Cooper experiences highs and lows

Rookie center Jon Cooper rode a roller coaster of emotions during a 24-hour period this past weekend.

As an undrafted free agent, Cooper faced an uphill battle to make the team, but he impressed the coaching staff in training camp and preseason with his talent, toughness and ability to handle himself in the middle despite being undersized.

Cooper was working as the No. 2 center behind John Sullivan and was very much on the bubble of making the 53-man roster after the final preseason game Friday night.

Cooper, who started 43 games at Oklahoma, traveled to Dallas on Saturday to watch the Sooners play against BYU. He kept checking with his agent all day long to see if he had heard whether he made the 53-man roster.

Cooper finally found out about 5 p.m. on Saturday that he had made the team. He then went to the game and tailgated with some of his former teammates and friends who were all congratulating him on making the team. Not even the Sooners loss could completely ruin his mood.

But when he returned to Minnesota the next day, Cooper found out that he had been waived and the team was signing former Denver center Kory Lichtensteiger. Vikings officials told Cooper they wanted to sign him to the practice squad if he cleared waivers.

Thud.

Every player always talks about the business side of things, and Cooper got a taste of that this past weekend.

"I kind of learned the hard way," he said. "It is a business. I know that. They've told me how they feel about me. Sometimes you have to take it with a grain of salt."

Asked if he slept much Sunday night, Cooper said, "Not really."

Cooper said a few teams expressed interest in him joining their practice squad but he said he still feels like the Vikings are a good fit and situation for him.