Redskins tight end breaks ground in blog

“I try to never worry what people think about me. I kind of do whatever I want to do.” – blog posting by Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley.

ASHBURN, Va. – On April 15, Captain Chaos’ groundbreaking blog got a bit too revealing.

Being tax day, Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley decided to post online the check for about $86,000 he was preparing to send to the government. Naturally, he made sure to edit out his personal details.

“I posted it – but I posted the pre-edited check,” Cooley said. “Thousands of people saw my check, my home address, my account number, my routing number, everything. My brother calls me and says, ‘What are you doing?’

“I had to cancel my whole account, order new checks, do everything. It’s not like you can take it back.”

Cooley’s banking details would appear to be the only personal information he’s tried to keep to himself in a blog that enters new territory for a professional athlete’s Web presence. “The Cooley Zone” could be described in many different ways – refreshing, entertaining, a PG-13 look inside the world of an NFL player – but two adjectives apply above all others: different and profitable.

How profitable? Cooley’s early rough estimate: $250,000 by the end of the year, much of it from sponsorships and memorabilia sales. Not bad for a Web site run entirely by three people – Cooley, his younger brother and a friend – and created with the simple goal of making enough money to send the brother to medical school.

“We’re going to way overgenerate,” Cooley said. “Everything that I don’t give to my brother and my friend, I will donate to charity. I don’t have a foundation. I don’t have a cause. I don’t have something that I care about enough to spend the rest of my life having a foundation. But I feel strongly about giving back.”

Name another professional athlete who will write a vivid account of a poker night at his house. (“Cigars, whiskey, and poker are prerequisites to entering the room.”)

Or one who would give quite possibly the most detailed account yet of the uncomfortable process of giving a urine sample for a drug test – complete with slang terms straight from the locker room. (“Normally I feel embarrassed, but then I put myself in the position of the tester.”)

Or one who would take revealing photos of his fiancee and post them just before the wedding. Cooley caused quite a stir three years ago when word got out that he was dating Redskins cheerleader Christy Oglevee. She was promptly fired from the squad because such associations aren’t allowed. (“… Her big paycheck – $75 dollars a game – had come to an end, at least the sneaking around was over.”)

Or one who would give such blatant hairstyle opinions (“I can’t stand dreadlocks. They’re dirty, they stink and I think they look stupid.”) or would say exactly what everyone else was thinking when the Redskins selected a punter in the draft. (“A punter? Hopefully he can kick the (heck) out of the ball.”)

Or one who isn’t afraid to stir debate on a relevant NFL topic. (“Rookies in the NFL make too much money.”)

Or one who uses words such as “inattentive,” “absent-minded” and “procrastination” when listing his top personality traits. No wonder “Captain Chaos” is Cooley’s nickname.

The blog could be the wave of the future. Longtime NFL lineman Ray Brown, now an assistant offensive line coach with the Buffalo Bills, recalled discussions he once had with the players’ union about the revenue potential from player Web sites. He thinks Cooley has found the right formula, even if it does push the envelope.

“It’s a great business concept. I’m sure other guys are going to do it,” Brown said. “It caters to the demographic he’s trying to target. He’s a good-looking guy. He’s the sex symbol. It’s teenage-level content, for sure.”