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Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas — Brandin Cooks‘ days as a pilot are over until whenever the Dallas Cowboys‘ season ends. He hopes that it will happen in February after the Super Bowl.
Cooks put a video on his Instagram feed after taking teammates Micah Parsons and Stephon Gilmore up in a plane with an aerial view of Lumen Field in Seattle before the Cowboys’ preseason game against the Seahawks.
“We had fun,” Cooks said. “Thankful that my guys trusted me to get up there. But now it’s focus on football. … I will never do something like that obviously in the regular season. Flip the switch. No more flying this year.”
Cooks said he had his pilot’s license going on two years.
“I live in the Northwest in the offseason. It’s just so beautiful from those views up there,” Cooks said. “I’ve always just kind of aspired to be able to do something that’s out of the ordinary.”
Mike McCarthy saw Cooks’ Instagram post.
“I’m not going to tell you exactly what I said,” the coach laughed, adding, “First thing, told me that he has a parachute.”
McCarthy mentioned that Marty Schottenheimer and Joe Montana had planes when he worked for the Kansas City Chiefs. Jimmy Graham had his pilot’s license when he played for McCarthy with the Green Bay Packers.
“This is not the first time I’ve been exposed to this,” McCarthy said. “Obviously, I don’t know about taking the whole crew up with you, but Brandin is someone you definitely would trust.”
Cooks always has a veteran co-pilot with him when he flies, but understands the angst.
“If I was him I’d feel the same way,” Cooks said. “He’s got a lot of guys in that plane that we invested in, so I don’t blame him for feeling the way he did.”
