Chris Cooley – Pro Bowler and Pro Shipper?

This Tuesday FedEX “hired” Redskins Tight End Chris Cooley to help pack and ship their holiday presents at their 20th and K location.  FedEx partnered with several NFL players across the league to bring popular players to locations across the country and with shipping packages being one of the least enjoyable parts of the holidays, having your favorite NFL player there was certainly a great way to ship with FedEx  The event was publicized through the local media and through Cooley’s twitter account, @thecooleyzone and there were a good contingent of fans who came out to see Captain Chaos as he wrapped packages and filled up out waybills. One female Skins brought a Redskins football, not to be shipped but for a Christmas present for her Dad.  “He’s gonna love this” she exclaimed while being accompanied by her fellow coworker and fellow fan. Another Skins fan found out the day of that Cooley would be in the area and breathlessly ran down to meet him. Unfortunately once he got there, he realized he had nothing for Chris to sign. Opportunity blown! Until Chris suggested he pick up a holiday card off the shelves of the FedEx Office. That’s definitely a holiday card that this fan will be keeping.

We had a chance to sit down with Cooley in-between the time he spent sending packages around the country. “I’m here with ‘Pack with the Pros’… Its fun and I’m here basically taping and putting bows and wrapping on packages”. With the small blanket of snow the conversation turned to his upbringing and college days in much colder weather here. “I like to play in the cold, it’s not fun to practice in the cold.. I much prefer to play in 40 instead of 90 degrees”. While Chris was helping fans complete the last leg of the gift packing process, in typical male fashion he himself wasn’t prepared for the holidays himself.  “I’m waiting for the very last day, I haven’t gotten anybody anything”.  Finally when pressed for who he thought would be coming out of the NFC, he displayed the candor that has made him a fan favorite over his time with the Skins, “No… I want everyone else to lose”.

Finally the best moment came soon after we arrived at the FedEx Office shop. Two girls had been sent by their office to drop several packages. They entered to some confused looks as to why there was a line of cameras and FedEx personnel, until they saw who was behind the counter. Not your typical, FedEx employee to be sure. They seemed flustered but happy to meet Chris. They left after he helped them complete their errand seemingly in a daze. I bet that’s one trip to drop off packages they won’t soon forget. So while some fans came to see their Skins hero and others were taken completely off guard, everyone left happy. Their package was shipped with a little help from a completely unexpected but awesome “FedEx employee”