his second touchdown of his career against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

in week 10 of the 2011 NFL season on an 8-yard completion from

Vince Young Vincent Paul Young Jr. (born May 18, 1983) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons. Young was drafted by the Tennessee Titans as the third overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, and ...

. Coming off the bench, he posted 16 receptions for 315 yards and a touchdown.

2012 season

Cooper broke his collarbone on July 28, 2012, and missed time, but returned mid-season. He made a one-handed catch for a touchdown against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

. He scored again in the second meeting of the season against the Cowboys, again on a one-handed catch. While mostly a reserve, he ended the season with 23 receptions for 248 yards and 3 touchdowns.

2013 season

Cooper had a breakout season during the last year of his rookie contract. He started the season used mostly for blocking, rather than for his receiving ability. In the first 5 weeks, he posted 8 catches for 93 yards and 1 touchdown with Michael Vick at

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

. Cooper had a career game in Week 9 against 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 Ra ...

, where he posted 5 receptions for 139 yards (27.8 avg) and 3 touchdowns. After a slow start, Cooper put together a solid season with 47 receptions for 835 yards and 8 touchdowns, all career highs. He ended the season tied for third in the NFL with 17.8 yards per catch.

2014 season

On February 27, Cooper signed an extension deal valued at $25 million over five years, with $8 million fully guaranteed. During the

2014 NFL season The 2014 NFL season was the 95th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 49th of the Super Bowl era. The season began on Thursday, September 4, 2014, with the annual kickoff game featuring the defending Super Bowl ...

, Cooper caught 55 of 95 targets for 577 yards and 3 touchdowns.

2015 season: Final season

Cooper continued to play with the Eagles during the 2015 season. In a game against the

on November 9, Cooper left the game with a foot injury. Cooper finished the season with 21 receptions off 41 targets for 327 yards and 2 touchdowns. Cooper didn't record a single reception in 7 of 16 games. He was released by the Eagles on February 8, 2016. Cooper then spent the entire 2016 season out of football. On December 12, 2017, Cooper announced his retirement from the NFL via Twitter.

Controversy

In July 2013, a video surfaced of Cooper being denied backstage access at a

Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs and Country ...

concert in the previous month. The video showed Cooper yelling a racial epithet at the bouncers who denied him backstage. In the dispute with a black security guard at the concert, Cooper said, "I will jump that fence and fight every nigger here." In the aftermath, the Philadelphia Eagles fined Cooper an undisclosed amount, but still allowed him to resume activities with the team.

References

External links

*
Riley Cooper
– Philadelphia Eagles profile
Riley Cooper
– Florida Gators profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Riley 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Clearwater, Florida Players of American football from Florida Sportspeople from Oklahoma City Players of American football from Oklahoma American football wide receivers Florida Gators baseball players Florida Gators football players Philadelphia Eagles players