When the Dallas Cowboys signed wide receiver Brandin Cooks this offseason, owner Jerry Jones and the front office looked forward to him making high-flying playing and celebrating those moments with his teammates. The organization never envisioned Cooks would take his teammates into the air for a flight.
Cooks, a licensed pilot, was with the Cowboys in Seattle last weekend before their preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. With some time to kill before the exhibition contest and looking for ways to show off for his teammates, the veteran wide receiver took to the skies.
The Cowboys’ wideout brought along edge rusher Micah Parsons and cornerback Stephon Gilmore, two of the Cowboys’ best players on one of the best NFL defenses in 2023. He flew them over Lumen Field, where they would be hours later, while touring them around Seattle with a beautiful view that captured the entire city.
Thankfully, Cooks returned to the airport safely and landed without issue. He then posted the video to social media, attracting a lot of attention from fans and forcing the Cowboys to issue a no-fly order for their newest offensive weapon.
Jerry Jones, Brandin Cooks shut the door on future flights
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones said he wasn’t aware Cooks was flying his teammates until after the video came out. Now that it’s known, Dallas won’t permit it again.
“One thing I want to do is chastise Cooks for getting in that airplane with the best part of the team and flying up there with them, looking around Seattle. Boy, I’m glad I didn’t know that was going on. But I would have to tell him part-time pilots, in my mind, are not the way to go.”
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Brandin Cooks taking teammates up in flight
NFL teams are well within their rights to ban players, especially stars, from specific activities. Patrick Mahomes, one of the highest-paid NFL players is forbidden from riding motorcycles, jet skiing, surfing, sky diving, race car driving, playing basketball or using all-terrain vehicles.
The Cowboys have to look out for their best interests and Cooks’ flight, while unintentional, did put Parsons and Gilmore at an added risk of suffering a serious injury or worse. Of course, the NFL veteran also recognized that he won’t be able to do it again.
“That’s all done with. We had fun. I’m thankful that my guys trusted me to get up there. But now it’s (time to) focus on football. It was preseason. I would never do something like that during the regular season.”
Brandin Cooks on no longer being allowed to fly Dallas Cowboys teammates
In the end, the flight proved to be a memorable experience for the Cowboys’ players and everyone walked away from it alright. As long as it doesn’t happen again, the Cowboys are happy to see Cooks use his football talents.
