The football community lost an all-time great on Thursday, as former Mississippi State star and Super Bowl champion linebacker Johnie Cooks died at 64, the university announced.
“Johnie Cooks is without question among the very best to ever put on the maroon and white while also standing as one of the most decorated college football players of his era,” Mississippi State athletic director Zac Selmon said in a statement. “He truly did it all in his career, from earning accolade after accolade as a Bulldog, to winning a Super Bowl in the NFL. Johnie will be remembered forever in Starkville as he is cemented as an MSU legend.”
Cooks’ prestigious college career included three All-SEC honors, 24 sacks (fourth most in school history) and 392 tackles (fifth most). He once logged 24 tackles in a single game, and in 1980 helped MSU to a 9-3 record (5-1 in the SEC), its best season in almost two decades. This production helped him go No. 2 overall to the Baltimore Colts in the 1982 NFL Draft.
Cooks was a Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate in his first NFL season, despite making just eight starts on a strike-shortened schedule. He went on to play just under seven seasons with the Colts, including after their relocation to Indianapolis, totaling 29 sacks, four fumble recoveries and four interceptions across 74 starts. He had a career-high 11.5 sacks in 1984.
Released by Indy in 1988, Cooks signed with the Giants and spent two and a half seasons in New York, winning Super Bowl XXV against the Bills during his penultimate NFL campaign. After a brief stint with the Browns in 1991, he retired after 10 total seasons.