The following story was written by Meghan, a recent Children's Hospital Colorado Junior Reporter.
I recently had the amazing opportunity to interview Denver Broncos OLB Jonathon Cooper, #0. This is his fourth year in the NFL and he just signed a contract extension with the Broncos for four more years. So far this year, he has had 26 solo tackles and eight sacks; one of the quarterbacks he has sacked was Patrick Mahomes, which is awesome!
I took a tour of the Broncos practice facility and saw all three Lombardi trophies, the locker room, the meeting room and the weight room, which were all really cool places to see. We also walked through the cafe and I was surprised not to find any Uncrustables, because supposedly the Broncos consume the most of any other team in the NFL. Then, I went outside on the practice field and saw Jonathon Cooper waiting for me.
Some of the questions I asked Jonathon Cooper were about playing in the NFL and how he worked his way up to the pro level. He went to Ohio State University for college, and I asked him if he had ever won a national championship; he said no, but he said he had played in one against Alabama. He said his favorite football team to play was the Cleveland Browns because he's from Ohio and he just likes beating them.
Some of his teammates call him funny names like "meathead" or "walking muscle" or most commonly "Coop." The most important question I asked him was, "Does pineapple belong on pizza?" He said, "that's crazy [no]," so we bickered about that a little. (It does belong.) The last question I asked him was, "What's the biggest change from college to the NFL?" He said the work was the hardest, that it was way easier in college and he didn't get challenged as much. The NFL is a lot more work.
Overall, I had a great time meeting Jonathon Cooper and asking him questions and I'm so glad I got the opportunity to do so. He also introduced me to Garett Bolles which was cool. Garett was really nice and so was Jonathon. Thank you to Children's Hospital Colorado and the Denver Broncos for this opportunity. It was a great experience and I can't wait to watch the rest of the season!
