I am in my 60's, I barely remember watching Gale Sayers play, and never saw this guy play a down. When I heard Walsh praise about Greg Cook in the 1980's, I researched him. An amazing story. It's like Earl Manigault who was as good as anyone on the playground but never had a chance to play pro.
Yep, an example of what might have been. To be great you need to be great (which Cook was), but you also need good luck (which he didn't have). RIP To a real legend of the NFL.
Way before my time I wasn't born unti) 94 but I met a player who actually went to college. With him something you would never have happen in my little town
The emergence of the Steelers kept some good teams from winning the Super Bowl. Even a healthy Greg Cook would not have fared any better against Pittsburgh then Ken Anderson did.
slow down..he said he had the a great skill set more than most. there have been quite a few rookies who have looked good for one year and injuries have stalled them. Bill Walsh is a great endorsement but we will never know
Yes it was Cook’s injury that left Walsh with a QB who lacked a big arm so Walsh drew up a whole new offense based upon short passes. He added to it for Ken Anderson & perfected it with Joe Montana. Without Greg Cook’s injury there would not be a West Coast offense.
Trumpy said in this video and in other interviews that if Cook stayed healthy and Walsh became HC when Brown retired after the '75 season, his hands would be full of Super Bowl rings.
When NFL Films did the story on Greg Cook (1986) Bill Bergey was interviewed. I'm not sure why it's not on this piece. He talked about when Greg was trying to make a comeback and he couldn't make the throws. He said that Greg took off his helmet. He threw it as far as he could and walked away. Bill said that it was the saddest moment in pro football.
An even harder story for me to bear than Len Bias. Because we actually saw what Cook looked like in the NFL; dominant. Immediately. And with a dead arm.
Greg Cook could have been one of the best QB's that ever played. He led the league in passing as a rookie. He averaged 17.4 yards per completion. He had three surgeries and never came back. It's so sad what happened to him. The injury led to invention of the West Coast Offense. ESPN should do 30 for 30 on him.
Mike Brown said in a newspaper article that "Greg Cook: 'The Prince Who Never Became King". www.citybeat.com/home/article/13010356/greg-cook-the-prince-who-never-became-king
There's 2 injuries that bother me. This one because it cost the Cincinnati Bengals at least 1 or 2 Super Bowl Rings and I'm almost in tears about the Freak accident which had befallen this great Quarterback. The Freak accident with Bo Jackson in which Bo's Hip was injured also is very painful to fathom. I saw one of Greg Cook's Bengal Tiger Portraits. It was Beautiful. The portrait of his injury really hurts and the place he lived hurt. He should have been a Millionaire and a legend. Bob Trumpy, Sam Wyche, Ron Jaworski,Bill Walsh do a fantastic job and Paint a Picture in my Mind. Just watching Greg Cook in the footage of this video, shows me that The Game of Football and The Cincinnati Bengals and it's fan's missed out on Championships. I'm 100% certain!
The Bo Jackson injury was Bengal's related as well. Nice post. You have to wonder the impact of concussions on athletes later on as well. My Brother in Law who knows Troy Aikman was told by his Doc if he had to keep playing he may have issues later in life from them. He quit...
bob trumpy was a terrific tight end but more importantly he was in my opinion, the GREATEST nfl 'color' announcer EVER. ever. and its not just my opinion only.....
I was at the Cincinnati at Houston game in 1969. The Oilers had one of the best secondarys in the AFL. Cook smoked them for 4 TDs.... 3 to Bob Trumpy. 31-31 sister kisser.🏈
What a shame. If Greg were injured today that same rotator cuff injury would be repaired & he'd miss only a few games instead of a spectacular career in the NFL. Unfortunately, it occurred during the dark ages of sports medicine. He lost his dream & it ruined his life because of medical malpractice during a time when there was no NFL Players Union, disability benefits or support. He was chucked & discarded like trash when he was permanently damaged by team's insistence Cook continue playing & the neanderthal surgical procedures of that time (yr.*1969) & by the way the same year it was claimed there was a moon landing & the spaceship will all aboard returning safely (unless you ask Hollywood filmmaker Stanley Kubrick). Pisses me off just like when 'powers that be' stripped Muhammed Ali of his title during the prime of his life & boxing skills. What could have been & what the public missed out on.
They didn't have the technology to know when there was a serious shoulder injury. Just take a look at Cleveland Brown's catcher Ray Fosse who was injured in the All Star game by Pete Rose. He played the rest of the season not knowing about how serious it was. Fosse, however, had a successful career post baseball.
I remember Greg and his college career , as well as his very good rookie year. He had Cincinnati winning games as a rookie. Some were upsets because The Bengals were an expansion team. My Brother and I knew Greg was real good, but he got hurt often , would come back and play good - then hurt again. We know his was real good and he was a leader ( The Bengals were a different team with him in there as the QB. RiP Greg . He was a U.of Cincinnati Great
He was drafted #5 overall in the '69 draft. One pick after the Steelers took Joe Greene. Would have been interesting to see them battle through the 70s if Cook hadn't got injured.
Bless his heart. Great talent, but physically and emotionally fragile, with lots of demons. Tough combination for a pro football player in that era. The only bright light in this story for the Bengals is they drafted Kenny Anderson a couple of years later as a replacement. A great QB who should be in the HOF.
Amazing that the injuries that basically ended the careers of both Greg Cook and Bo Jackson were so innocent looking. Nothing like the ones you can't stomach to see twice. Side note: 1970 Houston Oilers unis-best ever.
It is hard to describe how talented Greg Cook was before the injury. Sorta like Ali before he went to prison or Bo Jackson before he hurt his hip. As a senior citizen and lifelong Bengals fan, no QB in Bengals history not even Burrow can touch the capabilities of Greg Cook.
I heard of him actually and read football books, I heard he was extremely talented and could have been one of the greats to play the game. Sucks that his injury made him leave football.
I can say I watched Greg Cook play in Denver in 1969. You could see he had "it". But talent is just one ingredient as a pro football star. Talk to all the running backs who arrived fast as lightning and left with bad knees. RIP, Greg
Sad story. I never knew all of this about Greg Cook, heard his name before but barely knew anything about him. He played the year I was born, so by the time I knew anything at all he was out of the public eye. It's a shame he could never come back from that injury...what could have been!
What a great piece on Greg Cook. To hear Bob Trumpy. Sam. Coach Brown. Recall and tell war storys. About a very special person a gifted quarterback many of us never got to see. A tresure.
My favorite QB was Bert Jones, who played with the Colts in the 70's. He could have been one of the greats as well but suffered a shoulder injury that ruined his career too. Very similar to Greg Cook. Cook's life became a tragedy, and I feel deeply for him. Jones, on the other hand has had a wonderful life in spite of his shortened career. I can't help but believe that Cook needed counseling and would have benefited from it. A sad story, indeed.
I remember Greg Cook like it was yesterday. He was a great leader and tremendous quarterback. It wasn't Paul Brown that ruined his career it was a combination of medical, trainors and coaches not familiar with this type of injury. I'm glad I got to see him play. I regret I couldn't help him.
I'm kind of embarrassed to admit I'd never heard of Greg Cook. What a heartbreaking story. He really does have a lot of similarities to Aaron Rodgers. He was definitely a premier talent, you can tell that just from the little bit of game footage. What a shame. RIP Mr Cook
A 1 year phenom and what a phenom he was. Played a few games after that injury and that no doubt caused further damage. Medicine back then was primitive to the techniques they have today. Shame that he had other talents but led a very unhappy life. RIP Greg Cook---could have been as great as anyone
I remember when I was a kid in the mid 1970s I found a book in the local public library about rising NFL stars. There was a section in there about Greg Cook. I had never heard of him. I remember asking my father. He said oh it was tragic, got hurt and never played again. But what an arm.
My Dad was from the Cleveland area and loved the Browns/Paul Brown and saw Otto Graham play a number of times. He always told me the best QB he ever saw play was Otto Graham but when Paul Brown founded the Bengals he told me after watching his rookie season that Cook was even better than Otto and that he said Paul Brown would soon be winning NFL Championships in Cincinnati.
I saw Cook play in that year. He was so talented, it was magical. What he did with an expansion team was simply amazing. I agree with Walsh, Cook would have been probably the best Qb who ever played. Walsh and him would have set records that would have never been broken.
Cook was replaced at qb by Vigil Carter, who didn't have cook's strong arm, leading to the short passing game installed by walsh and brown - birth of the west coast offense. RIP Greg...
I've looked at that replay of the injury, and it is hard to see how the right shoulder was injured. Wyche said Cook hurt it when hitting the ground, but Cook's left shoulder hit the ground first, not the throwing shoulder. When Lynch came in for the tackle, it looks like he hits the right shoulder and then spins Cook to the ground. Still, it didn't look that bad, but some impact caused that rotator cuff to tear.
He prob yanked and ripped the labrum Forced his shoulder behind his back or whatever. I have a torn labrum. Isn’t fun. But not the worst. It’s a “slap tear” , pitching injury
Cook was very similar to Terry Bradshaw ... the sky was the limit talent-wise but got hurt in a game against the rugged KC Chiefs defense ... instead of healing, he kept playing which made his injury worse. Had he never been hurt, Ken Anderson would have been drafted by another team and probably wouldn't have had the same coaching ...
Barely remember him as a kid I was 10 years old. I used to always root for the Bengals I was a patriot fanThere wasn’t much to cheer about about then in New England he was very talented from what I heard later on in years
I've got awesome memories of Greg Cook and the Cincinnati Bengal teams back then. The old AFL was such an exciting league for a young boy to watch, the NFL was so f'n boring then. 🕊💖🖖 p.s. Paul Robinson was another great Bengal back then.
Since we have Joe Burrows now, I just pray that he can have a long and healthy career without major injury to him and his career. Greg Cook story and life was cut short and it was not great for him, very sad. I saw Kenny Anderson from Augustana after Greg, He still needs to be in the HOF in canton. Boomer and finish the game Sam Wyche in 88, I thought we had that , Louis Billup and Krumrie breaking his leg, stanley wilson giving in to the moment on Cocaine. I just hope and pray after 60 plus years of some good and a long very bad 60 yrs of Cincinnati Bengals football, that Joe Burrows can lead us this weekend to the Super Bowl. It will give the City, and the Franchise,and Bengal Country a reason to be proud for years to come. God Be With Our Bengals .
Well summarized by a very kind friend. I have had a torn rotator cuff and I could barely comb my hair. Much less throw a football. What a damn shame. Now, or course, the surgery would be super easy.
That's why Bill Walsh created the so called "West Coast" offense Greg didn't have a Great offensive line so he had to get rid of the football reality fast!! That did him in...sad ending to a great career
This makes me cry. I really wonder what Bengals fans did. What if? Could Greg Cook have been the progenitor of the QB that came nearly 30 years after he played? Sure seems like it.
Really good for a rookie. Hard to say based on stats and film that he was the greatest talent or even top 50 for QBs. He didn't play 20 NFL games. 53% completion 14 TDs 11 interceptions. Its nice to romanticize especially since his career was cut very short but remember he had Bill Walsh's offensive scheme which was way ahead of the 60s n 70s.
People are drawn to free spirits and some think that is the best way to live, but they frequently don't turn out well. We hear of the good stories (but not this one). I really like his football paintings.
5:10 "this is a tight window, only one place to put the football"........clip shows that the defense actually outran the ball, and the tall receiver had to come back and reach over their falling bodies to catch it.
Greg cook was an awesome QB. I have a friend who told me had he stayed healthy, he still wouldn't have been as good as Tom Brady Peyton Manning and Joe Montana. I said find footage of cook and watch everything... 🤣🤣🤣
If he wouldn't have switched the football to his left hand he would have been fine. You can see his right arm coming out for a split second before ground impact and obviously he landed awkwardly.
A real sports tragedy that cut his life short because of his despair over what he might have been. Another victim of the primitive surgical techniques in place at that time.
Man that's sad...its wonderful though that God at least gave him a year and a half of time at the top. That's more than most folks ever see but still. Very painful.
There are just some freak accidents that didn't seem big, but ended up being career ending injuries like Greg Cook. Sterling Sharpe made a block against the Falcons in 1994 and it turned he hurt his neck and he had to retire at 30. Everyone says Bo Jackson. Left the game and sadly the injury wasn't picked up until a month or two later by the time he had surgery the damage was done he couldn't play football again. Lots of this was modern medicine didn't have the MRI's and technical sports medicine to pick these things up quickly. Billy Sims was the best what if when he tore his ACL for the Lions. Today he get surgery and be back for the next season. May not be the same player, but at least he gets another shot to play in the NFL. The sad thing is for Greg Cook the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak and couldn't do what Greg wanted.
@@jah07022 I was 14 in 1969, and living in Cincinnati. The difference your Dad made between the 1968 and 1969 seasons was incredible. It is just as Mike Brown said it was. Your Dad was an electrifying player, and I'm proud to say I got to see him play in person at Nippert Stadium. It was breathtaking. The superlatives about your father are not hype. I believe John Unitas is the greatest QB ever. I also believe I have seen only one quarterback who could have surpassed him. That's your Dad. I can't give him a better compliment than that. All of us who lived in Cincinnati then should count our blessings that we got to see him play -- either at UC or with the Bengals.
The bengals had him on offense and Mike Reid on deffense who was an all pro in just 2 years at deffense tackle who beat out mean joe Greene but left nfl to play cello in the Cincinnati philharmonic because nfl didn’t pay the players even close to what they play the prima donas they pay that play today
