Redskins' Cooley Is Fighting The System

The image burned into the mind of Dallas Cowboys Coach Bill Parcells occurred on Dec. 18, 2005, in the south end zone at FedEx Field: Chris Cooley, the Washington Redskins tight end, bouncing as if he were on a pogo stick, a human exclamation point announcing his presence to Parcells, the NFL and anyone else who to that point hadn't been paying attention.

He scored three touchdowns that day in a 35-7 rout with the type of performance that possessed the proper combination of showmanship and old-style power. The iconoclasm of Cooley's appearance had already made him one of the more popular Redskins, but there was nothing flaky about his game -- he played with a rough-hewn style players could respect.

On that particular touchdown, Cooley showed the panoply of physical tools that ensured no defensive coach would consider him an afterthought during game-planning. First, Cooley ran past the Dallas linebackers, powered through a cornerback and hard-hitting Dallas safety Roy Williams before plowing into the end zone on the 32-yard scoring play.

"He killed us," Parcells said.

Ever since that game, Parcells never allowed Cooley to go unmentioned as one of the primary Redskins threats. Some rival players and coaches cite that day as the end of Cooley's transition from surprise success to accepted threat.

There is debate among the Redskins as to whether that Dallas game served as a defining moment for Cooley. Some Redskins players and rival coaches believe so, but others -- including Cooley himself -- do not. If there isn't a consensus as to when Cooley appeared on the league's radar, there is widespread agreement that he is there now.

Cooley's 71-catch, 774-yard season last year introduced him into this new territory.

Building a game plan around stopping a tight end is a considerably different and difficult exercise than one aimed at neutralizing wide receivers, who, under league rules aimed at opening up the passing game, are allowed the freedom to run in open space on pass routes where they can use their speed. Against tight ends, defenses employ a mix of physical punishment and subterfuge, first by challenging their toughness with a progression of hits by bigger players and then by testing their ability to separate from defenders once they enter their pass route by matching them with smaller but often quicker defensive backs.

The rewards an offense receives for developing a dynamic tight end are many. Because they play largely in the middle of the field and can more easily disguise their passing routes by blocking early in the play, good tight ends can upset an entire defensive scheme.

Jeremy Shockey, the New York Giants' gifted tight end who will stand on the opposite sideline from Cooley today when the Giants host the Redskins at Giants Stadium, is in this camp.

"He's a big guy, and he poses a threat with linebackers because he's quicker and faster than most linebackers," Redskins linebacker Marcus Washington said of Shockey. "Plus, he's a pretty good blocker. That's him in a nutshell. If you look around the league, more and more teams are looking for that type of tight end, because he's so versatile. But you can't pay too much attention to him, because you've got too many weapons over there."

Baltimore Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome starred at tight end for the Cleveland Browns and retired in 1990 as the all-time leader in receptions for the position. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994. His experience gives him unique insight into the position.