Arena football player going strong despite size disadvantage

<p>Markeith Cooper appears to be a perfect fit for the Arena Football League.</p><p>At only 5-foot-6 and 175 pounds _ the league calls him the smallest professional football player _ he was working as a truck driver for United Parcel Service when he attended an open tryout two years ago for the Georgia Force.</p><p>That was after he was cut by the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in 2000.</p><p>"I didn't really know if I would find another team or not," Cooper said. "I wasn't sure if I could keep playing."</p><p>In his original workout with the Force, Cooper ran the 40-yard dash and some pass routes. His talents in each _ particularly his time of 4.2 seconds in the 40 _ led to a contract.</p><p>Now, he's the only player left from the franchise's inaugural season in Georgia.</p><p>"He's a guy that has a lot of different talents, so we can use him in so many different ways," Force coach Marty Lowe said. "Last week, I think I ran him in motion 45 times or something like that. He never complains, just keeps going."</p><p>Cooper had 66 catches for 839 yards and 13 touchdowns in only 13 games during his first two seasons with the Force, and he's on pace for even better statistics in 2004. Through six games, he's caught 39 passes for 509 yards, and he set a team record with 270 all-purpose yards in a victory over Tampa Bay in the second game.</p><p>In that one, he caught four TD passes and also returned a kick for a score.</p><p>"He's definitely one of the fastest guys I've ever seen," Force quarterback Leon Murray said. "It doesn't matter if he's running a route or returning a kick. The guy can move."</p><p>Murray has a special relationship with Cooper _ they share an apartment near the team's headquarters in metro Atlanta.</p><p>"He's really a guy who thinks he's the toughest guy around," Murray said. "And he probably is. I mean, at his size, he's not afraid of anybody. He goes over the middle, and he'll take on anybody."</p><p>That mentality served Cooper well as he fought for his chance. Thought of as too small for professional football, he waited nearly three years after the Argonauts cut him.</p><p>In the meantime, he and his wife, Angela, moved to Atlanta, where he went to work for UPS. Cooper, who played college football at Auburn, thought his career was over before it really began.</p><p>"Yeah, I had some doubts," Cooper said. "I had a good career in college and was just thankful for the opportunity I got in Toronto."</p><p>A talk with his brother, Lamont, who is a two-time AFL Player of the Year, helped set him straight.</p><p>"He just told me I could do it," Cooper said. "He told me I had to give it another shot."</p><p>He started working out in preparation of that tryout with the Force. At the time, Cooper didn't believe he would stick with the team; he only was hoping for a spot in the arenafootball2, the developmental affiliate of the AFL.</p><p>Cooper got more than that.</p><p>"I really just thought I'd get a shot with af2, but now that I'm here, I don't plan on going anywhere," he said.</p><p>And he won't, if Lowe has anything to do with it.</p><p>"Having Markeith out there gives us so many options," Lowe said. "His speed is something that everybody has to respect.</p><p>"He's starting to get a little frustrated with all the zone defenses people are playing against him. He hasn't got many chances against man-to-man, but I've tried to tell him that helps us get other people open. It's the ultimate sign of respect."</p><p>Something Cooper finally seems to be getting.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/3/174392