Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Connor Cook selected with 2nd overall XFL pick

October 16, 2019
<p>Then junior quarterback Connor Cook participates in practice drills Aug. 2, 2014, at the practice field outside Duffy Daugherty Football Building. Danyelle Morrow/The State News</p>

Then junior quarterback Connor Cook participates in practice drills Aug. 2, 2014, at the practice field outside Duffy Daugherty Football Building. Danyelle Morrow/The State News

Photo by Danyelle Morrow | The State News

Another chapter was added to former Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook’s storied football journey Tuesday morning, when he was selected by the DC Defenders with the second overall pick in Phase 1 of the XFL Draft. The draft, which runs Oct. 15-16, consists of 5 phases. Each phase focuses on a different position group, and Phase 1 was for skill players (QB, RB, WR, TE). The XFL is gearing up for its inaugural season in 2020, and Cook will now get ready to take the reins in the nation’s capital.

It has been an eventful past three years for Cook. Since getting drafted in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders, he is still looking for a place to stick. In his rookie season, Cook became the first QB in the Super Bowl Era to have his first start come in a playoff game.

After injuries to Derek Carr and Matt McGloin, Cook was called upon to lead Oakland against the Houston Texans in the 2017 AFC Wild Card game. The Raiders would go on to lose that game 27-14, as Cook only threw for 161 yards to go along with a touchdown and three interceptions.

After getting released by Oakland in September of 2018, Cook spent time on the practice squads of both the Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals. Not gaining much traction with either of those teams, he was signed by the Detroit Lions in January of 2019 to a reserve/future contract, only to be released six months later when the team signed David Fales.

With no luck so far in the NFL, Cook is hoping to make things work in the XFL. At the end of the day, however, he just wants to keep on playing the game he loves for as long as he can.

“I love doing it. I love playing,” Cook said in a video tweeted out by the XFL.

“I was in the NFL for four years and I learned six offenses. I have a lot to look back on and use in my repertoire moving forward. (The XFL) popped up and I just want to go out there and compete. I want to play and I want to win, and I think this is a great opportunity for me to do that.”


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