He played collegiately for the Denver Pioneers as an end, where he was the national receptions leader in 1950, and later was selected by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the 1952 NFL draft.

He was drafted to serve in the United States Army prior to the 1952 NFL season and suffered an injury when he returned to the team in 1954.

[5] In 1948, when Cooper graduated from White Pine at the age of 18, he received an offer to play minor league baseball for the Cincinnati Reds.

[3] Shortly after, he received an offer to play college football and baseball for the University of Denver, and choose that route instead of joining the Reds.

[3] He received the Denver offer after a local sportswriter informed coach Johnny Baker of a "speedy kid with glue-like hands wrecking havoc in the desert.

[7] He won nine varsity letters while playing three sports, as an end in football, shortstop in baseball and a participant in the javelin throw for the track and field team.

[3] He said that he "was sure [he] would have made the team," but was drafted into the United States Army prior to the regular season and served 21 months, including 16 overseas in Germany.

[4] Cooper was released early from the Army to re-join the Lions in 1954, but he had suffered a knee injury during his military service that resulted in him losing his speed.