Jonathon Cooper is the guy your mother never warned you about. He always gives the impression he just finished his homework and is headed to the gym for a 6 a.m. workout.
His teammates at Ohio State nicknamed him “Dad,” because of his uncommon maturity. Then Sunday arrives, and he becomes unrecognizable.
The man with two Spider-Man tattoos on his left forearm turns into The Incredible Hulk. Or, more accurately, a Symbiote.
“I definitely become more like the black-suit Spider-Man (or Symbiote). I feel myself go into that mode,” said Cooper of the superhero’s villainous, more powerful side. “It happens because of the competition. I have always thrived on it. It brings something out in me. I want to go out there and dominate. I want to make sure I show up and that everyone sees who I am on every single play.”
When looking for reasons the Broncos boast a top-five defense entering Sunday’s grudge match against the Raiders, there should be only a few commas before you reach Cooper. He is built, but not the strongest. He is quick, but not the fastest. He is just relentless, playing with the energy of a puppy who just swiped a bedroom slipper.
“He brings it every day. You either have the dawg in you or you don’t. And he definitely has it,” said Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles, who has become good friends with Cooper over the past four seasons. “I think the world of him and the way he plays. I told him, ‘I believe you can be one of the greatest rushers in the game.’ He has the demeanor. He has the poise along with the work ethic. You can’t teach that.”
Cooper, 26, rushes the quarterback like he’s trying to settle a score. His pressure rate in the season opener ranked first in the league. After breaking through with a team-best 8.5 sacks last season, Cooper leads the Broncos with three through four games.
He is big enough (6-foot-4, 257 pounds) to set the edge against the run and has the technique to shove a tackle into the backfield. He is having his best season for the same reason defensive end Zach Allen is: He is anywhere and everywhere.
“Effort is something that I feel like doesn’t get talked about enough when it comes to defense,” Cooper said. “When you go out there and have people running to the ball, pushing the pocket, always making the quarterback uncomfortable, it makes the offense more cautious because they know even if one guy doesn’t get you another guy might.”
Cooper, who will be a free agent at season’s end and should be a priority to keep, is a good player who represents great value. A projected third-round pick in 2021, he fell to the seventh after a pre-draft medical exam revealed a recurrence of atrial fibrillation, something he had been diagnosed with in high school eight years prior. Multiple surgeries followed.
Cooper held onto his NFL dream like a grudge. He refused to believe he would not succeed. His mother, Jessica, had worked too hard for too long to give him this opportunity. He owed it to her and his three sisters. To them, he was more than a brother. He was a web-slinger.
“They always see me as Spider-Man. That’s why I say black suit Spider-Man because he’s a savage for real,” Cooper said. “If you read comics you know that, and I read the comics. I used to collect them and still kind of do. The whole thing comes back to the (proverb), ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ My mom showed me the importance of being responsible, of always taking care of my sisters and being there for them.”
The Broncos’ record notwithstanding, Cooper is a winning player. He gets his taped hands dirty. He communicates well, often with opposing quarterbacks and tackles, speaking his truth after third-down stops. The Broncos feed off his style, his attitude.
“He means everything to our defense,” said fellow edge rusher Nik Bonitto. “He is a force. All-around, he’s a great guy to look at when we talk about the standard of how to play.”
Related Articles
Renck: It’s October. Raiders defense stinks. It’s time for Bo Nix to deliver his best performance
Renck vs. Keeler: Broncos’ Vance Joseph or CU’s Robert Livingston? Who is the hotter defensive coordinator right now?
Renck: Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, like Tim Tebow, is becoming easier to appreciate than explain
Broncos Four Downs: Bo Nix rebounds from historically bad first half with first career TD pass
Renck: “Rocky Mountain High” is Colorado’s song, but “Country Roads” connects John Denver to West Virginia
Teammates race to congratulate Cooper. He manifests what it means to take the practice field to the game, to not settle.
He is an authentic everyman, not unlike, well, Spider-Man. Roll your eyes at your own peril. There is something to this. Cooper has a 3-year-old son, Javier. He never brought up his affinity for Peter Parker’s alter ego. It wasn’t long ago, however, Javier began watching “Spidey and his Amazing Friends.”
Whether on the field or at home, Cooper has woven quite the web. He might be only one thread, but he connects so many others, binding them together.
“(Javier) got into Spider-Man all by himself. It’s in the blood,” Cooper said with a big smile. “He’s always telling me to turn it on. I don’t know if it’s because of me, but those genetics gotta run strong because Spider-Man has always been my guy. It’s nice to see him love it. So, yeah, like a lot of things for me, it ties back to Spider-Man.”
Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.