Ex-Raiders, Irish star can’t say enough about Dallas’ Cooper

Hall of Famer also defends Oakland’s trade of standout WR

Tim Brown, the Pro Football Hall of Famer and Heisman Trophy winner who starred as a wide receiver for the Raiders and Notre Dame, paused for a moment to ponder his top five wide receivers in today’s game.

“Amari Cooper, Amari Cooper, Amari Cooper, Amari Cooper and Amari Cooper,” Brown, who lives in Dallas, said as a joke after he had earlier given his thoughts on the Cowboys’ trade to land the play-making wide receiver from Oakland that has helped turn around the team. Dallas has gone 5-1 since the trade and is atop the NFC East at 8-5.

Brown, who was the guest speaker at Friday’s New Mexico Bowl Kickoff Luncheon at Isleta Resort and Casino, said he is happy for Cooper and that his former team realized Cooper’s productivity for the Cowboys could happen.

“The text I got from (the Raiders) the night they traded him is we knew he was about to go catch 100 balls and go for 2,000 yards for the rest of the season,” Brown said. “And, he’s pretty much on pace for that.”

Brown would not say who the text was from. He defended the Raiders, saying they did not make a bad move by trading Cooper to the Cowboys.

“If someone is going to give you a firstround pick for a guy, that at that particular point didn’t look like he was going anywhere fast, I think you have to take that opportunity,” Brown said. “Let’s talk a couple years from now and see what they do with that draft pick.”

Brown, who grew up in Dallas and was in Albuquerque for the first time, met with the media before speaking during the luncheon that included New Mexico Bowl teams Utah State and North Texas, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and football fans.

Brown, who in 1987 became the first wide receiver to win the Heisman Trophy, told the luncheon crowd about his first college bowl experience as a freshman with the Irish at the Aloha Bowl in Hawaii. He said he was excited to play at the beach and run into the water. But Brown went too deep, he said, and had to be helped to shore when he tried to swim back.

That taught him a lesson to never go too far, which he applied to other parts of his life, including his morals. He said he was invited to a party by Magic Johnson while with the Los Angeles Raiders in 1990. When Brown opened the door and saw what was going on in the party, he said even though he wasn’t much of a dancer, he moon-walked away from there.

Brown also stressed to the New Mexico Bowl players to take advantage of the opportunities and education provided to them.

As for his real opinion of the NFL’s top five receivers?

In addition to Cooper, he added Atlanta’s Julio Jones, Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown, Green Bay’s Davante Adams and Minnesota’s Adam Thielen.

“You have so many kids catching 100 balls that it’s a totally different game now,” Brown said. “I don’t know who’s going to end up being the top guy with the way the game is played now.”

Brown was then asked what he could do in the NFL with today’s rules.

“Me and Jerry (Rice) have had that conversation,” Brown said. “We’ll keep that conversation between the two of us.”

JIM THOMPSON/JOURNAL Tim Brown, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1987 and later played with the Raiders, had plenty to talk about as keynote speaker at the NM Bowl luncheon Friday.