As the youngest of four rough-and-tumble brothers — all three older siblings earned college football scholarships, and two qualified for the TSSAA wrestling state tournament — Cooper Gentle knew someone was going to pay for the poundings he took growing up.
Turns out, everyone who steps on a football field or wrestling mat to oppose McCallie’s burgeoning bruiser is made to feel the wrath of the junior Gentle’s payback tour.
“He’s built like a refrigerator and hits like Bobby Boucher,” Blue Tornado head coach Joel Bradford said, comparing his team’s middle linebacker to Adam Sandler’s teeth-rattling character from the 1989 movie “The Waterboy.”
“I would do anything to have been a fly on the wall at the Gentle house just to see how those boys fought. I’m not as big as he is, but one thing I learned from having two older brothers is how to fight for my life,” said Bradford, who is in his first season leading the program after spending the past five seasons as offensive coordinator.
“Cooper definitely isn’t getting pushed backward on the field. He’s one of the strongest and most powerful guys to come through this program. He’s definitely one of the most physical players I’ve seen, and that sets the tone for a defense with a lot of other guys who like contact as well. He tries to enforce his will on whoever he tackles.”