An undrafted free agent after college, he briefly tried out for the National Football League (NFL) with the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals.
[2] In Cook's junior year, their football team was 1–8–1 while he dealt with a sore left shoulder, undergoing arthroscopic surgery after the season.
UCLA head coach Terry Donahue attended the game (his daughter was an Agoura cheerleader) and was impressed with Cook's play.
[1] Cook signed a letter of intent to play football at the University of California, Los Angeles, who days later landed two of the country's top quarterback recruits, Bert Emanuel and Tommy Maddox.
[6] A rangy quarterback, like Maddux, at 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) and 200 pounds (91 kg),[5] Cook was named the starter in 1992, but suffered a season-ending injury in the first game against Cal State Fullerton.
[9] He underwent reconstructive surgery for the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, and the Bruins finished the season 6–5 with Ryan Fien and Rob Walker playing quarterback.
[6][11][12] However, UCLA emerged as a Rose Bowl contender,[2] winning seven in a row,[10] with Cook tying the single-game school record of four touchdown passes and becoming the first Bruin to reach the mark in consecutive games.
[10] Cook was hurt the previous week when Washington State's DeWayne Patterson was offside and flattened him,[10] injuring his right kidney and sending him to the hospital.
[16] He returned the following week and threw for a touchdown and ran for another in a 27–21 win over USC, snapping a 10-game losing streak in their crosstown rivalry when the Rose Bowl was at stake for both teams.
On first and 10 from the Wisconsin 18-yard line with 15 seconds left in the game and no timeouts remaining, Cook ran the ball for three yards but was tackled and time expired.
[21] Fifteen of his scoring strikes were to All-American receiver J. J. Stokes,[22] including a 95-yard pass against Washington that was the longest play in UCLA history.
[26] With Stokes back healthy,[27] the Bruins recovered to win their next two games against Stanford and Arizona State, scoring a total of 90 points, more than in their entire losing streak.
The 49ers invited four quarterbacks to training camp, choosing the veteran Cary Conklin over Cook to join Steve Young, Elvis Grbac, and Bob Gagliano.
[30] He entered training camp with three other quarterbacks—veterans Dave Krieg and Mike Buck and fellow rookie Stoney Case, a third-round draft pick who was roommates with Cook at the Blue-Gray Game.