Hendrickson teacher, Super Bowl champ Earl Cooper heads to NFL Draft
Former 49er a guest presenter in second round on April 26
A special education teacher at Hendrickson High School — who also happened to win two Super Bowls in the early ’80s — has been invited as a guest presenter at the 2019 NFL Draft next week in Nashville.
Earl Cooper said he and his wife will be catching a plane early April 25 for a full day of events before the start of the NFL Draft. Cooper, who played for the San Francisco 49ers from 1980-85, will be introducing the team’s second-round pick sometime after 7 p.m. April 26.
Terrell Owens, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, will also be a guest presenter, announcing the 49ers’ third-round pick.
ABC, ESPN and NFL Network will be broadcasting the draft live both nights.
Cooper, who grew up in Lexington, Texas, and played for Rice University, was the 49ers’ first-round pick in the 1980 NFL Draft. Under head coach Bill Walsh and with Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, Cooper and the 49ers would go on to win Super Bowls in 1981 and 1984 and a division championship in 1983 and 1986.
According to 247sports.com, Cooper totaled 1,152 rushing yards and six touchdowns with 213 receptions, 1,908 receiving yards and 12 receiving touchdowns.
Cooper’s success on the field brought many accolades, including a front-page cover story for the Dec. 21, 1981, edition of Sports Illustrated.
After a season with the Los Angeles Raiders in 1986, Cooper retired from football. He has taught at schools for 24 years; 15 of those years have been at Hendrickson.
Cooper said this week he’s excited to take part in the draft, and hopes to give a few shout outs on live TV.
“I couldn’t be more proud than to represent the 49ers and hopefully give my colleagues here at Hendrickson a shout out on national TV,” he said.
Cooper said this year’s draft will be considerably different than his draft nearly three decades ago, when he got news of being a first-round pick while sitting in his dorm at Rice University.
“I never thought I’d go in the first round,” he said about that phone call. “We were 1-10 in my senior year.”
But he added that Rice played some of college’s toughest teams at the time in the Southwest Conference. “I think the competition you play gets you noticed,” he said.
Cooper now lives in Round Rock. Both of his children, Ryan and Ashleigh, are Hendrickson graduates.
