Cookie Brinkman

Charles William "Cookie" Brinkman (May 26, 1949 – October 24, 2019) was an American football wide receiver. He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals and appeared in one game for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) in 1972.

Early life

Brinkman was born on May 26, 1949, in

Brinkman played for the freshman team at Louisville in 1967.^[7] He joined the varsity team as a sophomore, playing the tight end position.^[8] Brinkman also took over punting duties after an injury to Wally Oyler.^[8][9] In his punting debut, he recorded punts of 59 and 47 yards.^[8] The following week, Brinkman recorded an 89-yard punt against Tulsa which pinned them inside the 10-yard line and resulted in a safety a few plays later.^[8] Louisville head coach Frank Camp called his punt "the turning point" of their 16–7 victory.^[10] It set a new school record, far surpassing the previous mark of 65 yards,^[10] and ended up being the longest punt in the nation that season.^[3] Brinkman was named the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) offensive player of the week for his performance.^[11] As a junior in 1969, Brinkman emerged as Louisville's leading receiver, making 25 catches for 357 yards and five touchdowns.^[12] He caught two touchdowns in a 31–21 defeat to his hometown team, Cincinnati.^[13]

Ahead of his senior season, Brinkman was elected

Brinkman finished his senior season with a team-high 48 catches for 647 yards and four touchdowns,[18] earning a unanimous selection to the all-MVC team as well as honorable mention All-American honors from the Associated Press.^[19][20] He also recorded 26 punts for 853 yards, averaging 32.8 yards per punt.^[21] Brinkman was named the team's most outstanding senior.^[22]

Professional career

After going unselected in the

After cutting his weight and improving his speed, Brinkman was invited back to try out for the Cleveland Browns in 1972.[29] He was released on September 12 during final roster cuts and signed to the practice squad.^[30][31] Brinkman was activated in December for one game against the Cincinnati Bengals.^[32][33] He recorded no statistics and returned to the practice squad.

In May 1973, Brinkman signed with the

Brinkman was given the nickname "Cookie" by his older brother Gerard, who was 18 months older and could not properly pronounce "Charlie".[6] He also had two younger brothers named Joey and Jimmy.^[6] A cousin of his, Jacob Ungruhe, played football at Morehead State.^[42]

Brinkman married Amy Dalli and they had two children: Charles and Melissa.^[2] Their son, Charles "Chip" Brinkman, was a star football and basketball player at Clearwater Central Catholic High School in Clearwater, Florida, before playing college football at Wake Forest.^[43][44]

As of 2009, Brinkman was the vice president of marketing at ASI Building Products in Tampa, Florida.^[45] He later became the vice president of sales at Alcoa.^[2] Brinkman died on October 24, 2019.^[1]

References