Like Cooper DeJean himself, the rookie Philadelphia Eagles defensive back’s pick-six in the Super Bowl on Sunday has taken the football world by storm.
Cutting back across the middle from the sideline, the Odebolt, Iowa, native ran into and intercepted a low pass from Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and two-time NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes. He hit the opposite sideline, following a lead block into the end zone for six in both his first interception and first pick-six of his NFL career.
COOPER DEJEAN PICK TO THE HOUSE!
📺: #SBLIX on FOX
📱: Tubi + NFL app pic.twitter.com/y4Q4bGTHE2— NFL (@NFL) February 10, 2025
THE ROOKIE COOPER DEJEAN WITH THE PICK-SIX OFF MAHOMES 😱
ON HIS BIRTHDAY 🤯
(📺 FOX) pic.twitter.com/5Vi2Jpk4Ao
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 10, 2025
Lord have mercy, Cooper DeJean out there putting on for the All-White Team 🔥
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) February 10, 2025
HEY, LEBRON, THAT GUY WHO JUST PICK SIXED MAHOMES … HIS NAME IS COOPER DEJEAN. MAYBE HE DOESN’T LOOK LIKE HE CAN PLAY CORNERBACK IN THE NFL, BUT HE’S ON HIS WAY TO BEING A STAR OF A STUD! 17-0 FLY, EAGLES, FLY.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) February 10, 2025
Cooper DeJean from odebolt iowa U of Iowa Hawkeye scores Super Bowl touchdown NFL rookie
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) February 10, 2025
COOPER DEJEAN PICK SIX!! IOWA REPRESENT!!!
— Rob Sand (@RobSandIA) February 10, 2025
might be the best player i’ve seen
— Xavier “X” Nwankpa (@xaviernwankpa01) February 10, 2025
Looked like Cooper DeJean called a fair catch to me.
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) February 10, 2025
I will never for the life of me figure out how Cooper DeJean fell to the 40th pick in the draft.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) February 10, 2025
There’s a little over a minute left in the first half of the Super Bowl. Cooper DeJean has more interception return yards than Patrick Mahomes passing yards.
— David Eickholt (@DavidEickholt) February 10, 2025
Cooper DeJean attended a Class 1A school called Odebolt Arthur Battle Creek Ida Grove (OABCIG) High School with an enrollment of 306 students and grew up in Odebolt, Iowa which has less than 1,000 people. That pick 6 was for all of the small town kids in America. #SuperBowl
— John Hough (@JohnHough__) February 10, 2025
Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes is the greatest quarterback of all time time
Cooper DeJean and the exciting whites: pic.twitter.com/dLHcohZc6Q
— At The Buzzer (@AtTheBuzzer1) February 10, 2025
The play, irregardless of if the Eagles take this 24-0 halftime lead to a Super Bowl win, caps off a stellar first season for the former Hawkeye defensive back. The season has seen him take the starting role in this secondary and earn Professional Football Writers Association All-Rookie Team honors.
That’s not to mention it came on his 22nd birthday.