GREEN & WHITE FOOTBALL

Solari: Connor Cook shrugs off anonymous NFL critics

"Like me or not," former MSU quarterback won't change despite anonymous criticism heading into NFL Draft.

Chris Solari
Lansing State Journal
Former MSU quarterback Connor Cook fist bumps Haslett resident Dominic Knapp, 10, while signing autographs on Saturday, April 23, 2016 outside Fresh Thyme Farmers Market in East Lansing.

EAST LANSING – Connor Cook doesn’t care.

You’ve read that sentence and already made a decision what it means, whether you’re an armchair fan, an internet assassin or an equally unnamed NFL scout or executive.

No matter. He doesn't care. Your opinion is not going to change him.

Just four days from start of the NFL Draft’s first round and what could be the biggest day of Cook’s life, the 23-year-old former Spartan quarterback shot back at a number of anonymous attacks on his character Sunday evening after Michigan State’s team banquet at Breslin Center.

“Whoever it is – and they obviously haven’t said who they are, because they’re afraid to or it’s just fake – if they want to keep talking, it’s all good,” Cook said emphatically. “I’m just going to continue to be myself and work hard.”

A story Thursday in USA Today quoted sources from five NFL teams, none of whom said much positive about MSU’s all-time winningest quarterback, who won the Johnny Unitas Award and was the Big Ten Quarterback of the Year in 2015. They used terms such as “something off,” “don’t trust him,” “something missing” and “put-offish.”

They were from a quarterbacks coach, a general manager, an offensive coordinator, a scout and an executive. Five different teams, five different sources.

None of them willing to use their name.

'It's just comical'

Cook hears the noise. It’s hard not to, being at the center of it all. His approach? Brush it off. Keep working hard. Tune it out.

“I don’t think people have a problem with me. So it’s just funny,” he said. “It’s just comical at this point, the stuff that people are saying. It’s literally the polar opposite, the complete opposite of who I am and what I stand for and the kind of person that I am.”

Couch: Criticism of Connor Cook's personality is overblown

Perhaps the harsh evaluations are warranted, perhaps they are purely propaganda to drive down his draft stock. They haven’t stopped a number of mock drafts from believing Cook could get drafted anywhere between the late first and early second rounds this week. It didn’t stop ESPN's Jon Gruden, whose QB Camp special with Cook debuted Saturday, from calling Cook one of the best quarterbacks in the draft.

And it won’t stop Cook from being drafted by that one team that wants him most.

“All these prognostications of where guys should go and will go are two stories that are fun to talk about,” Gruden said on a teleconference Thursday. “But Connor Cook in this draft, based on all the other prospects and the need at the position, should go in the first round.”

To Cook, those are the words that matter most. On the record.

Former MSU quarterback Connor Cook laughs while signing autographs on Saturday, April 23, 2016 outside Fresh Thyme Farmers Market in East Lansing.

“I think coach Gruden, he just speaks his mind. If he’s a firm believer in something, he’s gonna say it and stand behind it,” Cook said. “I’m very thankful for him to think that highly of me.”

'Just being myself'

Gruden gushed over Cook’s 34-5 record as a starter and “body of work” at MSU, which included victories in the Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl, two Big Ten titles and a berth in the College Football Playoff semifinals. He raved about Cook’s arm strength, his 6-foot-4, 217-pound frame and athletic ability. He glowed about Cook being the Spartans’ all-time leading passer and having defeated five Top 10 teams in college.

Mark Dantonio continued to have Cook’s back Sunday, even as he officially bid farewell to his three-year starting quarterback. MSU’s 10th-year coach said the guy who gets the most praise and criticism in a college program is the coach. The second? His quarterback.

“When you’re investing in a high draft choice, they tend to pick apart every person’s life,” Dantonio said. “What they’re not saying (about Cook) is all the good things. He is a team player, he is a very gifted player, athlete. He is competitor. He is a guy who can change the game, and he is resilient. By far, extremely resilient. He’s a quick study and a perfectionist on the field. And I think he’s going to make someone a dynamic quarterback.”

That resilient nature has benefitted – if not necessary - Cook while going through the grueling predraft process as one of the more heavily scrutinized players in recent memory, despite not having a criminal record or any concrete concerns from his detractors. He visited with eight teams and “lived out of a suitcase for two weeks.” On top of absorbing all the shots at his character and personality.

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Cook plans to stay at home for the draft with his family and friends in Hinckley, Ohio. He’s ready for it to be over and to start his NFL career. Wherever it may be.

“I think I did everything I possibly could to make these teams like me, just being myself,” he said. “I’m never going to change who I am. With the whole captain thing, with people questioning my character, I’m me – whether you like me or not. I think I’m a pretty good dude, and I think I showed that to these coaches and put myself in a good situation in the draft.”

That clock starts ticking Thursday. Then it’s back in Cook’s hands to try and change those doubters’ opinions at the next level.

Contact Chris Solari at (517) 377-1070 or csolari@lsj.com.