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    • Incredible story from Missouri football QB Brady Cook’s day against Auburn
    Massachusetts

    Incredible story from Missouri football QB Brady Cook’s day against Auburn

    Idris Bevan Posted on

    Trying to reconstruct Brady Cook’s timeline of events is almost as impossible as the comeback.

    There is a visit to the hospital in the truck of a Mizzou employee. An MRI. A moment when the pads came off and Missouri’s starting football quarterback thought his day was over.

    A solution. “A lot,” the quarterback said with a knowing smile that factored into this solution.

    I spent a lot of time finding this solution at the Stephens Indoor Facility. Pads on, pads out.

    Game over, game on.

    There is a sprint out of the south end zone tunnel. The crowd at Memorial Stadium roars.

    A comeback — an astonishing, season-saving, incredible 21-17 win over Auburn on Saturday in Columbia — that will live long in Mizzou football history.

    More: Missouri football score: Mizzou makes remarkable comeback, beats Auburn

    And there is a quarterback in the heart and soul of a team that makes you dream.

    This is the story of Brady Cook’s Saturday. It’s hard to believe. Even bizarre.

    Here’s the best we can say:

    Missouri football quarterback Brady Cook leads the game-winning drive. Here’s what happened

    Let’s start at the end.

    It’s 2:11 p.m. Ninety-five yards of Faurot Field stood in front of the stricken Brady Cook. There were four minutes and 26 seconds left on the game clock.

    A third-and-18 connection to Luther Burden III reduced the yards needed to keep the comeback alive on fourth-and-5, which Cook sent back to Burden and completed. Later, Theo Wease Jr. was defeated with the third and tenth punches. There were two damaging tackles by the quarterback, a sack that certainly stung. There were 17 games in total to cap off a manic day.

    It’s 2:30 p.m. and running back Jamal Roberts is receiving the handoff from Cook. touchdown, 21-17.

    Ball game.

    Shortly afterwards, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz praised his quarterback with tears in his eyes and a hoarse voice. He reaffirmed the team’s confidence in Cook. The trust everyone should have in Cook. Not much about the St. Louis man under center surprises him anymore.

    But this?

    Do you believe what you just saw?

    “Don’t believe it,” Drinkwitz said. “It’s one thing to come back.” It’s another thing to be able to get a few first downs, move in the pocket and make precise throws. The most important attribute of an elite quarterback is toughness, and this guy has it all.”

    “Toughness” might be understating it. Cook returned from the hospital.

    More: Here’s how we rated Missouri football’s comeback win over Auburn

    A ride in an untinted truck

    Cook was in a truck driven by an employee from Missouri.

    Contrary to style, he was rolled out of Memorial Stadium while the game was still in the first quarter.

    Cook called it a classic “hip-drop” tackle that took him out of the game. He made it through a few times. He then bent his leg as he took a step. He couldn’t put any weight on his right ankle. He ended up going down – collapsing – and losing 11 yards.

    His day seemed to be over.

    According to in-game reports, Cook initially went to the locker room, where sideline reports surfaced that he was arrested and wanted to try again. And then reports emerged at halftime that a return was unlikely.

    Somewhere in the middle of it all, Cook stared into the eyes of a fan from an untinted truck.

    People watched him from the passenger seat of the truck. He was on the way to the hospital.

    “We drive through the tailgate areas, random areas,” Cook said. “I see people making eye contact with me. You’re like, ‘What’s going on?'”

    Finally, Cook had an MRI scan at University Hospital across the street from the stadium. He couldn’t have electronics. While there getting tested, the quarterback said he received two updates.

    Both were results of the tough game: “3:0,” he said, and “3:3.”

    “I sat there in silence looking at the ceiling for about 30 minutes,” Cook added.

    It felt over. In a place Cook didn’t know, Missouri’s day also appeared to be over.

    Cook, maybe still in the hospital, maybe not — the timeline gets fuzzy here — missed a few updates.

    It was Auburn 17, Missouri 3.

    The season was slowly coming to an end. A second loss would bar Missouri’s path to the College Football Playoff.

    The sprint and the breakout

    Cook stormed out of the south end zone as if the last two hours hadn’t happened.

    Helmet on. Ankle laced.

    It’s 1:20 p.m. and life is back in Colombia.

    Cook jogged and tested the ankle while running up and down the Faurot sideline like a junkyard dog. Auburn was still ahead, but MU’s defense struggled to keep up with the effort on the sideline.

    The quarterback ran to the offensive starters’ spots and nearly took his hands off with high-fives as he rallied the troops. Cook threw passes to a graduate assistant that might have knocked him down if he hadn’t been caught.

    Drinkwitz asked Cook if he could play.

    You know the answer.

    But how did he get here? From the hospital to the sideline to get straight to Faurot Field and start the comeback with a four-play, 80-yard touchdown drive?

    If you’ve been paying attention, you know the answer too.

    “He told the team that in the hospital,” Drinkwitz said as he ran out of breath and tears formed in the corners of the coach’s eyes. He pauses and continues. “He realized, ‘I only have two and a half games left at Faurot Field.’ There’s no way I’m going to spend it here in this hospital.'”

    It’s 1:40 p.m. and the stadium is up and loud for the first time in a long time – believably so.

    Cook is on the verge of a comeback.

    “12 would certainly die for each one on this field.”

    Cook’s Pads are out. This also applies to the tape around his ankle.

    He was in the hospital. He wasn’t on the field yet. Right now, the quarterback is at the Stephens Indoor Facility next to the stadium trying to get it going. But that’s not it. The pain doesn’t go away.

    “I was pretty sure,” Cook said, “I wasn’t coming back.”

    They had tried the medical team. Nothing worked like the rest of the MU team.

    You can want anything you want, but how strong is the desire when you leave the hospital because it can’t end like that? That only gets you so far. The ankle has to cooperate.

    Cook and the Mizzou staff keep trying. It’s late.

    “We ended up trying something else,” Cook said.

    What was the solution? Cook doesn’t say. Except it cost “a lot.”

    The tape is back. The pads continue.

    No. 12 goes back to the tunnel.

    “I mean, despite all the criticism the young man has to endure, 12 (Cook) would certainly die for everyone on that field,” Drinkwitz said. The tears are coming now. “For him to be out there and put his body on the line for us is incredible and that should inspire everyone who saw it today.”

    Suddenly football is back in Missouri

    Missouri is 6-1 and 2-1 in SEC play.

    How healthy is Cook now? He handed the ball to Jamal Roberts and, while celebrating with his replacement Drew Pyne on the sideline, said the pain came back pretty quickly. He was limping quite noticeably as he met the media and reflected on his almost superhuman day.

    “I knew we had to come back and find a way to win this game,” Cook said. “I think, you know, we lose this game, the rest of our season looks a little different. I recognized that and knew we had to win.”

    Mizzou travels to Alabama next Saturday for a pretender-type game. Bryant Denny. The mighty Crimson Tide.

    Win and everything is on the table.

    Did Missouri convince you it was possible?

    The man who made it despite all odds? He is convinced.

    “I think this win will take us far,” Cook said. “I think this is one of those moments for our team that we haven’t had yet. We really haven’t had one of those moments where we come together, fight and win an SEC football game like we need to. We make plays to do that.

    “You know, I think our team needed this. It’s going to take us far.”

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    Idris Bevan
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