'Fake News!' Says Cowboys WR Amari Cooper About Being Shot
DALLAS - Pro Bowl receiver Amari Cooper of the Dallas Cowboys has not been "shot in a Dallas parking lot,'' says the Dallas Police Department, debunking a rumor that is making social-media rounds on Wednesday.
And just to make sure that's clear, Cooper himself is texting friends with the same message he put on Instagram:
"That was fake news, y'all,'' Amari wrote. "Everything good over here.''
Earlier came the clarity from the Dallas Police Department.
"There has been a tweet going viral that Amari Cooper has been shot in the Dallas area,'' Dallas PD tweets at 12:19 p.m. "We have NOT found any validity to that tweet occurring in the city of Dallas.
"At this time, there has been NO shooting incident occurring in the city of Dallas.''
This could've conceivably been a developing story as it was for a moment possible there is an incident of some kind involving the player somewhere outside the framework of "shooting'' and "in Dallas.'' However ...
Former Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant checked in with Cooper to affirm that there is no incident at all. And so Cowboys Nation can turn back to football and contracts, rather than life and death.
Since his arrival in 2018 following a blockbuster trade with the Raiders, Cooper has been a difference-maker in the Dallas offense. He posted a career-high 1,189 yards receiving in 2019 to go along with eight touchdowns and 79 receptions and in the end qualified for his fourth Pro Bowl in five NFL seasons. Cooper is now a free agent, possibly facing receiving a franchise tag from Dallas, but in any event slated to get a massive contract. He has made it clear he wishes that happen in Dallas.
"I love it here,'' Cooper recently said. "I want to be here. I just love this situation, my teammates. I just feel it’s the place for me.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has said the same.
"I have no reason to think Amari Cooper won't finish his career with the Dallas Cowboys,'' Jones has said.
Cooper, 25, may end up at $20 million APY (or in a worst-case scenario, an offseason tag while negotiations continue) and this team, with $80-million-plus in cap room for 2020, has a big chunk of that intentionally ear-marked for Cooper.
"We're proud to have Amari,'' Jerry recently said, reflecting on that October 2018 trade that sent a first-round pick to the Raiders. "He's impactful to our team. That's exactly what we used that pick for. He's certainly performed at the level that we had anticipated.''
Added Cooper on his future in Dallas: "I’ve approached the situation like, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. ... Why would I want to change things?”
