Vince D’adamo: What did you enjoy most about competing in athletics throughout your life?
Steve Cooper: The butterflies in the stomach and natural adrenaline that pumped through your body on game days. The smell of the grass and the glow of the lights will always stick in my mind. And, the strong friendships I developed from Fly League baseball to junior college football over that span will be treasured for a lifetime.
D’Adamo: What have you been doing since graduating from high school?
Cooper: After graduating from San Francisco State, I juggled grad school and internships including the most memorable with the Oakland Football Marketing Association working along Raiders legends Jim Otto, Ray Chester and others. Since 2001, I've worked at the communications agency Edelman (first 6 years in NYC until relocating to SF where I work now) in the health care practice managing PR and media relations for pharma, biotech and medical device industries.
D’Adamo: What was your favorite class at Justin-Siena High?
Cooper: I look back fondly on a number of classes, but have to say Alex Urban's English class was the one that stood out the most. The passion he displayed acting out roles from passages in "The Great Gatsby" or Steeeiiiinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" made that class especially fun and interactive.
D’Adamo: What was your favorite athletic moment at Justin-Siena High?
Cooper: Well, we didn't win many football games my varsity years having struggled with injuries and an 11th hour head coach change. The Vine Bowl win in St. Helena in the '87 is high on the list as it closed out a season of disappointment on a high note. However, I'd say from a single personal play highlight, the sack in my Sophomore year at John Swett HS in the closing seconds to seal the win stands alone.
D’Adamo: How much do you feel you have grown personally since graduating from high school and how much of that do you trace to athletics?
Cooper: I didn't really know what I wanted to do after high school other than play football, which I did and won a lot of games at Solano C.C. My formal athletic career ended after those two seasons, but I took a great deal of learnings from these experiences with me including team comradery, determination to reach a shared goal and how to manage various forms of adversity.
D’Adamo: Within your family, who have been the most influential people?
Cooper: My father never really played catch or shot hoops with me due to health issues, but he rarely missed one of my games and volunteered as much as he could including judge roles at my varsity track meets. He was generally always there and looking for ways to be involved in my upbringing.
D’Adamo: Name a historical figure, dead or alive, in or out of sports you would most like to meet.
Cooper: From a pop culture perspective, I'd say John Lennon as I'm not sure any entertainer has made such an impact as great in music, arts and politics and I would have loved a conversation with him especially about today's world. From sports, I'd say the living legend Willie Mays. From stick ball in the streets of Harlem to chasing down 400 ft balls with circus catches in the Polo Grounds to mammoth home runs at Candlestick Park not to mention overcoming racism in the early years, there are so many classic, compelling stories he can tell.
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