Gazette-Times Reporter

Oregon State football coach Mike Riley prides himself on player development.

That usually means he takes an average athlete and makes him bigger, stronger, faster and turns him into a standout player on the field.

However, it applies to someone’s personal growth, too.

Senior linebacker Isaiah Cook is a good example. He hasn’t played much over the years, but the Claremont, Calif., resident found himself while in Corvallis.

Cook came to OSU as a good athlete, but with a learning disability. It takes him longer to process information.

“The hardest thing was to coexist with my peers,” Cook said. “There are certain things people with learning disabilities have to do that makes you seem different from other students.”

While Cook excelled on the football field as a defensive back and quarterback at Claremont High, he struggled with his grades.

He went through the special education courses and support, but still had trouble qualifying for OSU. He reported to training camp late in 2004 because he had schoolwork to finish.

“It bothered him a lot that his learning disability held him back, and he only told me after he graduated,” said his mother, Beverly Cook. “He didn’t want his friends seeing him needing a tutor.”

Cook wasn’t eligible early in his time at OSU. The jump in academics was a difficult adjustment. It didn’t help that he put football and his social life before school, but that changed along the way.

He didn’t have the help of the Bridge Program, now in its third year. It was developed for OSU athletes to take the summer before they enroll to show them how to succeed in college academically and socially.

“The big thing with Isaiah is his focus and understanding of what’s important on campus, if that’s in the classroom or on the football field,” defensive coordinator Mark Banker said. “To be able to focus on those things, he’s grown tremendously from that.

“His confidence has grown, he has performed better and become a more responsible and dependable member of the team.”

Cook joined the special education program at OSU, and it helped. Getting his classwork in order helped him balance his life.

However, he had to overcome himself first.

“I had to realize I’m not different,” Cook said. “I had to stop the attitude that I’m in special ed, so I’m supposed to not get it. Once I lost that attitude, it motivated me.”

Being a special ed student allows Cook extra time to take tests or take them in an isolated area so he’s not distracted by classmates.

A calculator is allowed for math problems when others aren’t allowed to use one. And sometimes a human aide is with him in class to help him understand what’s going on.

“Your peers always wonder why you leave (to take a test) and have assistance with an aide in the classroom,” Cook said. “That made me feel different, seeing their reaction to that. But later on in life it made me realize that’s what I had to do to get things done.”

A turning point came when Cook declared ethnic studies his major. He developed a love for history through those classes.

Cook learned about various cultures and their hardships, and realized his life wasn’t that bad, and he shouldn’t let it go to waste.

“Ever since then I decided to hit the books as hard as I hit the field, and it’s working out really well,” Cook said. “Unfortunately, it took me until after I got to college to really grasp that concept. I was blessed to realize it before it was too late.”

Cook is on his way to a degree this year, and hopes to continue his football career as a pro. Whenever that ends, it’s on to graduate school for a master’s degree.

He plans to become a teacher and football coach. Cook wants to give back to a sport and a school system that helped him through life.

“I knew at the end of the day, even though it was rough, that something would come along to get me focused,” Cook said. “I didn’t know how it would happen, the time it would happen. But I knew if I stuck with it, it would work out. So it’s not a big surprise to me. But when I tell other people my goals for the future it’s a total shock to them. They would never have seen me as a teacher. And now I see that as one of my true passions.”

Cook started learning to work in the classroom last summer with an internship at Claremont High with the special ed program.

He was excused from the team’s summer workouts for the experience, but was able to train with his old team.

It took a few days for students to warm up to him, but he became a mentor. Cook advised them about school and taught them tricks he learned to overcome his learning disability.

“I want to catch them at an early age so they prioritize school first now and not later,” Cook said. “Everyone is not as fortunate as I am, to be able to extend their education for free like me.”

Some of the students were athletes, and had given up on academics and didn’t expect much of college sports. His story gave them hope.

“They just loved him,” Beverly Cook said. “He held their attention, and they were sad to see him leave. I was so proud to see what he was doing for them.”

Some of the students were physically challenged, but Cook was able to motivate them to be positive about life and make the best of what’s available.

His best memory was connecting with a boy with severe cerebral palsy, and making him look forward to each day.

“I feel I could be a very inspiring and living example for the students there who have a labeled disability, and feeling they are not part of the norm,” Cook said. “By me showing them that they can go on and have a life, and be considered what people call normal, that was the main reason I chose to do this.”

This metamorphosis in Cook eventually found its way onto the field. He’s playing the best of his career, and is in the linebacker rotation.

At 6-foot-2, 219 pounds and with good speed, Cook has the ability to be looked at by scouts for the next level. If nothing comes of it, at least he became a better person while at OSU.

“I knew he could do it,” Beverly Cook said. “I just had to keep boosting him up because people didn’t think he could do it.”