Rally for the Cure 2011

On Monday, October 10th at Clyde's in Ashburn we are hosting the 3rd annual Cooley's for the Cure event. Even though the last two years were a great time and big success, Events in the City is helping this year, so plan on it being the best yet.

Tickets are $65 dollars and that covers your food, beer, wine, and soft drinks. Doors open at 7 and the event ends at 10. We should have a few players hanging out and some big auction items for purchase. Please use the paypal button to purchase your ticket. After you buy your ticket, print off your receipt and bring it with you to the event. You will get a wrist band at the door.

Thank you in advance for your support. Together, we will celebrate, remember, and fight back.

TC: Offseason Update

When the season ended and guys departed Redskins park for the off season some had crazy plans like this.

"Do you know how me and Chris are gonna improve our football skills? We're gonna go wrestle bears in the wild," Yoder said. "We both think it's gonna help our blocking technique."

Though this idea stands out in the crowd of goals like: spend time with family, come back in better shape, read a book, Yoder told me yesterday that he actually accomplished this feat along with a few others.

"I accomplished two of the three things I set out to do when the season ended. I wrestled a bear in the Canadian wilderness and did some base jumping of a cliff in Costa Rica."

Whether or not that is true, I will let you determine. What is a fact however is that the season is just around the corner. Players are back at Redskins Park for the team's second session of OTA's. For some it is a chance to break up the monotonous lifting and running schedule they have kept and get back on the field. Santana Moss told me that "OTA's are OTA's. Mini camp is more intense where these are a more of the learning opportunity, trying to get better at the little things." When I asked him what he would like to accomplish between now and training camp he sighed and said, "I just wanna get in all the rest I can cause once its all said and done and I'm back up here then its strictly business."

Strictly business is a great answer because many of the news outlets that claim to be experts are picking the Redskins to be a middle of the pack team. This is something that I find very interesting considering they didn't lose any significant players and they have a full season under their belts with Zorn. So it will be great to see them prove some of the donks wrong when they come out firing this season.

For now however, the players that are in Ashburn will do what they need to do, work on the little things. Because after today they are only four OTA's away from training camp. Something that, for this city, couldn't come any quicker. Because the only thing to cheer for between now and then is the Nats winning their 43rd game.

Fatpickle: The Redskins...What's In A Name?

Thanks to a court ruling last week, I'm still a fan of the Washington Redskins. Not the Washington Presidents, or the Wasington Johnny Rockets, or some other name that I could never imagine.I (like most of you) have spent a lifetime bleeding burgundy and gold, singing the words "braves on the warpath" and rooting for my Skins. I've never once in my 30 years as a fan thought of the name "Redskins" as being offensive or racist. I've never heard nor said an off color or racist remark about the name. I've never heard one of the 90,000 drunken fans at Fedex field say anything derogatory about the name...even when the Redskins have a sucky day or a bad loss. In fact, I am proud of the name, proud of the team, and proud of the history and heritage of Native Americans. But who am I too voice my opinion? I'm just an ordinary white guy who can't jump and can't dance (especially when I think I can dance, usually around beer 8 or 9).

Well, I happen to be a part of a large group of people that believe that the Washington Redskins are a tribute to Native Americans. That group of people happens to include the Native Americans themselves. Yes that's right, 90% of American Indians do not find the term "Redskins" offensive in any way. Lets stop and think about this for a minute. Do you think 80 years ago the Redskins chose their team name to personally offend an entire race? Is that really how team names are chosen? No, they are chosen as a tribute to something. And without those teams that honor the American Indian, how often would we be reminded of our Native American history? I think that the people that bring on these lawsuits are only interested in what the root of all lawsuits boil down to...$money$ and notoriety.

I've been a fan of many of the names that have graced the backs of the jersey's. Monk, Riggins, Green, and Cooley to name a few. But, the names on the back of the jersey's change quite often. However, the Redskins name and the burgundy and gold is a lifetime relationship for me (and for you). Rooting for another team, or even the same team with a different name just wouldn't be right. I have to give Dan Snyder props for fighting in court and spending loads of cash to keep the tradition and history of the Redskins in tact.So hip, hip, hooray to Chief Zee, that guy on the side of the helmets, and the Indians getting to mix it up twice a year with those Cowboys. And if you find that offensive, spend the day surfing the Internet...I think there's a lot worse things you could focus on.Cheers and Hail

Redskins News Today

If you haven't read it anywhere else, the Redskins have made a few major moves today by signing DT Albert Haynesworth, CB DeAngelo Hall, and rumored to have released CB Shawn Springs. We will have more on this later today. But for now, let us know what you think about the situation.

Mom: Family, Friends, and Football

Football. We love it. We hate it. But it seems like however we feel, we are still there every Sunday watching, hoping, cheering. It can make us happy. It can make us sad. Still every Sunday there we are. The best thing about football is that it brings people together. My favorite part about football is that every Sunday we gather together with family and friends to watch the game either at home or at FedEx field to cheer on Chris and the Skins.

For many of the games we have family or friends come to visit from out of state and attend the game. The first year I moved to Virginia, we had a group of family or friends come to every home game. They came from Utah, Wyoming, California, Alaska, and Ohio. It was always four or five days of entertaining – doing the DC tour, going out to dinner, cooking, but mostly just hanging out and enjoying each other’s company. The best day of all is game day! We start planning early, usually the day before getting our tailgating food and drink ready. I don’t think that there are any games that I don’t make yummy jello shots the night before. On game day we pack up everything and head out to the game so that we can be there at least three hours early. Our tailgating food has consisted of chicken wings, burgers, chili, burritos, hot dogs, chips, Woody’s famous Buffalo Chicken Dip or ham and cheese ball, and sometimes even just sandwiches. Drinks have also been fun – soda, beer, Bad Juan margaritas, Pink Panty Pulldowns, B52s, Long Island Ice Tea, hot chocolate and Hot Damn or Butter Shots, and various other great creations to get us going before the big game. Oh yeah, there’s always the jello shots too!

When the Skins play away, we also plan game day parties with family and friends. We usually have the same kind of food and drink, we just gather at someone’s home. Even when there is more than one television, everyone is usually gathered around just one of them cheering, screaming, or sometimes even cursing.

Game day also seems to be the day of massive text messaging. Before Tanner moved here, he and I would text after almost every play. Now I watch the games with Tanner, but I get texts from friends and family all over. Sometimes I never hear from anyone all week, but on game day, let the text messages flow! Even though we’re far apart, the texting makes it seem like we’re all just watching together.

So for at least the last two Skin’s games and hopefully playoffs, make your game days the best! The season is coming to an end too fast. Get together with your family and friends, enjoy the food and drink and cheer your loudest for the Skins to WIN! Mostly enjoy each other’s company. Happy holidays to our family, our friends, and mostly the fans.

Picture Update + 2 really entertaining videos

Thanks Dan. If you want to get the full video check it out here.

Chris also did an interview on NFL Network which was one of the best I have ever seen from Chris. I love team cam, NFL network, and now Rich Eisen too who claims to read the blog, so Rich please comment if you read.

Yahoo!

After two weeks of blogging I finally got my big break. Haha. I just finished my first post for Yahoo Sports. Every Wednesday I will create a post for Yahoo which I think it's going to be pretty cool stuff. It's funny cause I don't feel nervous about putting anything on my own website, but I've been worried about every sentence I typed for that blog. I mean, I really don't want to sound like an idiot football player on the first day of my writing career. Anyways, I did a post about draft day when I was a rookie, so everyone will have to go check it out.

Oh yea, the store on the website should be up within the next couple of days. I think we're going to have some cool stuff. We had some shirts made and I have a ton of signed jerseys and pictures. I also kept a ton of game used stuff that's we'll be putting up. I even cleaned out my garage Monday and Tuesday and I found some real prizes....kidding. Cleaning out the garage was a huge pain in the ass though.

Anyways, thanks for reading and it would be cool if anyone wanted to get back to me on what they thought of the Yahoo stuff. Thanks again.

Reebok Photoshoot

I feel like I've been traveling so much the last couple of months and this week was nothing less than what's become normal to me. At least I am getting used to the security procedures at the Dulles Airport. Soon I'll be on a first name basis with the airport crew. I've moved through DVD boxed seasons of Lost seasons 1-3, 24 seasons 1-3, and seasons 1 and 2 of One Tree Hill. After fifteen hours traveling in the last weekend to Utah, where we stayed for only three days, I landing Monday morning and I was greeted with a message from Reebok saying that I would be headed to Miami on Wednesday to do a photo shoot. Awesome.


When I think of someone with my serious modeling skills I would have planned on two, maybe three hours tops taking pictures. After I spent the first 45 minutes in the make-up girl's chair I knew I was in for a much longer day. Wake up call was 7 in the morning and my 6 o'clock flight was cutting it close. I had all the looks down though after spending the plane ride the day before studying Derek Zoolander's every move. I changed from full uniform to running sprints on rooftop. Speed ladder to playgirl centerfold. Blue Steel was written all over my face and I have to be honest, the first couple of hours were a blast.

All excitement wore off towards the end of the day and for the first time in a while it was a relief to get on an airplane. I even got to watch five extra episodes of One Tree. Who would have ever guessed it would take two hours on the runway waiting for one of the plane's air conditioners. I didn't care though I was too worried about whether or not Luke Scott was really going to make friends with his dad. Or really how I can watch such a girl show. So I guess I can end the post embarrassed.

I just want to say thanks to everyone reading this. It been cool to

do everything so far. I'm gonna try to stick around home for a while so I think I'll be able to get a couple more things up this week.

Chris Cooley Workout Part 2

This lower body lift is a compliment to the running that you saw from the previous video. In the weight room we super setted power cleans with squats which means one set of cleans then one set of squats. I do 6 x 6 reps of each lift with a 3 minute rest in between. To me these are the most important lifts for a football player because they help make you a more explosive player.

The weights of all six sets are listed below.
Power Cleans:

• 1. 225 2. 245 3. 265 4. 275 5. 285 6. 295

Squats:

• 1. 275 2. 315 3. 335 4. 365 5. 385 6. 405

A day in the weight room doing these exercises gives me the most "football related strength." The Redskins strength and conditioning staff does a great job of preparing the workouts for all of the players and with their help we are able to do what we do on the field.

Chris Cooley Workout Part 1

The Redskins off season weight lifting program begins in the middle of March. There are about twelve weeks of intense work spent with the team. Most players choose to spend the time with the Redskins strength and conditioning staff because they do a tremendous job preparing the training and workouts. Many player contracts are laced with an "off season workout bonus," which is also strong incentive to be there. Workouts are four days a week, everyday involves position specific drills and lifts for maximum improvement. Through the blog I'll try to provide a four part series of what I'm doing to get ready for this season.

A workout for me at Redskins Park usually lasts a little over two hours. We spend close to an hour on the field. Some days our work on the field is conditioning, and others (like in the video below) are working on speed and quickness. Typically, a little more than an hour is spent in the weight room.

• Part 1: Speed and Quickness
• Part 2: Lower Body Lifting
• Part 3: Conditioning
• Part 4: Upper Body Lifting

The video tells all

20 Questions!

Thanks to everyone for all the great questions. Its been a lot of fun reading everything people care about. Creative comments are great to check out. So I'm gonna answer 20 of the questions. Some of them were picked by my mom and some were picked by my fiance (Christy). I had picked most of them. Thanks again!

1. If there was a "Name That Tune" game, would you rather be on that than "Deal or No Deal"? I think there really is some kind of Name That Tune game, and I think I would be awesome at it. I know that I am the champion of Name That Tune. (At least in my own car,when I control the radio). Deal or No deal would be really hard to pass up. How could I not be excited about all the case girls.

2. Last year I explained how Rocky McIntosh would be a beast. Who do I think will have a break out season for the Redskins? Of course being around the team year round I see a lot of things that no one else does. Down to the details of who works the hardest in the weight room. That said, it can still be a guess to who has a breakout year. Laron Landry will have a great season for us in his second year, but I think everyone expects that. The player that will surprise a lot of people is Reed Doughty. He is extremely smart as well as a very hard working player.

3. If I wasn't playing in the NFL what sport would I play or what profession would I choose?
Given a choice of sport, baseball would be so much fun. Plus baseball players laugh at some of our salaries, and everything they make is guaranteed. Realistically I would have finished college with an art education degree. I always thought being a high school art teacher would be really cool. I wanted to be a coach as well. I love all sports and will always be around them.

4. What is my favorite comedy film of all time?
Tommy Boy or Dumb and Dumber. Both Classics. I also could watch Caddy Shack 1000 times. None of them ever get old.

5. How much do you hate playing at FedEx. Could you convince "the Danny" to build a new stadium on the old RFK site? I actually love playing at FedEx. In my four years in the NFL, know that it is in the top three stadiums I've been in as far as atmosphere and excitement. As far as Dan Snyder, I don't think my input means much. I have heard rumors about a new stadium in the next ten years with a retractable roof. (RUMORS) It would have been awesome to play in RFK. Guess I just can't make the comparison.

6. There were a couple of questions about the rookies and pranks, so I'll give you a couple things that made me laugh. My favorite prank actually happened my rookie year. The older guys taped a guy up and rubbed Icy Hot all over his body and put him in the ice tub. The ice tub is really cold, but i can't imagine it with Icy Hot all over my body. It's pretty common to make a rookie buy dinner for all the guys. (Average bill ranges from 2 to 6 thousand) Breakfast sandwiches every Friday is popular. In college we used to catch fish in put them in lockers. All the lockers have a bottom holder for shoes that is covered by a bench. The bench will lift up and down to cover the bottom part. For my favorite all time prank we lined the bottom box with garbage bags and filled it full of water. Me and a couple guys caught about 10 carp and managed to keep them all alive, creating the "locker room fish tank". It has to be in the top five most original pranks of all time.

7. Who would win in a tag team match between Chris and Christy and Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson? The tag team match would start off with Christy and Jessica in the ring. Someone would come out of the stands with a cooler of beer and a couple of stools for Tony and I. We would proceed to sit ringside and high-five while clothes were furiously ripped off. In my world the match would end in Jes tapping out to a vicious choke hold, and I wouldn't be surprised if Christy dropped an elbow on her before she poured beer all over herself to celebrate.

8. How much do I throw myself the ball in a Madden game and do I get ridiculous yards. As well as what do I think is my greatest achievement so far? In an average game of Madden when I play with the Redskins Chris Cooley will have 10 to 15 catches and always over 100 yards. If a tight end can ever win the MVP it's Chris Cooley at the end of my season. When I'm playing I always refer to myself as Chris Cooley. Sounds dumb, but it makes it fun. As far as a greatest achievement, I would have to say the Pro Bowl. That was a huge honor for me. To be selected as the best in their sport is what any athlete would hope for.

9. How would I describe "Cache Valley" (this is where I went to high school as well as college) to someone who has never been there? Think of the movie "Napoleon Dynamite". Yes, that's pretty much what it was like. Cache Vally was a really fun place if you could find some outdoor activities. Skiing was big. I love to fly fish. Bridge jumping was always a good choice, but we really had a pretty fun time. Think zero nightlife. Zero!

10. What advice would I give to someone younger than me to find happiness? I try to never worry what people think about me. I kind of do whatever I want to do. Of course there are boundaries, but I try to stay away from anything or anyone that won't make me happy. Let all the little things go cause most don't really matter.

11. Favorite Drink? (Beer, wine, or liquor) Favorite drink definitely depends on the situation. I love almost all kinds of beer. If I was just gonna pick, it would be Bud Light. Christy and I drink wine at dinner most nights, and I love it. Red rather than white. My first couple years in DC people would always want to buy me drinks, and I would try to be cool and always ordered Jack Daniels. No more of that! I pretty much stick with beer.

12. What made me dress up as Johnny White Guy? Clinton had been dressing up as all his characters all season and finally toward the end of the year he asked some of us to be in the skit. He had all the old costumes in his locker, and we pretty much put on whatever we wanted. I tried to look as stupid as possible and was successful. As far as the name, Clinton said we could be whoever we wanted and since I was the only white guy in the group I chose "Johnny White Guy". Very fitting.

13. How short are your shorts going to be at training camp this season? If anyone remembers the old "Bike" coaching shorts from the 70's and 80's, I got a couple pairs from our equipment manager. They're actually really comfortable. They have an elastic waist and are made of some kind of material that doesn't get too wet when I get all sweaty during training camp. Plus I hate it when shorts come over my knees when I'm working out. I don't know why I'm always different, I'm not really trying to be, but I usually am. Weird.

14. Among retired players who is my favorite redskin? Is there any part of my game I would like to improve? Christy is really trying to say Darrell Green. She loves 28. I really don't have a favorite, but I've gotten pretty close to a lot of the guys from the 80's. That would have been so cool to have been a part of that team. I really think I would have fit in with those guys. I would have been all over beers after practice.

15. Are you offended or honored that I named my dog after you? Seems like tons of people are naming their dog after me. I think its awesome. I wanted to name my new dog Boscetti, but Christy threw in the veto. We named it Dale Earnhardt Jr. I tried to call him by his full name but it only lasted for a week. I'm disappointed in myself for that.

16. How hard is it to juggle my relationship and my professional career? I've been really lucky because Christy is a huge football fan. It's been great because we have so much in common. I think one of the coolest things about our relationship is we like to do everything together. It's not ever like one of us hates being a part of something we're doing. It gets hard for me when we go places and people will pretend like Christy is invisible to get autographs or pictures. Most people are really cool to us though.

17. If I could eat only one meal for a year what would it be? Filet Mignon. I guess I would throw in a potato and maybe some asparagus.

18. Who among my team mates has the most grotesque figure? Fabini. I mean "Furbini". I think he looks like Edgar from Men in Black after the alien stole his body. Like when he was asking for water. Fabini is in an Edgar suit or something. Haha. Sorry Fabs.

19. Is there anything that we as a team did before or after a game to honor Sean Taylor? Honestly there isn't anything we really did special or I guess as a tradition. Sean was a great friend and team mate to everyone on the Skins. I think he was in everyone's thoughts all the time, and I know so many of us were playing for Sean. We will all miss him so much. It's been hard for me because it's hard to believe I won't see him again. It just seems like I will.

20. Any chance I will be supporting DC United this season? I actually just started following our team. I randomly played golf at Raspberry Falls a couple months ago with Jaime Moreno. He was awesome, so I gotta start watching soccer.

The core of man's spirit is through new experiences

I found this quote today in my sketch book and loved it. The quote was from the movie "Into the Wild." I guess it's the quote of the day and this blog is definately a new experience for me. Haha.
Some questions have been asked through the blog about if the posts are getting read or not. I've read and appreciate every response and would like to encourage as many as possible. I would love to read as many questions as everyone would like to ask, whether it be about my movie quote or football or my life. I will pick my 20 favorite questions through the next three days and respond to them. Please direct all the questions to this post. All the fans have been amazing to me and I feel like this is a great way to interact with everyone. I will try to continue to do more Q and A's in the future. Thanks to everyone for checking out the site.

San Diego. Drink it in, it always goes down smooth.

I'll start everyone off with day two in San Diego. This officially became the longest day of the off season. Phone is barking at me for what seems like an hour, 5:45 came so much earlier than I would have expected after CC and 7's until 2. Kozlowski is relentless with his wake up calls and I'm forced to the driving range by 6. Hitting balls would have been a better decision than getting into an argument with Trent Difler about my slippers, an argument that ended in me telling him my slippers would be great for kicking his ass.

Torrey Pines proved to be a completely unforgiving golf course as I got off to a footballesque score of 10 strokes over par after three holes. I think my caddy thought I would break every club in my bag and I probably would have under different circumstances. After 5 hours of golf I was carted back to the club house where the display board proudly flaunted my 99.

Unable to sulk around about my golf, time was cut almost too short to grab a quick chicken sandwich and head off to PETCO Park. Hopes were again high, but this time it was for at least one batting practice home run. Within the next hour I found myself sitting in Greg Maddox's locker. Daydreaming about all the backyard baseball played with my brother pretending to pitch just like him. Before heading out to the field I waited for Maddox to head into the bathroom before stealing, I mean borrowing one of his bats out of his locker. No way could professional athletes ever keep a true inventory of issued equipment.

One home run was the only thing I had hoped to accomplish, but warning track power was the only thing that came out of my at bats. I had to give a lot of credit to how hard baseball players can hit the ball as I headed out of PETCO. To tell the truth, 3 days later my hands are still pretty sore from the wooden bats while I'm typing this.

Baseball ended and the group headed straight to the children's hospital. I felt like this was the most rewarding experience of the entire trip. About ten of the players spent 2 hours hanging out with many of the great kids and their unbelievable families. Drew Brees through his charity gave over a hundred gift bags, all stuffed with PSP's, games for everyone, as well as DVD's they could watch. To see kids and families smile and cry with so much excitement and hope made my whole weekend.

The day continued on an Advocare bus back to PETCO Park as we watched the Padres and Astros play an outstanding game. Not a lot of hr's but some great pitching.

Sheets and pillows had never felt better when after we finally got back into the room. But I knew it was a day I would remember for a long time.

Thank You

Hey everyone, I am going to make this quick because I have to get ready to fly home today. The response to our site has been amazing. Thank you for your comments. You guys are the real reason we are doing this. I think it will be awesome to be able to share some behind the scenes stuff with all of you. My flight doesn't get in until midnight tonight so be sure to check back tomorrow to see some pics and video of my trip. Thanks again.

The Professional Open

I thought the highlight of my trip to San Diego would be playing in the Professional Open. Little did I know that I was going to get into the best pre-round competition of my life. Immediately after arriving at Torre Pines I was carted off into depths of the course. Where to you ask? To meet up with Sterling Sharp, Marshall Faulk, Drew Brees, Ladainian Tomlinson and members of NFL network to compete in a special "Closest to the Pin" competition. The stakes - winner gets to hit batting practice with the San Diego Padres at their game tomorrow Apr. 1. Since I didn't have my own clubs (still in the car, and I had to borrow Sterling's) my hopes weren't too high on winning this event. But what the hell. My shot, five feet from the flag. I won! Oh and by the way, we played some golf later that day too.

Following the tournament I had a conversation with Dan Steinberg about this whole blogging thing that we are putting together. For those of you who don't know who Dan is, he writes the D.C. Sports Bog for the Washington Post. He is going to give us a plug here pretty soon so make sure to check it out. I will link it to our site as soon as it gets posted. The story should be pretty good, maybe gross to some but WTF.

Well besides checking in tomorrow to see how many bombs I dropped at PETCO Park (who knows, maybe I'll be the next Billy Crystal) be sure to check out Dan's blog.

College Highlights

This is a quick film of some college highlights from my senior year at Utah State. I know it's nothing special but we wanted to have clips from each stage of my career.

Now and Then

Every year at Logan high the video crew, led by Scott Harris, puts together a top notch highlight film for the football team. Scott was nice enough to give me the footage from my senior year and from that, we created this short film. Enjoy.

New dog!

For those of you who don't know, Christy and I sort of have a thing for animals. Last Wednesday we added a new Yorkie to the bunch. His name is Dale Earnhardt and he fits right in with the rest of the gang. With this addition we now have 2 Yorkies (Chip and Dale Earnhardt), a Great Dane (George), and 2 cats (Daisy and Lily). Here are a few shots of them hanging around the house.

SGMA's Health through fitness day 2008

Last week I met with with a few members of Congress to help promote physical activity at SGMS's health through fitness day. With the way things are going in the US, it is so important that we do things now to Prevent problems and illness than can arise from living a sedentary lifstyle. I am not going to elaborate more on this because SGMS's website does a great job explaining why we were there. If you want to read more or help out go to the link above.


Beth Kirkpatrick, with Polar. She was an ambassador for SGMA's fairer shower situation.







Congressman Arcuri from New York.








Beth, Congressman Klein from Florida and Jim Baugh former President of Wilson Sports.