Nov 4, 2026 | General
Chris Cooper reached football's pinnacle by playing in Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003.
"It was the best feeling in my life, next to my kids being born," Cooper said.
A little more than two years before that, Cooper turned in one of the most dominant seasons for a Maverick football player.
The defensive lineman led the Mavericks with 20 tackles for loss and 11 sacks as the team reached the NCAA Division II playoff quarterfinals during his senior year. Cooper also defensed five passes and recovered four fumbles that season when he was named an All-American.
"I'm so grateful to be part of the history of UNO," Cooper said. "In my five years there, there were three conference championships. Coach (Pat) Behrns was able to bring in people who believed in the system. We gave all our heart and effort to make that happen."
Cooper is one of four inductees into this year's Omaha Athletics Hall of Fame. The class will be inducted on Nov. 6.
Cooper was mainly recruited as an offensive lineman out of Lincoln Southeast High School. But he wanted to play on defense and Omaha gave him that opportunity.
"The team I was with at UNO kind of connected with me," Cooper said. "UNO developed a lot of great people in a short amount of time."
Following a redshirt freshman season in 1996, Cooper became a four-year starter for the Mavericks. Cooper finished his Omaha career by breaking program records in sacks (31) and tackles for loss (53). But his football career was far from over after his dominant senior season.
Cooper played in all-star games after that season, including the 2001 East-West Shrine Bowl. That helped him catch the eye of the Oakland Raiders, who selected Cooper in the sixth round of that year's NFL Draft.
Cooper thought he would get drafted, even though he admits he wasn't that much of an NFL fan growing up.
"To be honest, I never saw a full NFL game on TV until I got drafted," Cooper said. "I had no idea who people were, I was so far behind when I got there that I had to adapt."
Cooper made the adjustment just fine.Â
He played in 11 games as a rookie in 2001, then played in all 16 regular-season games the next two years.
The Raiders reached the Super Bowl at the end of the 2002 season and Cooper recorded three tackles in a 48-21 loss to Tampa Bay.
"I remember from the Super Bowl the guys saying, 'We got to win this. We got to win a Super Bowl because we could never be back,'" Cooper said. "When you get the chance to win it, just win that sucker."
Cooper made nine starts and recorded 49 tackles during the 2003 season, but he wouldn't play in another Super Bowl. He would play for Dallas, San Francisco and Arizona later in his NFL career, with his last game being in 2007.
Cooper still lives in the San Francisco Bay area.
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