After the Whistle: Delmar’s Garrett Cooper
DELMAR, Del. – For many high school football players, it’s a dream to play at the Division 1 level. Delmar’s Garrett Cooper has brought that dream to life.
“Delmar, Delaware, is not a very big a big town, and a lot of kids don’t get recruited out of Delaware, which is pretty sad, in my opinion. So I feel like I was a little overlooked, but that just gave me more of a reason to put my head down and keep working.”
Cooper’s football journey started back in 7th grade, with a lesson in persistence from his father. “We were doing the warm up, it was the first ever practice, and we had to run a lap around the field. I couldn’t finished the lap and I quit, and I called my dad. But then, you know, my dad made me go back the next day,” he recalled, “And ever since then it’s just been awesome.”
As a 6’6″, 280-pound offensive lineman, Cooper has developed into a force in the run game as part of a ground-and-pound Wildcats attack.
After navigating the ups and downs of college recruitment, in January the senior committed to play Division 1 football at the University of Massachusetts. “At first it was a little stressful because, you know, it was always my dream to play Division one football…it was a really crazy moment for me.”
With the D1 dream in his grasp, the opportunity has lit a fire under the future minuteman. “I want to go in there and kind of try to be a leader as much as I can. Obviously, I’ll be an underclassman. I really want to prove to the coaches that they that they made a good decision picking me up,” Cooper said.
