Editor’s note: In the final 50 days before Chip Kelly and the Ducks return to the field to defend their status as Pac-12 Champions, the Emerald sports desk will take a look back at one Oregon alum each day whose jersey number corresponds to the amount of days left before the season opener against Arkansas State.
A utility player of sorts from 1999-2000, Sonny Cook spent most of his time at Oregon returning kicks for the Ducks, with a particularly successful 1999 season that saw him average 26 yards per return on 18 attempts. Cook also posted modest receiving numbers, totaling 11 catches for 110 yards. Cook also scored once on the ground in a memorable throbbing of Nevada in 1999 in which the Ducks won 72-10 in the last game at Autzen Stadium that did not sell out.
Cook went undrafted, but that didn’t mean his football career ended in the state. After college, Cook played in the National Nineman Football League for the Veneta-based Oregon Outlaws, winning a state championship in 2005. Cook was the team’s leading receiver and saw limited action on defense with 12.5 tackles, including 11 solo, in just three games as a DB.