How Brady Cook went from polarizing starter to the face of an SEC program

There might not be a more polarizing position in sports than quarterback.

Being the signal-caller is a two-sided coin of love and hate. Cheered and jeered. Respected and disrespected. The town hero and public enemy No. 1. Credit is spread across the roster, blame is often centered directly on the signal caller.

It’s a reality Missouri quarterback Brady Cook knows all too well.

He’s received the criticism and love of the very fan base of which he grew up being a part.

Fortunately for him, he’s past the hate for the most part, and despite not wanting to feed his ego, he knows how most fans view him and what their expectations are for him as one of the beloved faces of potentially a College Football Playoff team heading into the 2024 season.

“I don't think about it a lot like that,” Cook said. “It's just kind of just progressing every day and you kind of just get used to your routine and kind of the goals you're going after next and I'm just trying to repeat the process right now. I'm trying not to think about it too much. But obviously, it's there. I'm aware of it.”

When Cook enters fall camp in less than a month he will be the face of what will most likely be a top-10 program.

It’s a far cry from where he was a year ago, competing in a quarterback competition to retain his starting role. Or 19 months ago when his surgery was announced and he was ruled out for spring ball. Or 22 months ago when he suffered a season-threatening injury versus Kansas State. Or even 31 months ago when he made his first career start in an Armed Forces Bowl loss to Army, thrust into the role when Connor Bazelak chose to transfer.

During the 2021 season, Bazelak was the starting quarterback for most of the season (save for a road game against Georgia where Tyler Macon got the start with Bazelak injured). He played in the other 11 regular season games, completing 65.3% of his passes for 2,548 yards 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

However, he didn’t start the 2021 Armed Forces Bowl versus Army for the then 6-6 Tigers, it was Cook who got the nod for the Dec. 22 matchup.

When Cook lines up under center to start Mizzou’s first offensive drive versus Murray State in Week 1 this fall, it will be his 28th consecutive start. At this point, Cook is well aware of his abilities and is more than confident in what he can do.

The same couldn’t be said 27 games ago.

“My confidence from the Armed Forces bowl, you know, going into my first game starting 一 (I was) nervous," Cook said with a sheepish grin. "It felt like the Super Bowl, and then obviously playing in the Cotton Bowl last year, that was the last game I played in and just a full 180. My confidence is at a new level. I understand the game a lot better and I just have a lot of experience under my belt. So, I’m in a lot better place.”

During bowl prep, Cook began to develop a connection with wide receiver Barrett Banister (2017-22) that made him feel more confident during the game and it showed with Banister recording a team-high six receptions for 53 yards.

Despite the 24-22 loss, Cook completed 27-of-34 for 238 yards and a touchdown en route to Offensive MVP honors.

“You looked at him, and you're like, ‘Man, this kid's athletic. Kid works hard. He does the right things. He's smart. He's sharp.’ All that stuff,” Banister said. “Then, as we all prep (for Army), and he’s kind of was like, ‘You know, I'm going to get the start here.’ It was kind of like coming out of a shell a little bit like he was forced, whether he was ready to or not, to take on this leadership position.

“I think he actually showed it there. I mean, he had a great game. … He had that run on a read option pull where he took it probably 50 yards and showed his running ability, which is huge at the college level, and it's starting to show up more and more in the NFL game. Then, he also threw some passes in some windows that were big-time throws. So, I think that was the start of it.”

The pair’s connection wasn’t just limited to the field. The two got close and were even roommates for half a year. They did nearly everything together, and that friendship would be important come the following fall. It continues to this day.

“It was cool to see him kind of grow in that and then we get to 2022 一 and that whole offseason we're sitting there watching movies together. We're playing golf together. We're doing yoga together. We're going to eat together, all that stuff and just kind of building that relationship with him,” Banister recalled. “Then 2022, there was a lot of stuff that happened that I think was growth on Brady’s part, but also stuff that was not necessarily in his control.”

Despite the loss in the Armed Forces Bowl, Cook had the confidence of some of his teammates and coaches going into the offseason. It wasn't overwhelming confidence, though.

The St. Louis native still had to compete for the starting job against whoever the incoming transfer Missouri brought in.

The Tigers did their due diligence trying to get more established quarterbacks like Gerry Bohanon from Baylor, who would transfer to South Florida, Jayden Daniels formerly of Arizona State, who would transfer to LSU, J.T. Daniels from Georgia, who'd join West Virginia and a handful of other quarterbacks before landing on Southern Miss transfer Jack Abraham in the late spring of 2022.

By this point in his career, he was on his fifth team in his seventh college football season.

He had spent time at Louisiana Tech, Northwest Mississippi Community College, Southern Miss and Mississippi State. However, a battle with post-concussion syndrome forced him to miss his lone season with Mississippi State in 2021.

Despite all of that, he was happy to be able to play again and commit to Missouri even though he knew the team projected Cook to win the fall camp quarterback battle.

“When I got there, the coaching staff relayed their perception of Brady and the room and how things would shake out,” Abraham said. “Really where I was in my career I had been through a lot coming off a year at (Mississippi) State where I had six months of dealing with concussion symptoms and it was a big ordeal. Where I was in that frame of mind was that I was going to go out there and compete and if I was able to win the job, so be it. If I wasn't then I wasn't, and I was going to accept whatever role I was given and make it a really fun six months out there.”

The competition, which Cook would officially win eight days into fall camp, brought the quarterback room closer. Particularly, Cook and Abraham.

“Once we were competing in fall camp, we got really close because we were spending 14 or 15 hours a day with each other and being in the room and all that good stuff,” Abraham said. “So we got really close, and then as that battle shook out and the season shook out things changed. And I was able to kind of take a role of older guy that's been around and was able to kind of be a second set of eyes for him.”

For the quarterback room, it was largely all smiles from that point through the first game, a 52-24 win over Louisiana Tech. Cook performed well going 18-of-27 with 201 yards, a touchdown and an interception (that ricocheted off Luther Burden’s hands).

After that, Cook and the Tigers would experience their first turning point of the season when they revived their rivalry with former Big 12 foe Kansas State in Manhattan in Week 2.

Facing Kansas State marked Cook’s first true test as the starting quarterback. It didn’t go well for him or anyone else donning a Mizzou uniform that day. Missouri lost 40-12 in a game that took an untimed down at the end of regulation for the Tigers to score a touchdown.

Missouri punted on its first two possessions and fell behind 14-3 early in the second quarter before a 45-minute lightning delay halted the game with 7:44 left in the quarter.

When play resumed, things just got worse.

Mizzou’s first play was a QB counter run play and after a gain of seven yards, Cook landed awkwardly after being tackled from behind by Kansas State defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah. The landing tore the labrum in his right throwing shoulder, a fact nobody outside the Missouri locker room knew until after the season.

"Immediately, I knew something was wrong just because it was like a jolting pain," Cook said in a July 2023 fall camp interview. "It felt like my shoulder fell off almost. It was a weird feeling. So, I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what it was."

On the next down, Phillip Brooks took a punt 76 yards for a touchdown to give the Wildcats a 20-3 lead. The Tigers went into halftime staring at a 17-point deficit and the loss of their quarterback for likely the rest of the season. He'd played only six quarters.

“I don't know if we specifically knew he was hurt. But I knew he had gotten his bell rung a little bit. I mean the guy who hit him 一 hit him pretty hard,” Banister said.

Admirably, Cook returned and led the team down for a field goal to open up the second half but a a pair of interceptions on the next two drives put him on the bench for Abraham, who then also threw interceptions on consecutive drives, leading to Cook closing out the game. Cook finished the game completing 15-of-27 passes (55.6%) for 128 yards and two interceptions. He also had 13 carries for 56 yards. Abraham didn’t complete any of his three passes and had two interceptions.

It was a bad day for the quarterbacks but Banister thinks the blame that Cook received from the public should’ve been spread more around the team.

“There's people criticizing (Patrick) Mahomes on Twitter, and it's like that dude has won back-to-back (Super Bowls) and he's the best in the world right now,” Banister said. ”But everything Brady probably heard and saw was like, ‘Oh, he's not good enough. Oh, it's this other guy. Oh, we need another dude.’ All this stuff. And it's like, when you really look at the grand scheme of what happened in 2022, by no means was Brady perfect. But there were a lot of other issues that could have been fixed. That caused a lot of issues.”

Banister was transparent about some of those issues that plagued the team throughout the season that publicly fell on Cook but should’ve fallen on himself and his teammates.

“We had a play against Vanderbilt (in Week 8), where the dude jumps over Cody (Schrader) and strip sacks Brady, who had .2 seconds to throw the ball and everyone's like, ‘Oh, he's holding the ball in the pocket too much,’ and it's like no we didn't pick up the protection,” Banister said. “The offensive line should have slid towards the blitz. It’s all this stuff where it's like, it's not really his fault. Yes, he could have held on to the football. But there are a lot of other moving parts in that right? We're running outside zone in my direction. I miss a block. All that stuff plays into it.”

However, Banister knows what comes with being a quarterback. On the hour flight back to Columbia, though, no one better understood what Cook was going through than Abraham, who said the loss gave him and Cook a bit of clarity.

“That's the role that we take as quarterbacks, that's what we signed up for and it was evident that year,” Abraham said. “When things are going great, they're going to love you, but when things are going bad, they're going to hate you. That's just the nature of the position, especially at this high of a level in college football.

"Everybody's coming for both of our heads and on that plane ride back, I pull him (to the side) and I said, 'Man, I've got your back throughout all this. I've been through this.' I know 一 not necessarily to this level as an SEC team, but I've been at places where the fan base is coming for your head. I said 'Man, just block it out the best you can. Be where your feet are and continue to be the Brady Cook I know."

Cook remembers the conversation and how he felt on the plane. It was a physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting ride for him but the conversation provided some relief on a rough Saturday.

“Oh man, I just remember being in so much pain and obviously I was very upset,” Cook said. “He just leaned over to me about halfway through the plane ride and just started talking to me. You know, he was an experienced quarterback at the time. So, he's been through good and bad times. And he was able to just encourage me and honestly, it really did help.”

Mizzou beat Abilene Christian 34-17 in an underwhelming performance in Week 3 before following up with three straight one-score losses to Auburn, Georgia and Florida before its bye week. At this point, Cook vowed to the team, and specifically the defense, that he would be better.

“I stressed to the defense the last couple of weeks that it has been playing unbelievable football and I’m tired of walking off the field because the offense left plays out there,” Cook said. “Moving forward I want to make sure that is not the case.”

It was a bit of a struggle versus Vanderbilt following the bye with Mizzou scoring 17 unanswered points in the first half against the then 130th-ranked defense and then barely winning 17-14. In that game, Cook completed 68% of his passes for 211 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also lost a fumble.

During that five-game stretch, he’d completed 66.62% of his passes for 1,099 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions. However, a road game against No. 25 South Carolina the following week signaled another turning point for Cook.

The Gamecocks were coming off a four-game win streak, which included a win over No. 13 Kentucky.

It started with a 15-play, 95-yard touchdown drive on the Tigers’ second possession of the game, which was followed by a 10-play, 84-yard drive on the following possession that included what Abraham called Cook’s best throw of the season, a 57-yard completion to receiver Dominic Lovett that put Mizzou at South Carolina’s 16-yard line.

“That was one of the best balls he had all year,” Abraham said. “When they came to the sideline I said, ‘That was a dot. That was your best throw all year.’ I think that game gave him some confidence. He knew he could do it at this level. Being a Missouri fan all of his life, this was what he wanted. And I think he just needed a boost of confidence, especially with what he had been through up to that point. And the way he progressed throughout 2022 it was really cool to see, especially with dealing with the labrum.”

Cook completed 65.4% of his passes for 224 yards in the 23-10 win. He also added 11 carries for 53 yards and a touchdown. Despite the Tigers finishing the season 6-7, Cook agreed with Abraham that the South Carolina game was the catalyst for what is his best year so far in 2023.

“Honestly, I think it was that game that gave me a bunch of confidence,” Cook said. “I wasn't turning the ball over. I was making confident decisions. Me and Dominic Lovett hooked up a couple of times that game and that kind of springboarded me for the rest of that year into 2023. I can say that.”

After that game, Missouri went 2-3 to close the season and finished 6-7 after losing to Wake Forest in the Gasparilla Bowl, but Cook was better after the bye week like he said he'd be.

He completed 65.1% of his passes for 1,522 yards seven touchdowns and one interception in the last seven games. He also rushed for four touchdowns and 422 yards on 74 carries.

Overall, Cook completed 64.8% of his passes for 2,739 yards, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions while also rushing for 585 yards and six touchdowns. Individually, it was a decent end to a whirlwind of a season but Cook wasn’t out the woods yet by a long shot.

On June 9, 2024, at the end of his first camp, Cook was asked by a camper about overcoming a fear he had. His answer: playing through the torn labrum despite everything that came with it.

“I thought I wasn't going to play for the rest of the year. I thought I was going to be done. I thought I was going to be out. But I just found a way to overcome it,” Cook said reflectively. “I was scared. I didn't know if I'd be able to play through it or still throw and play like I can but I just found a way to overcome it. I'd say that was the fear I overcame.”

But how did he overcome the same fear week in and week out for three months knowing the physical toll that awaited him? Simple. He dedicated almost every waking moment to treating the injury.

“It was tough. I spent hours and hours and hours and hours every single day in the training room,” Cook said. “I spent so many hours treating my shoulder I hardly had a life outside of football. A lot of pain throughout the week at practice. On Saturdays, with the adrenaline and different things we were able to help it out a lot to allow me to play but it was a tough season.”

On top of that, he did it without the team revealing the injury until after Mizzou’s season ended. Cook and head coach Eli Drinkwitz decided there was no advantage to disclosing the injury.

If the fans knew an injured quarterback was playing it would’ve made the ridicule worse and if opponents knew, it would make Cook more of a target than he already was as the team’s signal caller.

It’s a burden that many people won’t experience.

Playing hurt is one thing but playing injured is another.

Had the team opted for Cook to get surgery after the Kansas State game, he would’ve been done for the season. But since he was the quarterback and his injury couldn’t get much worse, he decided to gut it out.

But what does that do to a player mentally?

​​”Everything in you wants to be like, 'I'm hurt. This isn't the best version of me,'" Banister said. "Heck, you see some players tweet that. I know with Drinkwitz, injuries are for him to report on and that's a team rule on it, and there's nothing wrong with that. That's how a lot of programs operate. But I think that was what was probably really tough on Brady, and it really tests your ability.

"You always hear, block out the noise, and focus on what's in the locker room. That's the test right there. Right? Like, you have everyone on your campus, everyone everywhere else (saying), ‘We need a new guy. This guy isn't doing it.’ You're not even able to give everything you have because you're hurt. It's hard. Playing quarterback with a hurt throwing shoulder is hard to do.”

“Physically and mentally it was warfare in 2022,” Cook said. “It was tough. The injury combined with kind of fighting that battle of keeping my spot and kind of proving myself to Missouri was tough. But I can say I overcame it and I'm glad I went through it at the end of the day.”

When Cook officially had surgery less than a week after the 2022 Gasparilla Bowl it was another hurdle to overcome. He wasn't cleared until well after spring ball had concluded and the team had brought in Miami (FL) transfer Jake Garcia to battle with him and Sam Horn in another quarterback competition.

This time, it took Cook longer than eight days to win the competition. It officially lasted through the season opener versus South Dakota when Cook and Horn each got a half to show what they could do.

Cook completed 17-of-21 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown in the 35-10 win. He also had a rushing touchdown. Meanwhile, Horn completed 3-of-5 passes for 54 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Cook got the start versus Middle Tennessee State in Week 2 and despite plans for the two to split reps again, Cook never came out of the game because it was closer than the Tigers expected with Mizzou escaping with a 23-19 win.

What closed the book on any discussion about Cook as the starter and one of the faces of the team, was his performance in the grudge match 30-27 win over No. 15 Kansas State in Week 3. He completed 23-of-35 passes for a then-career-high 356 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a rushing touchdown.

What made the performance even more special was that during pregame player introductions, some of the home crowd jeered when Cook was introduced as the starting quarterback, which disappointed Drinkwitz and Cook.

"It pissed me off when we booed our starting quarterback to start the game. It pissed me off," an impassioned Drinkwitz said in his postgame interview. "He went out there and played his butt off for this university and this team. They need to get behind him. They need to get behind the young man. You want to boo me? Fine. (But) you don't boo the starting quarterback. It's bull crap. I'll say it again. Should've never happened."

"I mean I hear it. It's hard. You know this is my dream school,” Cook said. “All I want to do is play quarterback here. I'd like everyone else to want me to play quarterback here too. That would be a nice feeling. Games like this probably could help. So, we're excited about that. We'll see."

After that game, more and more fans started to rally behind Cook as he had a career year with 3,317 yards, 21 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also had six rushing touchdowns on the way to an 11-2 season, including a Cotton Bowl win over Ohio State.

Cook had experienced the lowest of lows and has recently started to experience some of the highest of highs.

Something else that comes with being a quarterback is dealing with some of the mental gymnastics of accepting fans who were once against you now that you, and usually by extension the team, are doing better.

Cook recognizes this but he’s not bitter about it. After all, he knows what he signed up for.

“Playing quarterback you're always going to have critics, good and bad. You're always going to have haters,” Cook said. “You're always going to have people watching you analyzing you, and you can't control them. You really can’t and sometimes it'll hurt. Sometimes it'll feel good, but you have got to take it for what it is and just do your job.

“I'm aware of it (his growing fanbase). But I just don't hold grudges. I went through a tough time. Our reality was we won six games that year (in 2022). I get it. We're an SEC school. Fans might not be happy when we win six games and their quarterback looks a little dinged up and he's not performing his best. So, I have mercy because this is my dream and I found a way to overcome that and shoot, if everyone loves me now and wants to support me, I'll take it 100%.”

Cook hopes to take the team to bigger and better things in 2024, his last year of eligibility.

The Tigers finished 2023 as the No. 8 team in the AP Top 25 and will likely enter the season as one of the favorites to make the 12-team College Football Playoff. But the usually coy Mizzou quarterback doesn’t only want to lead his team to the CFP, he has a few individual goals he wants to accomplish this year.

“I would love to be first-team All-SEC,” Cook said. “I think that one would go a long way. I would love to go to New York and be in the Heisman voting and have a chance at the Heisman. That's a goal of mine. But at the end of the day, winning solves all and we all know that. So, if we can go win some games. I'll be happy as ever.”

For the first time in his five-year career, Cook is entering a season as Missouri's unquestioned starter. But he's more than that. He's the Tigers' leader. He's the face of one of college football's hottest programs.

Not many saw it coming, but that's Cook's new reality.

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