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https://gazette.com/sports/becoming...cle_538ac35e-3e47-11ec-8080-77d758b78b08.html
Becoming Jonathon Cooper: How the Broncos rookie and Von Miller’s mentee became the man his mother knew he could be
GEORGE STOIA [email protected]
DENVER — Visit Stonehill Neighborhood in Gahanna, Ohio, and you'd imagine stepping into Browns and Bengals territory. But take a stroll down Granite Falls Drive and you'll find blue, orange and some of the newest, youngest and most passionate Broncos diehards.
“We love the Broncos and we love Jonathon Cooper,” said Judy Sgambati, a mother of three who has lived four doors down from Cooper and his family the past six years.
Sgambati, like many in the Stonehill community, has gotten to know the Broncos rookie outside linebacker after he formed a close relationship with her son Louie now 12, six years ago playing basketball in their driveway. Talk to Cooper once and you’ll understand why he’s become such a beloved figure everywhere he’s been, from Lincoln High School to Ohio State to the Denver Broncos.
Or, watch the 35-second video of the day Cooper was drafted 239th overall on May 2. That video, which has over 748,000 views on Twitter, is an embodiment of the influence Cooper has, as the neighborhood kids rushed to his home to offer congratulations, hugs and a game of backyard football, sparking an impromptu pizza party that went viral across social media.
“What you see in that video is so genuine, that is so Coop,” said Sgambati of Cooper, who is stepping into a starting role Sunday for the recently-traded Von Miller this week at Dallas. “If he came home tomorrow and the NFL was over, he will always be an amazing person because that’s just who he is. He’s the definition of a role model. And I can only pray that my son becomes the type of man that Jonathon Cooper is.”
But Cooper’s impact goes far beyond his childhood neighborhood.
Cooper has positively affected the people around him all his life, whether that be his family, teammates, classmates, coaches, teachers, or the neighbors down the street. To a person, they say the 23-year-old has prided himself on being a man of integrity, a player who never quits and a friend to all — values instilled by his mom since the day he was born and values he will soon instill in his own son.
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Had a feeling that was a driving factor for letting Miller go so easy
Jesus Fields.