'Sunshine' Cooper brightens camp
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The unmistakable Riley Cooper, the big-bodied rookie wide receiver from Florida with rock-and-roll hair, is becoming something of a fan favorite at Lehigh - and a target for mild teasing from his teammates.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The unmistakable Riley Cooper, the big-bodied rookie wide receiver from Florida with rock-and-roll hair, is becoming something of a fan favorite at Lehigh - and a target for mild teasing from his teammates.
Spectators lined along the barriers at the practice fields have been buzzing about Cooper - "He's 6-5!" (Actually, he's listed at 6-foot-3, 222 pounds.) "That's the guy from Florida State!" (A former Florida Gator, he probably would take offense to that.) "That's Cooper!" (That one was accurate.)
Cooper's size makes for a style different from that of speedsters DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, and the Eagles already have tried running fade routes to him in end-zone drills.
"I'm kind of a big, physical, go-get-the-ball type of guy," said Cooper, who twice was drafted to play baseball (by the Phillies and Texas Rangers) but opted for the more contact-oriented sport.
His hair, dangling to his shoulders, also provides a different look. Teammates are calling Cooper "Sunshine," after a long-haired character in the movie Remember the Titans.
"They're giving me a hard time about my hair . . . but I'm not cutting it," he said.
April fools
Some of the best entertainment at Lehigh can be found in one of the least expected places: special-teams practice, where the effervescent Bobby April holds court.
On Wednesday, he pulled a stunt his rookies likely won't forget. April was teaching kickoff returns, and spent several minutes stressing a blocking formation. Then, as the young Eagles prepared to race back to their spots and show they had absorbed the lesson, April had Ken Parrish dribble out an onside kick, catching the retreating return team off guard.
The point: Nothing else matters if the team loses focus and gives up the ball to a surprise onside kick. We get the impression his little trick will reinforce that point better than any lecture.
The enthusiastic coach is eager to see what his special-teams unit does once hitting begins.
Special teams "is kind of like NASCAR; you've got to be able to go real fast through traffic," April said. "If you know there's no traffic, and you know there's no collision, it's easy to go fast."
- Jonathan Tamari
