Oakland Raiders News: Amari Cooper Sets New Record
The Oakland Raiders is a team that has accomplished a lot in its entire franchise history, having won four league championships and with several of its players having already been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. However, the record that one of its current players has set in a game against the Green Bay Packers is rather unique.
Former Alabama college football great Amari Cooper did something on Sunday that no other rookie receiver has done in the Raiders history, and that is to hit the 1,000 yard mark. In their loss to the Packers, Cooper reached 1,040 yards while making six touchdowns. He officially became the first player for the franchise to achieve the feat after two decades, the last time being in 2005 and courtesy of Randy Moss.
The 21-year-old had a colorful college career, winning the Biletnikoff Award as the best receiver in 2014, not to mention having been unanimously voted as an All-American. As a top prospect entering the 2015 NFL Draft, he eventually was selected fourth overall by Oakland.
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In Alabama, he produced incredible numbers of 228 receptions, 31 scores, and 3,463 yards. What's more interesting is that all those broke the previous Alabama football records.
He passed the 1,000-yard mark in the third quarter of the Packers game, where he made the mark on a 41-yard catch. Although all the other teams in the NFL have one player who surpassed the mark, Oakland saw themselves in a drought, with 11 seasons without someone who could reach the number.
What's even more amazing about Cooper's achievement is that he is the first rookie in Oakland Raiders history to reach that number in a season. Likewise, he is only the fourth in league history to reach it before reaching 22.
But for him, it's nothing but simply another day at the office. "I guess it's a good thing to do, but people go for 1,000 yards every year, so it's not really a big thing," the rookie said while showing some humility.
