"Greg could very well have been the greatest talent that the quarterback position had ever seen."
-Bill Walsh
As a kid I would peruse NFL statistics of years past. I was a little surprised to see a Greg Cook on top of the passing statistics for 1969. I expected Dawson, Jurgensen, Namath maybe, but I'd never heard of Greg Cook. Turns out he was a rookie QB for the Cincinnati Bengals in 1969. Even more surprising than his lofty passing statistics was that he seemed to vanish after that one year. Who was Greg Cook?
Paul Brown was experiencing his NFL reunion with the expansion Cincinnati Bengals in 1968. He caught wind of the local college quarterback that same year. When Brown watched Greg Cook lead the University of Cincinnati to a come from behind victory over the University of Miami(OH), he was hooked. Brown drafted Cook in the first round of the AFL Draft and had no concerns with the rookie leading the Bengals in 1969. The Bengals may have been starting their second season but they were coached by a legend in Paul Brown and assisted by a legend to be in Bill Walsh. Cook's backup was Sam Wyche. That's a nice little collection of offensive football minds. It helped create a cushy place for a rookie QB to start.
Quick feet, unbelievable throwing arm for both long and short passes, superior all-around athletic skills. Physically, Greg Cook had it all. As a leader, Paul Brown compared him to Otto Graham. High praise considering the former Browns QB led his team to the championship game in all ten of his seasons, winning seven. Brown considered Cook totally unflappable in tight situations. He could stand in the pocket and face the fiercest pass rush without flinching. All this as a rookie in a demanding, diverse offense.
Cook started the season spectacularly in leading the Bengals to a 3-0 record. In the third game against the eventual Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs, Cook felt a pop in his right (throwing) shoulder after being tackled. He missed the next three games. Due to the limited medical technology at the time, his rotator cuff had been torn and went undiagnosed. Despite this, Cook went on to pass for 1854 yards and led the Bengals to wins over the Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders, two of the best teams in the AFL. His 9.411 yards per pass attempt and 17.5 yards per completion are rookie records that still stand. Cook was UPI's choice for AFL Rookie of the Year.
Recalls Cook, "I took cortisone shots and played in pain, but the shoulder hadn't started to deteriorate yet, so I could still function. I still had the strength. I felt obliged to finish the season. I'd gotten off to a good start. I didn't want to relinquish that."
Thinking that rest had allowed his shoulder to heal, Cook played some basketball. On a rebound, his shoulder was grabbed and reinjured. The rotator cuff began deteriorating after the season. During surgery, it was revealed that Cook also had a partially detatched biceps muscle. After three operations proved futile, he retired.
The Bengals had to replace their franchise QB about 15 years too early. It led to an interesting development. Bill Walsh recalls, "We had to replace Greg Cook. We signed Virgil Carter and reverted to a different style of offense, the origin of the so-called West Coast Offense." Walsh adapted to what he had, and started to develop an offense that would change the league.
Greg Cook had one phenomenal season. One that opened the eyes of two of the greatest coaches of all time. There is a great deal of security when a coach can look out and see one of the best under center of his team. Both Brown and Walsh, Wyche too, saw in Cook one of the best QBs they had ever seen. It's a shame that a talent that special had it all taken away so early. Injuries will always be an unfortunate part of football. It's amazing that Greg Cook's injury and absence from the 1970 Bengals offense helped speed the evolution of the West Coast Offense. Few QBs could do the things that Cook could do. Walsh had to adapt, and he certainly did.
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