The positive vibes around the Oakland Raiders and recent first-round pick wide receiver Amari Cooper continued Wednesday when Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice likened the newest Raider wideout to another one-time Oakland pass-catcher soon set to join Rice among the small handful of former NFL players with busts in Canton, Tim Brown.
"They have their new Tim Brown," Rice told the Raiders' web site, via CSN California. "I think with Cooper, he's very much like Tim Brown. Very explosive, got speed to burn."
That's high praise for a player in Cooper who, while he was viewed as the most NFL-ready receiver, not just in the 2015 NFL Draft, but also to come into the league in some time, has yet to take an NFL snap.
Still, it's not the first time Cooper has been lavished with praise this offseason. After reports emerged that Raiders coaches already felt Cooper had made it clear that he was the "real deal," Brown himself came out in support of the neophyte NFLer.
"This guy is just a superb, great receiver and I think he's going to be dominant Day 1," Brown said last week. "I saw him at the Heisman deal (Cooper was a finalist for the award) and I told him then that I hope he's still there when the Raiders pick, because there was no way they could bypass him. I just thought that he was that great of a not-miss-type pick. I can't wait to see him Day 1. I think this guy is going to be great."
Brown last donned a Raiders uniform in 2003. As the team's first-round pick in the 1988 NFL Draft, sixth overall, Brown caught 43 passes for 725 yards and five touchdowns. He impacted the game as both a receiver and a returner. He, of course, then went on to a Hall of Fame-worthy 17-year NFL career that included 1,094 receptions, 14,934 yards and 100 touchdowns receiving, along with nine Pro Bowl selections.
While it remains to be seen just what Cooper is really capable of, if he can come even close to having the same kind of impact Brown had it will go a long way toward pulling the Raiders out of the NFL's basement.
