Cooper Rush

Cooper Robert Rush (born November 21, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Central Michigan Chippewas, and was signed by the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2017.

Early years
Originally from Charlotte, Michigan, Rush attended Lansing Catholic High School in Lansing, Michigan, with an enrollment of just over 500 students, where he became a three-year starter at quarterback for the football team. Rush also played basketball and baseball (until his freshman year).

In 2010 and 2011, Rush led his team to back-to-back undefeated regular seasons. In 2011, Rush led his team to the state runner-up title. In the Division 5 regional championship game against Dowagiac Union High School, he set Michigan state records with five touchdown passes in one quarter and eight for the game. The team would end up losing in the finals against Powers Catholic High School 56–26, even though he registered 300 passing yards and three touchdowns.

As a senior, Rush received All-State, Associated Press' Michigan Division 5/6 Player of the Year and ESPN's Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year honors.

Rush finished his high school career throwing for 7,248 passing yards (455-for-734, 62 percent), 80 passing touchdowns, 1,438 rushing yards and 27 rushing touchdowns. A three-star recruit, Rush only received scholarship offers from Central Michigan and Toledo, but received preferred walk-on offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, and Western Michigan.

College career
In his redshirt season at Central Michigan, Rush was named the school's Scout Team Player of the Year.

As a freshman, although he began the season as the third-string quarterback, Rush was named the starter by the third game, after Cody Kater was injured (collarbone fracture) and his backup Alex Niznak could not move the offense against the New Hampshire Wildcats. In that contest, Rush came in the second quarter and helped engineer a 24–21 comeback victory, where he tallied 326 passing yards and three touchdowns, tying the school record for the longest in history (97 yards). Rush would never relinquish the position or miss a start after the game.

As a sophomore, Rush played in the 2014 Bahamas Bowl against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. By the middle of the third quarter, his team had fallen behind 49–14, but scored four unanswered touchdowns and were down by only seven points near the end of the fourth quarter. With one second remaining on the contest, Central Michigan had the ball on their own 25 yard line. The would-be final play started with a 45-yard Hail Mary pass from Rush to wide receiver Jesse Kroll. As Kroll was being tackled he lateraled the ball to teammate Deon Butler, who ran 20 yards before lateraling to Courtney Williams. With no space to run, Williams made a quick third lateral pass to leading receiver Titus Davis who ran the final 13 yards, scoring a touchdown that would have tied the game with a kicked extra point and sent the game into overtime, but instead Central Michigan attempted a two-point conversion for the win, which was unsuccessful. Had the try succeeded, it would have marked the largest comeback in bowl history and tied the largest comeback in any Division I game. Rush's seven touchdown passes set an all-time record for all bowl games.

Rush's best season came as a junior in 2015. Through the first 13 games, he had 3,703 passing yards, which was a new school single-season record. Rush completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 3,848 total passing yards, 25 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.

As a senior, Rush's production dropped to 3,540 passing yards and 23 touchdowns, but with 16 interceptions and a low 59.8 completion percentage. Against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the game sparked controversy after the officials made an incorrect call that would eventually give Central Michigan the win. Oklahoma State threw the ball away to end the game and received a penalty for intentional grounding. Under college football rules, the game would have ended and Oklahoma State would have won the game. However, the officials gave Central Michigan an untimed down, and Rush threw a 51-yard Hail Mary pass to Kroll, who made a lateral to fellow receiver Corey Willis at the 12-yard line, running for a touchdown with no time remaining for a 30–27 victory. The team lost 55–10 to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the 2016 Miami Beach Bowl at the end of the season.

Rush finished his college career with 49 straight starts, 12,894 passing yards (12 yards short of Dan LeFevour's school and conference record) and 90 touchdowns.

Pre-draft
Coming out of Central Michigan, Rush was projected by the majority of NFL draft experts and analysts to be a seventh round pick or a priority undrafted free agent. On December 6, 2016, it was announced that Rush had accepted his invitation to the East–West Shrine Game. On January 21, 2017, Rush performed in the East–West Shrine Game for the East and completed 11 of 17 pass attempts for 97 yards in a 10–3 loss to the West.

Rush received an invitation to the NFL Combine and performed almost all of the required drills except for the bench press. He had an underwhelming lackluster performance and had some of the lowest marks at the combine. On March 20, 2017, Rush participated at Central Michigan's pro day and chose to attempt the vertical jump, broad jump, short shuttle, and three-cone drill once again. He gave a slower time in the three-cone drill (7.28), but was able to have better results in the vertical (30"), broad (8'11"), and short shuttle (4.46). Rush was ranked the 14th best quarterback prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com.

2017
Rush was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys after the 2017 NFL draft on May 12. As a rookie, he initially competed with Zac Dysert in training camp for the job as the third-string quarterback. After Dysert suffered a herniated disc, the Cowboys signed Luke McCown to replace him on the roster.

Following multiple productive preseason performances in the Hall of Fame Game and the next two contests, Rush began to share second-team reps in practice with backup quarterback Kellen Moore before the preseason game against the Oakland Raiders. During the contest, Rush was given most of the time with the second-team offense and completed 12-of-13 passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns in a 24–20 comeback victory. He finished the preseason with a total of 38 pass completions out of 51 attempts, 398 passing yards, and six touchdown passes with no interceptions. Head coach Jason Garrett named Rush the Cowboys' third quarterback on their depth chart, behind Dak Prescott and Moore. Rush did not dress for the first five games and was a healthy scratch.

Rush was promoted to second-string for the sixth game of the season, with Moore being released and signed to the Cowboys' practice squad. During a Week 7 40–10 road victory over the San Francisco 49ers, Rush made his NFL debut. Rush appeared late in the game in relief of Prescott, completing one-of-three passes for two yards while also rushing twice for 13 yards.

2018
In 2018, Rush was the backup at quarterback from the start of organized team activities, as he never received any strong competition from rookie Mike White. Rush only played in Week 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, closing out a 40–7 victory in the fourth quarter, where he only handed the ball to the running backs.

2019
In 2019, Rush was not challenged for the backup quarterback role, so the Cowboys decided to keep only two quarterbacks on the roster, releasing White at the end of the preseason. Rush only played in the season-opener against the New York Giants and in Week 15 against the Los Angeles Rams. He did not have any pass attempts while closing out the two wins in the fourth quarter.

2020
On March 18, 2020, Rush re-signed with the Cowboys on a one-year restricted free agent tender. On May 4, he was waived by the Cowboys after the team signed former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and drafting Ben DiNucci in the 7th round 231st overall.

New York Giants
On May 5, 2020, Rush was claimed off waivers by the New York Giants, reuniting with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who was his head coach with the Cowboys. On September 5, 2020, Rush was waived and signed to the practice squad the next day. On September 29, 2020, he was released from the practice squad to make room for another former Cowboys quarterback (Clayton Thorson).

2020
On October 31, 2020, Rush was signed to the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad, to provide depth after starter Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending ankle injury and backup quarterback Andy Dalton was in concussion protocol. Rush was elevated to the active roster on November 7 for the team's Week 9 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Cowboys on January 4, 2021. Rush beat out Garrett Gilbert and Ben DiNucci to be the backup QB for Dallas in the 2021 NFL season.

2021
Rush was named the starter for the Cowboys Week 8 game against the Minnesota Vikings after Prescott was out with a calf injury. It was Rush's first NFL start. He threw for 325 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception, and led a comeback drive that he ended by throwing a touchdown to Amari Cooper in the final minute of a 20–16 road victory.

2022
On August 30, 2022, Rush was waived by the Cowboys and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was signed to the active roster on September 17, 2022, to be the starter following an injury to Dak Prescott. Rush made his first start of the season during Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals, where he threw for 235 yards and a touchdown in the 20–17 victory.

In his second start of the season against the Giants in Week 3, Rush threw for 225 yards and a touchdown during a 23–16 road victory. In the next game against the Washington Commanders, in his third straight start of the season, Rush completed 15-of-27 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns with a passer rating of 107.5 during the 25–10 victory. With the victory, Rush became the first quarterback in franchise history to win his first five starts. The following week against the Rams, Rush completed 10-of-16 passes for 102 yards in a 22–10 road victory. This was his fourth straight start and win during the season. After four starts in the season, Rush had the fifth highest QBR in the NFL at 66.9. During a Week 6 26–17 road loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, he completed 18-of-38 passes for 181 yards, a touchdown, and three interceptions. Rush returned to the backup role when Prescott returned in Week 7.

2023
On March 17, 2023, Rush re-signed with the Cowboys on a two-year contract worth $6 million. He appeared in seven games, completing 18 of 24 passes for 144 yards, throwing no touchdowns and one interception.

Personal life
Rush is married and has a daughter.