Mississippi State football: Modern-era Mount Rushmore
By Ethan Lee
Johnie Cooks
Prior to the arrival of Dak Prescott, Johnie Cooks was arguably the greatest Mississippi State football player ever. Cooks was a massive linebacker, at 6-4 and over 240 pounds. He was a force to be reckoned with and a ton of folks in the SEC certainly had to deal with Cooks.
A native of Mississippi, Cooks stayed and played for his home state Bulldogs from 1977 to 1981. While technically on the border of this list given that it starts with the year 1980, Cooks was so great during his time as a Mississippi State Bulldog, he has earned a spot on MSU’s modern Mount Rushmore.
After all, he was part of the famous 1980 team that took down top-ranked Alabama in Jackson, Mississippi.
Cooks totaled 392 tackles during his time in Starkville (5th most in school history) and 24 sacks (4th in MSU history) and all of those tackles would be recognized.
For his stellar play, Cooks earned All-American honors in 1981 and was tabbed a semifinalist for the Lombardi Award that same year. Cooks has earned a spot in the MSU Ring of Honor and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
Cooks would go on to be drafted by the Baltimore Colts in the first round of the 1982 NFL Draft. As it turns out, Cooks was drafted higher than any other Mississippi State football player as the Colts selected him with the second overall pick that year. During his NFL career, Cooks played for 10 seasons and was on the New York Giants when they won the Super Bowl in 1991.