Austin Hooper

Early years

Hooper attended De La Salle High School, where he played for the football team, in Concord, California. He was rated by Rivals.com as a three-star recruit and committed to Stanford University to play college football. Hooper was listed as a defensive end by Rivals and also by ESPN who had him rated as a four-star recruit and the #261 player overall in the nation regardless of position.

College career

After redshirting his first year at Stanford in 2013, Hooper played in all 13 games as a redshirt freshman in 2014. He finished the season with 40 receptions for 499 yards and two touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2015, Hooper had 34 receptions for 438 yards for 6 touchdowns, including a career best 79 yards and a touchdown in an upset of then #6 USC. He was a finalist for the John Mackey Award, and First-team All-Pac-12.

2016 season

On April 29, 2016, Hooper was selected with the 18th pick in the third round (81st overall) in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. Playing behind Falcons tight ends Levine Toilolo and Jacob Tamme for most of the season, Hooper finished the regular season with 19 receptions for 271 yards and three touchdowns, 84 of them coming in week two against Oakland. He missed the last two games of the season with a knee injury, but played in all three of the Falcons' playoff games. During Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots, Hooper made three receptions, including a 19-yard touchdown. Although the Falcons led by 25 points, their lead vanished ignominiously, and lost 28–34 in overtime.

2017 season

On September 10, 2017, Hooper had a career day in the season opener against the Chicago Bears. He recorded 128 receiving yards overall off of two receptions, of which one was a career-high 88-yard receiving touchdown from Matt Ryan, as the Falcons won by a score of 23–17.