James Cooper

This is the third in a series of articles profiling the 2015 inductees into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame. BUTLER TWP — Jim Cooper was a fast learner.The 1963 Butler graduate never played football until his junior year in high school, but became an all-WPIAL and all-state defensive end as a senior. He wound up earning a scholarship to the University of Georgia.While with the Bulldogs, Cooper was switched to wide receiver — a position he had never played — and led the team in number of catches as a sophomore.Such exploits have earned Cooper a spot in the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame. He will be inducted as part of the organization's annual banquet April 25 at the Butler Days Inn.“I appreciate the recognition,” Cooper said. “I'm just not sure I'm deserving of it. I feel a little awkward that way.My son turned my name in for consideration. It's nice that my sons are proud of my athletic background in that sense.”Cooper's sons are athletes in their own right. Steve Cooper has done Ironman events and played basketball at Penn State Behrend. Justin Cooper has run marathons and played basketball at PSU New Kensington.“I guess it runs in the family,” Cooper said.Cooper was a high jumper for Butler's track team, reaching a personal-best of 6 feet, 2 inches. He was talked into trying out for football by legendary Golden Tornado fullback Bill Rettig.“Bill and I were good friends and he convinced me to give it a try,” Cooper recalled. “I loved it and just stuck with it.“My first year in football was Art Bernardi's second year as head coach. He was just starting to build his program and went to the two-platoon system.”At 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, Cooper became a starting defensive end with Ed Codi manning the other side.“Defense didn't get much publicity in those days,” Cooper said. “No one kept track of tackles or sacks or anything like that. Just go out there and do your job. That was the mentality.”Cooper did his job well enough to attract plenty of collegiate interest. He wound up receiving offers from 18 different universities and local colleges.Among those suitors were Michigan State, Purdue, Alabama, Wake Forest and Georgia.“(Paul) Red Uram deserves a lot of credit for getting my name out there and getting scouts to come up and see me,” Cooper said.“Art Bernardi and I were flown down to Georgia for a weekend. The scout down there used to live in McKeesport and he recruited a lot of guys from western Pennsylvania. I just felt comfortable there.”Cooper's second year at Georgia was Vince Dooley's first season as head coach at Georgia. Dooley went on to coach there for 24 years.Though he was recruited as a defensive end, Cooper was quickly moved to receiver.“That was pretty common back then, moving players around to fill needs on the roster,” Cooper said. “They tried me at receiver, saw I could catch the ball and that was it. I had a new spot. They did a good job of teaching players new positions.”Cooper led the freshman team in receptions during his first season at Georgia and was on his way to making a similar impact with the Bulldogs' main team when he suffered a knee injury in practice.Red-shirted as a junior, Cooper was unable to aptly recover from the surgery and his football career was over.His college career was over, too.“It's different today, but if you could no longer play (in the 1960s), they didn't have to continue your scholarship,” Cooper said. “It became available for somebody else.“I returned home. Since pretty much all of my family worked at Armco, I got a job there, too.”He worked at Armco for 37 years before returning in 2003. But Cooper has fond memories of his time spent in football.“Playing the sport was great, but finding lasting friendships was greater,” he said. “Those friendships you develop through sports mean a lot.”Tickets for the Hall of Fame dinner are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Tickets are available at Bill's Beer Barn and Snack-N-Pack in Butler, Moses Jewelers at the Clearview Mall, Parkers Appliance in Chicora and Saxonburg Drug.