Cowboys' Brandin Cooks uses his faith to give back to hometown community
There is a reason why Brandin Cooks has been on five NFL teams in his career.
Cooks has been traded four times, an NFL record he shares with Eric Dickerson – but it is hardly because of a lack of talent or issues in any locker room.
As a matter of fact, the wide receiver had a 1,000-yard season with each of his first four teams (Saints, Patriots, Rams and Texans), and he expects to do the same with the Dallas Cowboys this upcoming season.
However, it is his veteran leadership in the locker room and what he does off the field that make him wanted.
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Earlier this week, Cooks hosted a football camp in his hometown of Stockton, California, near the Bay Area where he grew up watching Jerry Rice.
Over 700 were in attendance at the sold-out camp, and given his upbringing and faith, Cooks feels a responsibility to not only give back to the community, but the one he grew up in.
"I think it’s huge. I think it’s always important that you give back, but especially to the community that had an impact on you, you grew up in. Being from Stockton, wouldn’t change it for the world, love the place with all my heart," Cooks said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. "To be able to inspire kids and continue to give them hope and get them to come back and show face, I think is important."
The camp was sponsored by He Gets Us, a movement that its agenda, per its site, says is to "move beyond the mess of our current cultural moment to a place where all of us are invited to rediscover the love story of Jesus – Christians, non-Christians, and everybody in between."
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Cooks grew up with a faithful upbringing and credits it to his success.
"For me, my faith is my foundation. Christ is, I truly mean it when I say it, everything I have, everything I’ve been blessed with, even from the good to the not so good. He’s always been my foundation growing up and just continue to be able to be a light in this world today," Cooks said.
One of the initiatives of He Gets Us is to love your "neighbor."
"Our neighbor is someone that may not look like us, talk like us, dress like us, or whatever the case may be, we were called to love, and God will take care of everything else," Cooks said. "We just gotta continue to be that example on how to love, even in the most uncomfortable moments.
"And I think that’s what they’re talking about, that’s what they’re putting out there. It was just so natural to be able to tag-team with them and be a part of this campaign, a part of this movement, it’s important to me."
As far as those trades are concerned, yes, Cooks looks at it all in a positive light.
"I definitely lean on [my faith,] but I also remember and don’t forget who I am, the impact I can have on a team on and off the field and in the locker room," Cooks said. "For me, I just look at it as an opportunity to be able to go around and make my mark on different cities, different people, different locker rooms, still at the same time producing at a high level. I look at it as a great thing in a sense – I’d rather that than get cut five, six times. That’s the way that I look at it."
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