BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
As he sat behind a microphone last week at SEC Media Days,Amari Cooper fielded a question that brought back memories of one of his first official interviews at Alabama.
Months removed from a relatively disappointing sophomore season -- he still led Alabama in receptions (45) and receiving yards (736) -- Cooper was asked if he had any statistical goals for his highly anticipated junior campaign. As far as offseason queries go, it's a common question for an athlete of Cooper's caliber at a position most synonymous with stat-aware players.
In April 2013, just a few months after he finished his freshman season with 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns, Cooper didn't mince words on this particular subject.
"I wanted to get 1,000 yards," Cooper said just a few months after he caught two touchdowns in Alabama's BCS National Championship victory over Notre Dame. "Before the season, I wanted to get more – maybe 1,200 or something. But as the season went on, I noticed that I could reach 1,000 yards, so that's what I tried to do."
Cooper, a first-team preseason All-SEC selection and a popular pick on numerous preseason All-American teams, didn't go down that path last week in Hoover. The maturation of Alabama's top wide receiver came through louder than the houndstooth suit jacket he wore for the annual media gauntlet.
"I don't ever say I want to get so many yards or anything like that," Cooper said. "I just want to win and be the best teammate and do the best I can do."
It's important to remember Cooper's actions rarely, if ever, matched the kind of quote he provided as a sophomore. He's also nothing like the controversial, braggadocious character portrayed by a fake Twitter account thousands believed was actually him.
Always careful and deliberate with his words -- much like star running back T.J. Yeldon -- Cooper was a prototypical "leader by example" in his first two seasons with the Crimson Tide. Starting with his spring appearance on an ESPN all-access tour and continuing with his presence on one of Alabama's 2014 media guide covers and his selection as a player representative at SEC Media Days, Cooper has transitioned smoothly into a role that goes beyond receptions and touchdowns.
The star junior is a face of the program, a role rarely held by a wide receiver in recent memory at Alabama.
"I think it's the personal development as a player," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "I think these guys change quite a lot from the time they are an 18-year-old. We refer to it as maturity, but it's a lot more than that – it's confidence, it's being able to express yourself, it's having discipline to make better choices and decisions.
"Every year 25 percent of your team turns over in college, so people have to have new roles besides playing their positions, how they affect other people. No one pushed him to (be a leader); I just think he's more ready to do it. Feels more confidence, feels more comfortable in it, sees the necessity of it in terms of value for himself and for the team."
In a setting like SEC Media Days, that meant speaking for the team, which Cooper did comfortably throughout the day. He expressed his disappointment from the recent arrests of two of his teammates, broke down the competition at positions other than wide receiver and addressed the Crimson Tide's all-encompassing 2014 goals.
Only on a handful of occasions was he asked to talk about himself.
"Playing for Alabama, we have such a winning atmosphere that you don't know what it's like to lose," Cooper said. "You don't know what it's like to look in the mirror and see where you were as far as coming from high school and you were on a losing team. I only lost one game my freshman year so I didn't know what it was like to lose games, so I think it has definitely humbled us."
Cooper was humbled on a personal level throughout 2013, as multiple nagging injuries limited his production during the first half of the season and stymied the momentum he'd built as a breakout freshman. He bounced back with a vengeance during the spring and drew the ultimate compliment from Saban, who said Cooper was hard to stop unless he was double-teamed.
The fine line between really good and great has been Cooper's main focus entering a season that could very well be his last at Alabama.
"I want to be as complete a player as I can, as good as I can," Cooper said. "I'm working on recognizing coverages so it will be easier for me. Have a pre-snap and a post-snap read, just like the quarterback.
"Working on high-pointing the ball every chance I get. Drops on air. Working on my speed, my quickness, my route-running. Everything."
"Everything," as Cooper has experienced in the buildup to 2014, goes far beyond what he puts on the bottom line at the end of his junior season.
"I think I've grown more as a player and more as a person," Cooper said. "Definitely, I've gotten smarter as a person; and I've gotten better as a player mentally and physically. I've gotten stronger, bigger, faster, and I know the game more now than I did as a freshman or a sophomore."
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Months removed from a relatively disappointing sophomore season -- he still led Alabama in receptions (45) and receiving yards (736) -- Cooper was asked if he had any statistical goals for his highly anticipated junior campaign. As far as offseason queries go, it's a common question for an athlete of Cooper's caliber at a position most synonymous with stat-aware players.
In April 2013, just a few months after he finished his freshman season with 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns, Cooper didn't mince words on this particular subject.
"I wanted to get 1,000 yards," Cooper said just a few months after he caught two touchdowns in Alabama's BCS National Championship victory over Notre Dame. "Before the season, I wanted to get more – maybe 1,200 or something. But as the season went on, I noticed that I could reach 1,000 yards, so that's what I tried to do."
Cooper, a first-team preseason All-SEC selection and a popular pick on numerous preseason All-American teams, didn't go down that path last week in Hoover. The maturation of Alabama's top wide receiver came through louder than the houndstooth suit jacket he wore for the annual media gauntlet.
"I don't ever say I want to get so many yards or anything like that," Cooper said. "I just want to win and be the best teammate and do the best I can do."
It's important to remember Cooper's actions rarely, if ever, matched the kind of quote he provided as a sophomore. He's also nothing like the controversial, braggadocious character portrayed by a fake Twitter account thousands believed was actually him.
Always careful and deliberate with his words -- much like star running back T.J. Yeldon -- Cooper was a prototypical "leader by example" in his first two seasons with the Crimson Tide. Starting with his spring appearance on an ESPN all-access tour and continuing with his presence on one of Alabama's 2014 media guide covers and his selection as a player representative at SEC Media Days, Cooper has transitioned smoothly into a role that goes beyond receptions and touchdowns.
The star junior is a face of the program, a role rarely held by a wide receiver in recent memory at Alabama.
"I think it's the personal development as a player," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "I think these guys change quite a lot from the time they are an 18-year-old. We refer to it as maturity, but it's a lot more than that – it's confidence, it's being able to express yourself, it's having discipline to make better choices and decisions.
"Every year 25 percent of your team turns over in college, so people have to have new roles besides playing their positions, how they affect other people. No one pushed him to (be a leader); I just think he's more ready to do it. Feels more confidence, feels more comfortable in it, sees the necessity of it in terms of value for himself and for the team."
In a setting like SEC Media Days, that meant speaking for the team, which Cooper did comfortably throughout the day. He expressed his disappointment from the recent arrests of two of his teammates, broke down the competition at positions other than wide receiver and addressed the Crimson Tide's all-encompassing 2014 goals.
Only on a handful of occasions was he asked to talk about himself.
"Playing for Alabama, we have such a winning atmosphere that you don't know what it's like to lose," Cooper said. "You don't know what it's like to look in the mirror and see where you were as far as coming from high school and you were on a losing team. I only lost one game my freshman year so I didn't know what it was like to lose games, so I think it has definitely humbled us."
Cooper was humbled on a personal level throughout 2013, as multiple nagging injuries limited his production during the first half of the season and stymied the momentum he'd built as a breakout freshman. He bounced back with a vengeance during the spring and drew the ultimate compliment from Saban, who said Cooper was hard to stop unless he was double-teamed.
The fine line between really good and great has been Cooper's main focus entering a season that could very well be his last at Alabama.
"I want to be as complete a player as I can, as good as I can," Cooper said. "I'm working on recognizing coverages so it will be easier for me. Have a pre-snap and a post-snap read, just like the quarterback.
"Working on high-pointing the ball every chance I get. Drops on air. Working on my speed, my quickness, my route-running. Everything."
"Everything," as Cooper has experienced in the buildup to 2014, goes far beyond what he puts on the bottom line at the end of his junior season.
"I think I've grown more as a player and more as a person," Cooper said. "Definitely, I've gotten smarter as a person; and I've gotten better as a player mentally and physically. I've gotten stronger, bigger, faster, and I know the game more now than I did as a freshman or a sophomore."
Continue reading...
