By Chris Cooley Doesn’t Care About the NFL Lockout
March 24, 2011 – 7:00 am by Eric Schmoldt
While the top of the NFL labor dispute and lockout has seemingly been on just about every person’s mind, let alone every player’s, Chris Cooley isn’t too concerned about it. The Washington Redskins tight end says he’s keeping up with matters just enough so that he doesn’t sound like an idiot, but really doesn’t care.
Cooley said it doesn’t matter to him because he’s financially fine and will simply be ready to play whenever the league is ready and wants him to play again.
In the meantime, Cooley spent some of his time taking a trek back to his property in Wyoming, picking up plenty of stories while doing so. On his way there, he stopped in Wisconsin to drink a fish bowl. Then, when he arrived in Wyoming, he went pheasant hunting while drinking with his buddies. As someone who has lived in both of those places, is fond of drinking tales and is a little sick of hearing about the lockout, Cooley’s different approach is very refreshing.
Chris Cooley joined 106.7 The Fan in Washington D.C. with Mike Wise and Holden Kushner to discuss why he isn’t worrying too much about the lockout, if anything about it frustrates him, who keeps him up on what’s going on when he doesn’t do it himself, when everything will get settled and to do some storytelling about his trek to Wyoming.
When does he think he will play football again?:
“I’ve tried to keep up and read and listen to what’s going on because I don’t want to feel like an idiot. … But it doesn’t matter to me. I don’t care. I’m one of those players that’s somewhat in an ideal position in terms of, I don’t need it financially, I’ll be ready to play when we’re ready to play. I can be on the players side and say, ‘You’re going to pay us.’”
Is he frustrated by anyone’s comments?:
“The thing that’s frustrating to me is that it’s so hard to come together and just get an agreement. I just don’t see why it’s so far off. It hasn’t been so far off for 20 years, so why is it so far off?”
Does anyone contact him to help him keep up with things?:
“I got a letter from Bruce Allen a couple weeks ago … explaining, ‘You’re really not welcome at Redskins Park. Don’t contact your coaching staff, don’t contact your trainers.’ … If they see us, they have to report it. …[DeMaurice] Smith emails us and let’s us know where the talks are and what’s kind of going on.”
Any guess of when the dispute will be settled?:
“I really hope that we don’t lose games because that’s an ugly thing. It’s already ugly, the argument over this amount of money, and I really hope we don’t lose games. It’d be just right if we just settled it about Sept. 1 and just decided we weren’t going to have training camp and get back to playing football.”
On his cross-country treks back to his place in Wyoming:
“This last time we stopped in Madison, Wisconsin, and I texted Casey Rabach and I said, ‘Hey, I’m in Madison, what should I do?’ He said, ‘Go get a fish bowl.’ … I texted him back and said, ‘We’re probably not going to get fish.’ He said, ‘No, go get a fish bowl.’ And it’s like the most absurd alcoholic concoction of all time. … I watched the guy make it and I still don’t know [what’s in it], about 13 different kinds of alcohol. And they serve it in a fish bowl.”
On his pheasant hunting expedition in Wyoming:
“I didn’t really dress special. I actually wore tennis shoes which was a huge mistake. It was a swamp and I got mud in my feet and stuff. … I went with a couple friends from out in Wyoming and we started hiking around. There were a couple birds, we saw a few. … We ended up shooting I think 14 that day, but I know I walked more than 10 miles. … And if you’re in Wyoming, the common exchange for drinking water is beer. So you get back from walking a couple miles and instead of having a bottle of water or something, it’s just another Bud Light. … I’m from Wyoming, it’s just normal.”
Listen to Chris Cooley on 106.7 The Fan in Washington D.C. here
Tags: Chris Cooley, hunting, NFL, NFL Labor dispute, NFL Lockout, Washinton Redskins, Wyoming
Comments