Background and career
Brandin Tawan Cooks (born September 25, 1993) is an American professional football wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon State Beavers, receiving the Fred Biletnikoff Award and consensus All-American honors in 2013 after leading the NCAA in receiving yards. Cooks was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft and has also played for the New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams, Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, and Buffalo Bills.
Cooks was born in Stockton, California, to Worth Cooks Sr. and Andrea (Glasper) Cooks on September 25, 1993. Worth died of a heart attack when Brandin was six years old and Cooks and his three brothers, Fred, Worth Jr., and Andre, were thereafter raised by their mother. He attended Lincoln High School in Stockton, where he played high school football for the Trojans. As a sophomore, Cooks recorded 29 receptions for 600 yards and seven touchdowns. As a junior, he had 46 receptions for 783 yards and 10 touchdowns, while also collecting three interceptions on the defensive side of the ball. As a senior, Cooks had 66 receptions for 1,125 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was ranked by the Rivals.com recruiting network as the 26th-best wide receiver and the 240th overall prospect in his class. Cooks originally committed to play college football at UCLA but changed to Oregon State University. In addition to high school football, he played basketball and ran track.
Cooks played at Oregon State from 2011 to 2013 under head coach Mike Riley.
Cooks made an immediate impact for Oregon State in their 3–9 season. Cooks recorded three receptions for 26 yards in the 29–28 loss in his collegiate debut against Sacramento State. On October 15, against BYU, he had three receptions for 90 yards and his first collegiate receiving touchdown, which came on a 59-yard reception from quarterback Sean Mannion, in the 38–28 loss. He played in all 12 games with three starts and recorded 31 receptions for 391 yards and three touchdowns. In addition, he returned kickoffs, averaging 22.4 yards per return on eight attempts.
Cooks started his sophomore season with six receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown in a 10–7 victory over Wisconsin. Two weeks later, against UCLA, he had six receptions for 175 yards and a touchdown in the 27–20 victory. In the following game against Arizona, he had nine receptions for 149 yards in the 38–35 victory. On October 13, against BYU, he had eight receptions for 173 yards in the 42–24 victory. On October 27, against Washington, he had nine receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown in the 20–17 loss. On November 3, against Arizona State, he had six receptions for 116 yards in the 36–26 victory. Overall, he had 67 receptions for 1,151 yards and five touchdowns. The combination of Cooks and Markus Wheaton created one of the most dynamic receiving duos in college football and Oregon State history. The two players combined for 158 receptions, 2,395 yards, and 16 touchdowns in the 2012 season as Oregon State improved from the previous season to a 9–4 record.
Cooks started the 2013 season with 13 receptions for 196 yards and two touchdowns in the 49–46 loss to Eastern Washington. In the next game, against Hawaii, he had seven receptions for 92 yards and two touchdowns in the 33–14 victory. One week later, against Utah, he had nine receptions for 210 yards and three touchdowns in the 51–48 victory. The performance marked his only game as a Beaver with three receiving touchdowns. In the following game against San Diego State, he had a collegiate career-high 14 receptions for 141 yards in the 34–30 victory. His 14 receptions tied a school single-game record with Mike Hass and Isaiah Hodgins. He continued to perform well with nine receptions for 168 yards and two touchdowns against Colorado in the next game, a 44–17 victory. Cooks started October with 11 receptions for 137 yards and two touchdowns against Washington State in the 52–24 victory. In the following week against California, he had 13 receptions for a collegiate career-high 232 yards and a touchdown in the 49–17 victory. His 232 receiving yards were the second-most in a game in school history, behind Mike Hass's 293 against Boise State in 2004. In the next two games, against Stanford and USC, he had receiving touchdowns in both games. On November 23, against Washington, he had 10 receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown in the 69–27 loss. In the regular season finale against Oregon, he had ten receptions for 110 yards in the 36–35 loss. Oregon State finished with a 6–6 record and qualified for the Hawaii Bowl. Against Boise State, he had eight receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown in the 38–23 victory. Cooks finished the 2013 season with 128 receptions for 1,730 yards and 16 touchdowns, with his 1,730 receiving yards leading the NCAA. Cooks's receptions and receiving yards were Pac-12 Conference records. His 128 receptions shattered the school single-season record, previously held by James Rodgers and Markus Wheaton with 91 each. He was held to under 100 yards only four times and exceeded 200 yards in a game twice. At the end of the season, he won the Fred Biletnikoff Award and was a consensus All-American. He was the second Oregon State player to win the Biletnikoff Award, the first being Mike Hass in 2005. He finished his collegiate career among the best in school history by being second in receptions, third in receiving yards, and first in receiving touchdowns. Cooks and quarterback Sean Mannion teamed up for 23 receiving touchdowns over their careers, a school record for a quarterback-receiver tandem. On January 2, 2014, Cooks announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2014 NFL draft. In addition to football, Cooks ran track at Oregon State. He earned a second-place finish in the 60-meter dash at the 2012 UW Invitational, clocking a personal-best time of 6.81 seconds.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
