Dalvin Cook

High school career

Born in West Little River, Florida, Cook attended Miami Central High School, the same as former Seminole and current Atlanta Falcons Pro Bowl running back Devonta Freeman. Cook didn’t join the football program until his sophomore year, figuring he had no chance to supplant senior running back Devonta Freeman, who led Central to a Class 6A state title in 2010. Cook played as a running back and defensive back under coach Telly Lockette. In his junior year, he shared carries with Joseph Yearby, who is his best friend. On running downs, Yearby played wildcat quarterback and Cook lined up at running back. As a senior in 2013, Cook exploded and rushed for a county-best 1,940 yards and 34 touchdowns on 177 carries (11.0 yards per rush) and intercepted three passes on defense. In Central's Class 6A regional final win against Palm Bay Heritage, Cook ran for 244 yards and three touchdowns as Yearby fractured his fibula in the first quarter of the game. From that point on, Cook led his team to the Class 6A state championship by rushing for 223 yards and four touchdowns in a 52-7 win over Seffner Armwood, helping the Rockets win their third state championship in the past four seasons and become the first Dade team to advance to four consecutive state finals. For his season efforts, Cook was named Mr. Florida Football by the Florida Dairy Farmers Association, becoming the third recipient of the award since its inception (back in 1992) from Miami-Dade County, joining former Miami Northwestern quarterback Jacory Harris and former Miami Norland running back Duke Johnson. Cook finished his prep career with 4,267 rushing yards and 64 touchdowns, while leading Miami Central to a 52-5 record. His senior season accolades included USA Today All-USA Football Team, 247Sports Second Team All-American and All-State Class 6A first-team. Following his senior season, Cook was invited to play at the 2014 Under Armour All-America Game, where he rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown on just eight carries for Team Nitro. Cook also participated in "The Opening", an all-star summer prospect camp held on the Nike Campus.

In track & field, Cook was one of the state's top sprinters. He recorded a personal-best time of 22.10 seconds in the 200-meter dash at the 2013 Sam Burley Invitational, where he placed 13th. At the 2013 FHSAA 3A Region 4, he ran the third leg on the Miami Central 4 × 100 m relay and 4 × 400 m relay squads, helping them win both events with times of 41.15 seconds and 3:17.58 minutes, respectively. In the preliminary rounds of the 2013 GMAC North Qualifier, he was clocked at 10.08 seconds (heavily wind-aided) in the 100-meter dash, but would later run a 10.92 to earn a fifth-place finish in the finals.

Regarded as a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Cook was ranked as the second best all-purpose back in his class. Before he signed with Florida State in January 2014, he’d already taken the summer and night classes necessary to graduate high school early and enroll in the spring. Cook originally committed to Clemson University, then flipped to the University of Florida under coach Will Muschamp in the spring of 2013. However, after Florida’s 4-8 season that year, the 5-star running back began wavering on his pledge—privately. Despite officially visiting other schools, Cook claimed he was "100 percent" committed to the University of Florida in every interview. During the week of the Under Armour All-America Game, he did the Gator Chomp on social media and posed for a pictures with Florida commits after one of the practices. On January 1, 2014, Cook flipped to Florida State University.

College career

Cook split carries with Karlos Williams and Mario Pender as a true freshman in 2014. In his first game against The Citadel, he rushed 67 yards with one touchdown. He rushed for 100 yards for the first time in his college career against Syracuse, gaining 122 yards over 23 carries with a touchdown. Cook was named the MVP of the 2014 ACC Championship Game against Georgia Tech after earning a career-high 177 yards on 31 carries and one rushing touchdown.

In July 2015, Cook was suspended after he was charged with battery following an incident outside a bar. The following month, he was found not guilty and reinstated by Florida State.

During the team's 10th game, which was against NC State, Cook broke Warrick Dunn's Florida State single-season rushing yards record of 1,242.

On November 19, 2016, during the first quarter of the team's game against the Syracuse Orange, Cook broke Warrick Dunn's career rushing record of 3,959 yards. Cook entered the game just 18 yards behind the record. He finished his career with 4,464. A few hours after winning the Orange Bowl against Michigan, Cook announced he would forgo his senior season at Florida State in order to enter the 2017 NFL Draft.

Professional career

Cook received an invitation to the NFL combine and completed all of the required combine drills and positional drills. He participated at Florida State's Pro Day and ran the 40-yard dash, 20-yard dash, 10-yard dash, and positional drills. He was ranked the top running back in the draft by Sports Illustrated and Pro Football Focus, the second best running back by NFL media analyst Bucky Brooks, and the third best running back by NFLDraftScout.com and NFL analyst Mike Mayock. Although he was considered to be one of the top running backs, off-the-field problems, prior arrests, character concerns, fumbling issues, and a history of shoulder injuries caused his stock to fall. NFL draft experts and analysts projected Cook to be selected in the first or second round of the draft.

The Minnesota Vikings selected Cook in the second round (41st overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft. The Cincinnati Bengals traded the 41st overall pick to the Vikings for their second round draft selection (No. 48) and their fourth-round selection (No. 128). He was the third running back taken in the draft behind Leonard Fournette (fourth overall) and Christian McCaffrey (eighth overall).

In his first ever NFL game against the New Orleans Saints, Cook set the Vikings' rookie debut rushing record, previously held by Adrian Peterson, a member of the Saints, by rushing for 127 yards on 22 carries.

Legal issues

During his freshman year at FSU, Cook was involved in off-field incidents on three occasions. He was charged with criminal mischief after a June BB gun incident that resulted in broken car windows. Also that summer, police cited him for mistreating puppies when, according to a citation issued by Tallahassee Animal Services, a state animal control officer observed "three puppies…tethered directly around the neck by a heavy chain. The dogs were unable to move and the smaller puppies were choking. I had to remove them for their safety." That July, according to an ESPN report, Cook was named as an "associate" in an assault case of two men the Tallahassee police investigated for allegedly brandishing a firearm at a neighbor; the incident took place at Cook’s apartment. The summer before his sophomore year, Cook was accused of punching a woman outside of a Tallahassee bar after a confrontation and was charged with assault, to which he pled not guilty. A jury found Cook not guilty, and he was able to return to the football team.