Exclusive with Former Steelers Tight End Adrian Cooper, 1991-1993

First, let me know a little bit about your post-NFL life these days..

Now, I’m pretty much retired. I’m following my kids around – I have three girls who are all in college. One plays basketball at Providence and I follow her career and try to see as many games as possible.

How hard was that post-NFL adjustment for you?

Well, post football, it was pretty much all over the place. I had my ups and downs, some legal issues as you may know. Pat Hodgson, my tight ends coach in Pittsburgh, he said that we should prepare for the rest of our lives after football. After playing most don’t make as much money as they did when they played. And he was right – some did, and some didn’t.

Let’s talk about when it started – being drafted by the Steelers. Were you surprised to be drafted by them?

It all started at the Senior Bowl. I gave no thought to the Steelers. In fact, Eric Green played for Pittsburgh in his first game my senior year at Oklahoma, and he played in Denver, where I was from and where my brother lived. He scored three touchdowns that game. My brother called me after that game and told me that was one team he knew I wouldn’t go to after seeing Green play was Pittsburgh!

Well, I marked Pittsburgh off of my list. But at the Senior Bowl, Jon Kolb came up and introduced himself to me and talked to me a little bit. I remembered him but didn’t think about that at all until they drafted me. He was the guy that was probably responsible for me getting drafted by them.

Any mentors as a rookie – both on and off the field?

Eric Green was a freak – he was the first real freak I had seen on the field. To be that size and do the things he could do… Mike Mularkey was there too – he was a consummate pro.  He was always prepared and never bothered anyone.

Eric showed me the ropes. He gave me a lot of love. But at the same time it was more about looking up to him and the other guys and learning from them that way. Dawson, John Jackson, Tunch Ilkin – those are guys I looked up to.

As far as helping out with things like finances, well, during that time we didn’t make that much money! Not like now. I look at guys like LeVeon Bell and how he sat out a year – he made more now in one paycheck than a lot of us did in a season. It’s unbelievable. But my agent was good – Jack Mills –  he gave me a lot of financial help when I needed it.

You won the Joe Greene Great Performance Award as a rookie. What did that mean to you and why do you think you won it?

It meant a lot. Joe Greene was a legend – I watched him play as a kid He was mean when he needed to be. To win an ward named after him was special. I didn’t think I’d be the one to win it with such a good rookie class. We had guys like  Mills, Thompson, Richardson – they were all good rookies.

I was the third tight end on the depth chart. But unfortunately we had some injuries. Eric got hurt, then Mike Mularkey had knee issues. They were forced into playing me and Keith Cash midway though the season. I was thrown into the fire and fortunately was able to show I could play.

Keith said you were the best blocking tight end on the team…

Yeah. I played in the wishbone at Oklahoma so I had to block well. Pass blocking was tougher for me. When I came in it was no surprise to the defense when they ran the ball to my side. They knew what I was there for. It did help me in the passing game though. Sometimes we’d run play action and that gave me the advantage I needed to get open. Otherwise I’d never have gotten open!

Despite that solid start to you career, you were traded after three season to Minnesota. Were you surprised – and what happened?

What happened was that I wasn’t the first guy drafted by the Steelers in round four. They drafted Sammy Walker in round four too, from Texas Tech. My agent called me and told me to tell Sammy Walker to wait a while before he signed a contract. But Sammy signed I think the first day. I was hoping to negotiate for more but after that I couldn’t. I had to take basically the same contract except for a shorter term. Management told me that if I played like they thought I was capable of they’d give me a new contract.

Well, I was rookie of the year for the team, the second year I did well, and the third year I went to Spain and my agent told me when I got back they’d renegotiate the contract. But somehow it all fell apart. They said they didn’t want to negotiate after all. I was disappointed. I played out that year and ddi all I could do to show my worth. But it just didn’t work out. By the end of the season my agent told me I’d be traded. So I wasn’t surprised.

Were you happy in Minnesota?

I was happy to be a full-time starter. But I had two season-ending injuries. I did take joy though returning to Pittsburgh and beating them – twice actually, with Minnesota and later with San Francisco. It’s a shame – Pittsburgh just wasn’t playing well then.

Any fun memories of your time in Pittsburgh?

Greg Lloyd was the meanest guy I ever met. He was intense. He’d go full speed in walk-throughs.

In Cowher’s first year he had us do Oklahoma drills – one on ones. And he posted the matchups the day before in the locker room so we could all see who we were matched up against. I looked for my name at the bottom of the list, then the middle, then, at the top, I saw my name. And next to it was Greg Lloyd’s. As I turned around the first person I saw was Greg – he had already seen the list and had this wry smile on his face. i wanted to go at him right there. He ticked me off. But I had to wait. The next day though it didn’t go well for Greg against me. Right afterwards they had an interview set up with him and I never heard a guy cuss so much!

I also remember Joe Greene then – he was our defensive line coach. In training camp in Latrobe we were running inside drills – inside running plays – versus the defensive line. We broke off into groups afterwards – all the guys were super-tired and hot, We had to sprint from station to station for different drills. Well, one defensive lineman was on his knee, and as Joe Greene was walking he accidentally spit on his calf. Greene turned around and asked who did it, but no one would own up to it. During the film session later he kept looking at the film to see who did it. He was so upset – he wanted to find out who did it, but he never could figure out who it was. I never knew either…

Looking at the game today, what do you think of the tight end position today and how it’s changed?

Well, it all seems watered down. The tight end position has changed a lot – they are more like receivers now. Many are former basketball players. I think it’s great  but at the same time I liked it better when the game was more rugged. The game has just gotten a lot different. I appreciate the players today though. I marvel at their speed and size and athleticism.

Any advice for younger guys entering the NFL today?

Cherish every day, and make wise decisions. Life goes on after football – football is not the end all. It’s a stepping stone.  But you have to prepare for life after football.

Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades.  To order, just click on the book: