Chris Cooley Profile

Position | Tight End
Born | Powell, Wyoming
Date-of-Birth | July 11, 1982
Height | 6’3″
Weight | 255 lbs
College | Utah State
NFL Career | 9 seasons
Teams | Washington Redskins 2004-2012

Career Highlights

• Third-round pick (81st overall) of the Washington Redskins in the 2004 NFL Draft
• Spent his entire nine-season career with Washington
• Set Washington’s single-season reception record for a tight end twice, first with 71 catches in 2005, then 83 in 2008
• The only tight end in NFL history to score six or more touchdowns in each of his first four seasons
• Franchise leader in career receptions by a tight end at the time of his retirement (429 catches)
• Washington Commanders 90 Greatest

Awards

• 2x Pro Bowl (2007, 2008)
• PFWA All-Rookie Team (2004)
• First-team All-Sun Belt (2003, Utah State)
• Utah State University Athletics Hall of Fame

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Chris Cooley Was Washington’s Most Productive Tight End, and Its Most Colorful Personality

Christopher Ken Cooley, born July 11, 1982 in Powell, Wyoming) spent his entire nine-year professional career with the Washington Redskins. Nicknamed “Captain Chaos,” he became the franchise’s most productive and popular tight end in the organization’s history.

Early Life and College Career

Cooley grew up in Utah and starred at Logan High School, where he lettered in football, wrestling, and baseball and earned all-state honors as a senior (46 receptions for 625 yards). Utah State was the only Division I program to recruit him.

At Utah State (2000–2003), he developed into the program’s best tight end. Career college totals: 96 receptions for 1,255 yards and 11 touchdowns (plus limited rushing). His junior year (2002) produced 31 catches for 502 yards and 4 TDs. As a senior in 2003 he led all NCAA tight ends with 62 receptions for 732 yards and 6 touchdowns, earning first-team All-Sun Belt honors, honorable-mention All-American recognition, and Mackey Award semifinalist status. He was a team captain, shared Offensive MVP honors, and later entered the Utah State University Athletics Hall of Fame (2017).

NFL Draft and Washington Career (2004–2012)

Washington drafted Cooley out of Utah State in the third round in 2004, 81st overall, taken behind five other tight ends that year, including Kellen Winslow II and Benjamin Watson. Joe Gibbs’ staff saw something the rest of the league missed.

On May 6th, 2004, THN Lauded The Pick

Cooley made an immediate impact as a rookie, with 37 receptions, 314 yards, and a team-leading 6 touchdowns. He earned PFWA All-Rookie honors and quickly became a reliable red-zone target.

Record-Setting Production

Cooley’s breakout came in 2005, when he caught 71 passes for 774 yards and seven touchdowns, breaking the franchise’s single-season tight end reception record, including a three-touchdown game against Dallas. He earned back-to-back Pro Bowl selections in 2007 and 2008, the second of which came off a career year: 83 catches, 849 yards, and a second franchise record for a tight end. Across his first four seasons, he became the only tight end in NFL history to score six or more touchdowns every single year, a mark that still stands.

He also had 849-yards in 2010 (77 catches, 3 TDs).

Cooley was known for strong hands, route-running instincts, after-the-catch toughness, and solid blocking. He set franchise marks for tight ends in receptions and remained a fan favorite for his personality and consistency.

Banged Up

Injuries limited him later: only 7 games in 2009 (knee) and 5 games in 2011 (finger).

In 2012 the Redskins released him in late August amid a reduced role behind Fred Davis; they re-signed him in October, and he appeared in 9 games with minimal production (1 catch for 8 yards).

Career NFL totals (all with Washington, 117 games, 102 starts): 429 receptions, 4,711 receiving yards, 33 touchdowns (11.0 yards per catch). He ranks among the top tight ends in franchise history and was named to the Washington Commanders 90 Greatest list.

The Character

The Captain Chaos moniker fit Chris Cooley like a glove and captured the freewheeling, larger-than-life personality that made him a locker-room favorite and fan favorite in equal measure.

The nickname was born on a dare before a game against the St. Louis Rams, when teammates challenged him to introduce himself as Captain Chaos during the coin-toss ceremony. He cheerfully did so, leaving the opposing captains puzzled and sealing the handle forever.

Off the field he leaned fully into the persona—rocking eccentric hairstyles and mustaches, blasting heavy metal, wearing outlandish practice gear (vintage tight shorts, knee-high socks, bandanas), maintaining a candid and often unfiltered personal blog called “The Cooley Zone,” and generally treating the NFL experience with an Animal House-style sense of fun.

Teammates affectionately called him the team goofball or “knucklehead,” yet they also credited him with keeping the atmosphere loose. Cooley himself insisted that if football stopped being enjoyable, there was no point in playing. That playful, unapologetically eccentric streak never overshadowed his production, but it ensured that Captain Chaos remains one of the most memorable characters in modern Redskins lore.

Retirement and Post-Playing Career

Cooley announced his retirement in July 2013. He immediately transitioned into broadcasting, joining the Washington Redskins radio network as a color analyst and contributing film-breakdown segments and commentary for local outlets (including ESPN 980). He has remained connected to the franchise and the D.C. sports community.

An Artist On and Off the Field

Cooley’s identity extended well beyond football. He’s a genuine painter and potter, with gallery exhibits across the D.C. area, and he’s described himself as someone whose mind “races from idea to idea.” That same restless creativity showed up in his charitable work, too. He founded the Chris Cooley Education Fund in 2009, awarding college scholarships to local high schoolers, and later established the Chris Cooley Foundation to support abused women and wildlife protection efforts.

Legacy

Cooley embodied the productive, high-character, blue-collar tight end of the mid-2000s.

He never chased big free-agent money elsewhere, spent his entire career in Washington, and left as one of the most beloved players of his generation.

Career Statistics

G = Games played, Rec = Receptions, Yds = Receiving yards, Y/R = Yards per reception, Lng = Longest reception, TD = Receiving touchdowns. Stats via Pro Football Reference.